Sunday 23 December 2007

Religious Pinhead.

Contrary to your (supposed) expectations from the title this post isn’t about the sainted Tony converting to the Roman faith.

Actually it’s about nanotechnology.

Scientists from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have printed the entire Old Testament onto a silicone chip smaller than a pinhead (less than 1/1000th of an inch).

The text was written using a focused ion beam (FIB) generator that shot Gallium ions onto a gold surface covering a base layer of silicone. The ion beam etched the surface of the gold layer, making the underlying silicone layer visible.

The actual "writing" of the full text took just 90 minutes. The computer program that guided the FIB, however, took more than three months.

Professor Uri Sivan whose team undertook the project explained "The nano-bible project demonstrates the miniaturization at our disposal. This research could lead to the creation of more advanced miniature structures -- and imaging -- on a nanometric scale, advances in storing information in very small spaces, and the use of DNA molecules to store information."

The nano-bible will now be photographed and expand 10,000 times - and still be small enough to fit into a 75-square foot frame to be hung in the Technion Faculty of Physics. The photograph's size will make it possible to read the entire Old Testament with the naked eye. The original nano-bible will be displayed next to the photograph.

I wonder of there will be any space left to balance a few angels on the photographs source?

2 comments:

jmb said...

This boggles the mind doesn't it?
Have a very wonderful Christmas with your family Grendel.

jams o donnell said...

It's certainly quite a feat. Happy Christmas