IBM researchers create the world's tiniest animated movie

When magnified over 100 million times, an atom looks like a little dot. As if you poked the head of a pin into a sheet of black plastic. In exploring the limits of data storage, IBM researchers began manipulating individual atoms. Then some particularly creative researchers got the bright idea to use individual atoms as pixels, to create the world's smallest movie.

The stop-motion animation was created by moving around each individual atom frame by frame. Just like the most basic form of stop-motion animation available to everyone with a camera, except… not exactly.

The resulting film, titled "A Boy And His Atom," is about one minute long (not counting the 30-second introduction). A little stick figure boy (named Adam) and a bouncing atom ball dance together in a surprisingly adorable manner. The boy also bounces the atom like a ball, both against the ground and against the frame of the camera (using the frame as a de facto wall, in a whimsical bit of fourth-wall-breaking). The boy's ball turns into a trampoline, then he throws the ball into the air where it explodes like fireworks, transforming into IBM's logo.

As narrative storytelling it may lack a certain panache. But as a demonstration of IBM's slick scientific prowess and the miracles of modern technology, it is nothing short of amazing. In fact I suspect that this may go down in the history books as one of the most important bits of animation of all time.

The movie has a companion piece, a five minute mini-documentary on how it was made. They used carbon monoxide atoms and a scanning electron microscope. The film had to be created at about -260 degrees Centigrade, very near absolute zero, in order to keep the atoms from moving around. IBM hopes the resulting movie isn't just bragging rights, but that it will inspire people (especially children) to investigate science and explore the world.

Image copyright IBM