THE WORLD'S SMALLEST MOVIE

Most of the time I post about big issues—BIG as in outer space. But innerspace fascinates me too. Recently, I’ve been shopping around an SF thriller novel I’ve written that takes the reader down to the molecular level. So I got a kick out of this story:

IBM decided to illustrate some of the methods they’re using to explore the limits of data storage. They created the world’s smallest movie. "A Boy and His Atom" is a simple animated stick-figure story--it looks like an early Pong game. What makes it special is that it was created by moving carbon monoxide molecules around with an electron scanning microscope and then using the same microscope to capture each frame of the movie. Amazing!

You can read more here, and watch the video itself on YouTube. Be sure to continue watching to see how it was done.

Maybe it will show kids that science can be cool, and start some future scientists on their career path. I hope so. It also shows that the universe is still ripe with potential at the sub-atomic level, and we’re making progress. I’d better get my novel sold before science catches up with my story.

If there are any agents or editors reading this who cut their SF teeth on “Fantastic Voyage”, drop me a line!