The World’s Smallest Hotel

The World’s Smallest Hotel

As one would expect from an organisation named VisitLondon, there is plenty to do in the UK’s capital city. The only problem is getting round and seeing it all.
In order to give visitors to London the best possible chance to see London’s sights – they had the chance of securing a (or the) bed, in the world’s smallest hotel. The idea let overseas visitors know of the breadth and flexibility of accommodation on offer to visitors to London.
The high-spec mini hotel featured a dedicated concierge, check-in desk, room service, a flat-screen TV, sound system, fridge and dining-room area, double bed, en-suite facilities and all the other little touches you would expect to find in a top London hotel.

Smallest Tree

 Pygmy pine or Mountain rimu

 
Lepidothamnus laxifolius, commonly known as the Pygmy pine or Mountain rimu, is a species of conifer in the Podocarpaceae family. It is endemic to New Zealand, where it is found on North Island, South Island and Stewart Island.

Distribution

Lepidothamnus laxifolius is a high alpine specialist found in high-altitude bog communities and in scrub, often in association with Halocarpus bidwillii and Podocarpus nivalis. Example locations include Tongariro National Park and Arthur's Pass. On Stewart Island it is found in lowland as well as in montane areas.

Description

It has a scrambling prostrate habit and plants as little as 8 cm in height have been observed in fruit. Branches may be up to 5 mm in diameter and up to 1 metre long. Its fruits are red and fleshy, and borne terminally on the horizontal branches. It is believed to be the smallest conifer in the world and is rarely bigger than a small low-growing shrub.

Taxonomy

The genus Lepidothamnus was once part of Dacrydium in the classification by Bentham and Hooker in 1880. However, current taxonomy separates it as a distinct genus with three species, one endemic to southern Chile and the other two in New Zealand. All three species have a distinctive cone morphology not shared with other podocarps with its erect ovule, as well as the absence of resin ducts in the leaves. These three species also synthesise cupressuflavone as their major biflavenoid – a feature not found in other podocarps. They have narrow, linear spreading juvenile leaves that gradually change into more strongly keeled and appressed scales. Female cones are borne singly and at the ends of branches and each has 3–5 bracts with very elongated bases. Each fertile bracts supports an erect ovule in its axil and this ovule remains erect throughout its development.

WORLD'S SMALLEST PIG

The pygmy hog (Porcula salvania) is the world’s smallest wild pig standing about 25-30 cm from the ground, and was once common across India, Nepal and Bhutan. However, by the 1960s, this mammal was believed to be extinct.
This pig was previously spread across India, Nepal, and Bhutan but now found only in Assam, India. The current world population is about 150 individuals or fewer. Recent conservation measures have increased the prospect of survival in the wild of this critically endangered species.
A total of 16 pygmy hogs, which is one of the most endangered mammals in the world, would soon be relocated in the grasslands of Sonai Rupai wildlife sanctuary.

The world’s smallest book.

Nanoscience creates world's smallest book The best things come in small packages, or so the saying goes – and it is something that one group of scientists thinks holds true for their newest development. The world’s smallest book.

Physicists at the nano imaging laboratory of Simon Fraser University in Canada have created a 0.07mm x 0.10mm book using a focused-gallium-ion beam. “It is primarily a work of art - we are using it as just a fun project,” said Professor Karen Kavanagh said. “In order to read it, you have to have an electron microscope.” Kavanagh and her team collaborated with artist Robert Chaplin, to create the microscopic book titled – Teeny Ted from Turnip Town. The book is made up of 30 microtablets, each carved on a polished piece of single crystalline silicon, it even has its own International Standard Book Number. “The focussed ion beam is like drilling with a beam of sand, but instead of sand, you are using gallium ions and you are removing material. We probably could make it smaller. We could make the letters in the order of 10 nanometres, instead of 40. We could certainly entertain other publishers,” Kavanagh said. The two current smallest books listed in Guinness World Records are the New Testament of the King James Bible (5 by 5mm, created in 2001) and Chekhov's Chameleon (0.9 by 0.9mm created in 2002). The tiny work of art is available in signature-edition copies at the not quite so micro price of about £10,000.

The world's smallest cat

Mr Peebles, the world’s smallest cat at just 6.1ins tall.

The itty bitty kitty, who weighs 3.3lbs, was born 2½ years ago in Illinois with a genetic defect that stunts growth.
Owner Robin Svendson, 41, named her pet after a ventriloquist’s dummy in an episode of US sitcom Seinfeld.

Fighting spirit ... puss shows that size doesn't matter

Tabby Mr Peebles may be tiny but he’s feline great after being accepted for the Guinness World Records.
He’s the cat’s whiskers to pals Robert the guinea pig and alsatian Gravy.

The World's Smallest Bird

Bee Hummingbird

Bee Hummingbird
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Trochiliformes
Family:	Trochilidae
Genus:	Mellisuga
Species:	M. helenae
Binomial name
Mellisuga helenae (Lembeye, 1850)

The Bee Hummingbird or Zunzuncito (Mellisuga helenae) is a species of hummingbird that is endemic to Cuba and Isla de la Juventud. With a mass of approximately 1.8 grams (0.063 oz) and a length of 5 centimetres (2.0 in), it is the smallest living bird.

Description

The male has the green pileum and fiery red throat, iridescent gorget with elongated lateral plumes, bluish upper-parts, and the rest of the underparts mostly greyish white. The male is smaller than the female. The female is green above, whitish below with white tips to the outer tail feathers. Compared to other small hummingbirds, which often have a slender appearance, the Bee Hummingbird looks rounded and chunky.
Female bee hummingbirds are bluish green with a pale gray underside. The tips of their tailfeathers have white spots. Breeding males have a reddish to pink head, chin, and throat. The female lays only two eggs at a time.
As the smallest bird in the world, it is no larger than a big insect and, per its name, is scarcely larger than a bee. Like all hummingbirds, it is a swift, strong flier. It also can hover over one spot like a helicopter. The bee hummingbird beats its wings an estimated 80 times per second — so fast that the wings look like a blur to human eyes.
The brilliant, iridescent colors of the bee hummingbird's feathers make the bird seem like a tiny jewel. But the iridescence isn't always noticeable. It depends on the angle at which a person looks at the bird. The bird's slender, pointed bill is adapted for probing deep into flowers. The bee hummingbird feeds mainly on nectar. With a tongue shaped like a long tube, the bird sucks up nectar — and an occasional insect or spider — just as if it were using a drinking straw. In the process of feeding, the bird picks up pollen on its bill and head. When it flies from flower to flower, it transfers the pollen. In this way, it plays an important role in plant reproduction. In the space of one day the bee hummingbird may visit 1,500 flowers.
Using bits of cobwebs, bark, and lichen, the female bee hummingbird builds a cup-shaped nest that is only about 1 inch (2.5 cm) in diameter. Nests have been built on single clothespins. She lines the nest with soft plant fibers. In this nest she lays her eggs, which are no bigger than peas. She alone incubates the eggs and raises the young.

World's Smallest Jet

Bede BD-5

BD-5
Guinness Record Holder, The World's Smallest Jet, BD-5J N3038V.
Role	Homebuilt
Manufacturer	Bede Aviation
Designed by	Jim Bede
First flight	1971
Introduced	1970s
Status	~150 airworthy, ~30 flying

The BD-5 Micro is a series of small, single-seat homebuilt aircraft created in the late 1960s by US aircraft designer Jim Bede and introduced to the market primarily in "kit" form by the now-defunct Bede Aircraft Corporation in the early 1970s.
The BD-5 has a small, streamlined fuselage holding its semi-reclined pilot under a large canopy, with the engine installed in a compartment in the middle of the fuselage, and a propeller or jet engine in the BD-5J variant, mounted immediately to the rear of the cockpit. The combination of fighter-like looks and relatively low cost led to the BD-5 selling over 5,000 kits or plans, with approximately 12,000 orders being taken for a proposed factory-built FAA certified version. However, few of the kit versions were actually completed due to the company's bankruptcy in the mid-1970s, and none of the factory built "D" models produced, brought on by the failure to deliver a reliable engine for the design.
In total, only a few hundred BD-5 kits were completed, although many of these are still being flown today. The BD-5J version holds the record for the world's lightest jet aircraft, weighing only 358.8 lb (162.7 kg).