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IBM Atomic Shorts: Ripples on the surface

The world's smallest film: IBM reveals incredible animation made using individual MOLECULES Individual carbon monoxide molecules were repeatedly rearranged to show a boy dancing, throwing a ball and bouncing on a trampoline Each frame measures 45 by 25 nanometers - there are 25 million nanometers in an inch Technique could be used to create next-generation computer hard drives


Scientists have taken the idea of a film short down to new levels. Molecular levels.

IBM says it has made the tiniest stop-motion movie ever - a one-minute video of individual carbon monoxide molecules repeatedly rearranged to show a boy dancing, throwing a ball and bouncing on a trampoline.

Each frame measures just 45 by 25 nanometers - there are 25 million nanometers in an inch.

Scroll down to watch the film
Called A Boy and his Atom, the one minute video employs individual carbon monoxide molecules that are rearranged to show a boy dancing and bouncing on a trampoline


A boy composed of carbon monoxide molecules rides a skateboard in a scene from what IBM claims to be the world's tiniest stop-action movie. Each of the 242 frames measures 45 by 25 nanometers which is one billionth of a meter


HOW SMALL IS IT?

An atom is the smallest division of a chemical element.

To even see one you have to magnify it over 100 million times.

There are probably more atoms in one grain of sand than there are grains of sand on an entire beach, IBM said.

It calculated there are about 5 million atoms in the full stop at the end of this sentence.

When hugely magnified, the movie is reminiscent of early video games, particularly when the boy bounces the ball off the side of the frame accompanied by simple music and sound effects.

The movie is titled 'A Boy and His Atom.'

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Videos showing atoms in motion have been seen before but Andreas Heinrich, IBM's principal scientist for the project, said this is the first time anything so small has been maneuvered to tell a story.

'This movie is a fun way to share the atomic-scale world,' Heinrich said.

'The reason we made this was not to convey a scientific message directly, but to engage with students, to prompt them to ask questions.'

Jamie Panas of Guinness World Records said Guinness certified the movie as 'Smallest Stop-Motion Film.'

IBM used a remotely operated two-ton scanning tunneling microscope at its lab in San Jose, California, to make the movie earlier this year.

The microscope magnifies the surface over 100 million times.
IBM used a remotely operated two-ton scanning tunneling microscope at its lab in San Jose, California, to make the movie earlier this year

IBM used a remotely operated two-ton scanning tunneling microscope at its lab in San Jose, California, to make the movie earlier this year
IBM even used the microscope to create a special film poster

IBM even used the microscope to create a special film poster

It operates at 450 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (268 degrees below zero Celsius).

The cold 'makes life simpler for us,' Heinrich said.

'The atoms hold still. They would move around on their own at room temperature.'

Scientists used the microscope to control a tiny, super-sharp needle along a copper surface, IBM said.

At a distance of just 1 nanometer, the needle physically attracted the carbon monoxide molecules and pulled them to a precisely specified location on the surface.

The dots that make up the figures in the movie are the oxygen atoms in the molecule, Heinrich said.

The scientists took 242 still images that make up the movie's 242 frames.

Heinrich said the techniques used to make the movie are similar to what IBM is doing to make data storage smaller.

'As data creation and consumption continue to get bigger, data storage needs to get smaller, all the way down to the atomic level,' he said.

'Even nanophysicists need to have a little fun,' said IBM.

'In that spirit, the scientists moved atoms by using their scanning tunneling microscope to make ... a movie.'
HOW THEY DID IT

IBM's two-ton scanning tunneling microscope at its lab in San Jose, California, which was used to make the film

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