The 2012 Guinness World Records confirms that this hair holds the record for worlds smallest periodic table. (The University of Nottingham)
NOTTINGHAM, England – British scientists were celebrating Monday after breaking the record for writing the world's smallest periodic table -- on a strand of hair.
Scientists at the University of Nottingham, in central England, engraved the table of 118 chemical elements on a strand of hair belonging to Martyn Poliakoff, a chemistry professor at the university.
A team of nanotechnology experts used a beam of accelerated gallium ions to create the tiny table, which is so small that a million of them could be replicated on a typical sticky note.
Guinness World Records officially confirmed the table as the world's smallest.
"I am delighted," Poliakoff said. "In my wildest nightmares, I have never imagined being in the Guinness World Records, least of all in connection with my hair."
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