President Shimon Peres today presented Pope Benedict XVI with the world’s smallest Bible, created by the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Nano-Bible, consisting of over 1.2 million Hebrew letters, has been imprinted on a surface just 0.5 square millimetres- an area smaller than the size of a pinhead. The Bible, which was presented to the Pope during his visit to Israel today, is engraved on a silicon surface coated with a very thin layer of gold (20 nanometers thick) using a scientific device developed at the Technion called FIB- Focused Ion Beam which makes it possible to engrave any kind of text on this surface.
In order to give it as a gift, the Nano-Bible was mounted on a one-centimeter thick transparent stage which was fixed to a display board. On the top half of the board was a technical description in Hebrew and English of the Nano-Bible writing process and on the bottom was a ten-thousand-fold magnification of the first 13 verses of the Book of Genesis. The entire surface was enclosed in a glass case with a magnifying glass sunk into its top. The case was placed in a wooden frame, wrapped in leather in the style of an ancient Bible.
The Nano-Bible was was developed by Technion doctoral student Ohad Zohar who visited the UK earlier this year to educate hundreds of sixth-form students about the development of the nano-Bible and the diverse applications for nanotechnology.
Tony Bernstein, Executive Director of the British Technion Society, commented: “We are delighted that the Technion’s Nano-Bible has been presented to the Pope and it demonstrates the exciting advances taking place in Israel in the field of science. The Bible is just one example of the groundbreaking nanotechnology research taking place at the Technion which is leading to scientific breakthroughs in many fields including medicine, electronics and energy production.” |