Quantcast
ZME Science
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
Home Other Design

World’s smallest fidget spinner is no bigger than a human hair

3-D printing just got a lot sexier.

Tibi Puiu by Tibi Puiu
November 29, 2017
in Design, News
Reading Time: 2 mins read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterSubmit to Reddit

Scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have taken 3-D printing to the next level. Through a novel technique, they were able to print the world’s smallest fidget spinner. It can easily fit within the width of a human hair — virtually invisible to the naked eye.

The world’s smallest fidget spinner as seen under a microscope. Image via Oak Ridge National Laboratory
The world’s smallest fidget spinner, seen here through a microscope. Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The computer-aided design of the fidget spinner was first sliced into multiple digital layers. Then just one drop of a special liquid is added to a piece of silicon wafer and then loaded into a nanoscribe machine. This device is somewhat similar to a 3D printer. However, unlike a 3D printer, it oozes liquid plastic from a nozzle, using a laser to raster its way through the liquid and create a pattern, then turning the liquid into a solid. The laser shapes the liquid only in its strongest, most concentrated point known as the focal point, allowing the researchers to achieve a stunning level of precision.

Beyond the fidget spinner craze, the ORNL researchers have demonstrated more serious applications, including a technique that could be used to fabricate microswimmers and tetrapod devices that precisely deliver drugs into the human body.

Sorry to interrupt, but you should really...

...Join the ZME newsletter for amazing science news, features, and exclusive scoops. More than 40,000 subscribers can't be wrong.

   

ADVERTISEMENT

“We felt like it [the fidget spinner] would be an interesting demonstration for younger people who may not know that the federal government maintains these user facilities around the country,” said Dr. Adam Rondinone, a senior staff scientist at ORN.

 

Next, the team intends to devise an interactive version of the microscopic fidget spinner for the ORNL Traveling Science Fair.

ADVERTISEMENT

Tags: 3d printingfidget spinner
ShareTweetShare
Tibi Puiu

Tibi Puiu

Tibi is a science journalist and co-founder of ZME Science. He writes mainly about emerging tech, physics, climate, and space. In his spare time, Tibi likes to make weird music on his computer and groom felines.

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • More

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.