U.K. Scientists Break Record for Writing Smallest Periodic Table — on a Strand of Human Hair

Scientists from Nottingham, England, officially broke the Guinness World Record for writing the world’s smallest periodic table —  engraving it on a single strand of hair.

The scientists from the University of Nottingham’s Nanotechnology and Nanoscience Center placed the table of elements on the hair of Martyn Poliakoff, a chemistry professor, using a beam of accelerated gallium ions. It’s so small that a million tables of the same size could fit on a typical Post-it note.

Guinness confirmed that it was the smallest periodic table in existence.

See a video of the record-breaking procedure here

“I am delighted.  In my wildest nightmares, I have never imagined being in the Guinness World Records, least of all in connection with my hair,” said Poliakoff. ”The fact that I am is a tribute to the University’s Nanotechnology Center.”