National Geographic Kids Guinness World Record for Smallest Magazine Cover Just Awarded

Culture

This is a sponsored post

I've just returned from another trip to Washington, D.C. Now, in my role as a brand ambassador for National Geographic Kids (NGK), I'm thrilled to share some exciting news with you that just broke hours ago. I think this is absolutely fascinating. Since there's a good chance you and your children will agree, I encourage you to share this post with young, inquisitive minds at your house.

Print NGK Issue w/ Pencil, Image by MommyBlogExpert.com

Today, NGK was awarded the Guinness World Records title for the Smallest Magazine Cover -- an actual fully-detailed miniature magazine cover that is thousands of times smaller than a single grain of salt. Definitely get your kids to take a look at a grain of salt with their naked eyes against a dark background so you can both see how tiny that is. 

This amazing NGK feat was accomplished with the expertise of scientists at IBM Research who employed a process similar to using a chisel to carve stone along with a specially designed ultra-small tipped tool just a fraction of the size of a pencil point!

Me in Washington, DC, April 2014, MommyBlogExpert.com

"To create the record-setting cover IBM scientists invented a tiny 'chisel' with a heatable silicon tip 100,000 times smaller than a sharpened pencil point. Using this nano-sized tip, which creates patterns and structures on a microscopic scale, scientists etched the magazine cover onto a polymer, the same substance that creates plastic. The resulting magazine cover is so small at just 11x14 micrometers that 2,000 of them can fit on a grain of salt."

Source: Today's National Geographic Kids news release 

Here's how the microscopic cover was created...




The National Geographic Kids March 2014 Issue -- the cover that kid readers chose to shrink down for this Guinness World Records challenge -- features panda twins. Just unveiled in the Nation's capitol, it will be on display for viewing through a Zeiss Microscope at the National Geographic Kids booth during the 3rd Annual USA Science & Engineering Festival. The free event is open to the public and takes place this weekend, Saturday and Sunday April 26 - April 27, at the Walter E. Convention Center in Washington, D.C.  This is the largest STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) educational festival of its kind in the U.S.

Zeiss, as a side note, may be familiar to some of you as the same company that provided the superior camera technology built into the Nokia Lumia 822 smartphone and other advanced stand-alone consumer cameras and mobile devices.

IBM Scientist at Work, Image from National Geographic Kids

Today's record breaker is NGK's ninth title. The kids media company's other Guinness World Records include such eclectic accomplishments as the Longest Chain of Shoes (2008), the Most People Doing Jumping Jacks in 24 Hours (2011) and six others.

Image from National Geographic Kids

Read the full story at Press.NationalGeographic.com

Congratulations 

National Geographic Kids!

About NGK
National Geographic Kids inspires young adventurers to explore the world through award-winning magazines, books, apps, games, toys, videos, events and a website. It is the only kids brand with a world-class scientific organization at its core. National Geographic Kids magazine (10 issues/year) and Little Kids magazine (6 issues/year) are photo-driven publications available on newsstands or by subscription in print and digital. For more informaiton as well as lots of free hands-on learning activities for your child, visit the award-winning National Geographic Kids website. You are also invited to learn more by following the brand on Twitter and Facebook.

FTC Disclosure: This is a compensated post. I disclose that I am a National Geographic Kids Insider and as a brand ambassador and have received a variety of products and publications from National Geographic Kids to aid my involvement. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.