Physicists at the UK’s Loughborough University have created what they speculate to be the “world’s smallest violin”. It measures 35 microns long and 13 microns wide – thinner than a strand of human hair.

The ‘world’s smallest violin’ under a microscope. Photo © Loughborough University

In June,  the instrument was created using the university’s new nanolithography technology, which allows researchers to study at the nanoscale. Work at this scale will be instrumental in the development of future technology, from “computing efficiency [to] finding new ways to harvest energy,” according to creator Professor Kelly Morrison, head of the physics department.

The instrument is a two-dimensional microscopic image; it is not a functional instrument. Made from platinum, it took three hours to build, and the design took months to refine. It can only be viewed using a microscope and was creatued using the NanoFrazor, a nano-sculpting machine which uses a heated tip to imprint tiny patterns.

“Though creating the world’s smallest violin may seem like fun and games, a lot of what we’ve learned in the process has actually laid the groundwork for the research we’re now...