Japanese scientists say they have used cutting-edge technology to create a noodle bowl so small it can be seen only through a microscope.
Mechanical engineering professor Masayuki Nakao said he and his students at the University of Tokyo used a carbon-based material to produce a noodle bowl with a diameter 1/25,000 of an inch in a project aimed at developing nanotube-processing technology.
The microscopic bowl was first created in December 2006 but not revealed until last week after its entry in a microphotography competition was filed.
The bowl was carved out of microscopic nanotubes, tube-shaped pieces of carbon, measuring about 1/10,000 of the thickness of a human hair.
"We believe it's the world's smallest ramen bowl, with the smallest portion of noodles inside, although they are not edible," Nakao said.
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