It seems every summer brings bigger and badder movies than the year before; however, IBM decided to go the complete opposite direction when it set out to make a movie. The company today announced that it had obtained a Guinness World Record for the smallest movie ever made.
Dubbed "A Boy and His Atom," the movie (which IBM assures has been verified by Guinness World Records) is comprised of just under 250 frames and is a stop-motion action movie that uses thousands of precisely placed atoms to create a story of a friendship that lasts just over a minute.
"Capturing, positioning and shaping atoms to create an original motion picture on the atomic-level is a precise science and entirely novel," said Andreas Heinrich, Principle Investigator, IBM Research. "At IBM, researchers don’t just read about science, we do it. This movie is a fun way to share the atomic-scale world while opening up a dialogue with students and others on the new frontiers of math and science."
IBM moved the atoms using its own scanning tunneling microscope, which weighs two tons and operates at negative 268 degrees Celcius, magnifying the atomic surface over 100 million times. IBM says the ability to control temperature, pressure, and vibrations at exact levels makers its research lab 'one of the few places in the world where atoms can be moved with such precision.'
Check out the movie for yourself below:
