Magnifying atoms by over 100 million times, this remarkable film uses individual molecules to create a short story of A Boy and His Atom: The World’s Smallest Movie.

Part art project and part guerrilla marketing for IBM, which is exploring atoms as the smallest possible units of data storage, the tale is relatively simple, but the scale is beyond belief.

This stop-motion flick involves moving atoms frame by frame, then taking images of each state, much like claymation or other similar kinds of animation.

While the results may look low-tech, they show off just how much control we can have over moving parts at the tiniest of levels, with implications for and beyond the world of computing and data storage.

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Just a few hundred atoms in size, this ultra-tiny submarine measures distances in nanometers and uses light to drive it forward – despite its diminutive dimensions, it has a remarkable top speed of one inch per second, making the sub “the fastest-moving molecules ever seen in solution.”

While the entertainment value and wow-factors exist as well, there are also many potential serious and world-changing applications being explored, from organic nanobots to medical delivery systems.

“Each of the single-molecule, 244-atom submersibles built in the Rice University lab of chemist James Tour has a motor powered by ultraviolet light. With each full revolution, the motor’s tail-like propeller moves the sub forward 18 nanometers.”

Tour’s group has worked a lot with molecular micro-machines; his lab introduced the world to nanocars, single-molecule cars with four wheels, axles and independent suspensions that could be “driven” across surfaces. Assembling at this scale, the material inputs are small but the distances and forces in play relatively huge, opening up a world of tiny possibilities.

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Solving the ‘last mile’ problem for daily commutes and short urban trips, the Bolt skateboard boasts a combination of features as well as its status as the world’s smallest, lightest and easiest-to-carry electric vehicle.

From the designers: “Walking is too slow and time consuming. Most of the time taking the car is cumbersome  and useless because you need to find space for parking. The bicycle must always be locked and made safe otherwise can be stolen. Even if you use  public transport, you still need a last mile solution small enough to be carried with you everywhere.”

With speeds up to 13 miles per hour, it may not compete with a car but is comparable to a bike while being a lot less bulky and something you don’t need to lock up between uses. At 24 by 10 inches (4 thick), it is small enough to fit onto the back of a pack. As a bonus, you can use the board’s charge to power your mobile electronic devices as needed, too.

More on its origin from its maker, a robotic engineering student named Lorenzo Cella: “Every day I take the train to go to university. From home I have to walk to the station, take the train and once there I have to walk to class. I have to do the reverse path back home every noon. I’ve counted that I spend 1 hour and 30 minutes walking everyday, 7km (4.5 miles) . I noticed that covering this distance by foot every day, in addition to waste my time, makes me get home tired and with little desire to do anything else.”

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