Microscopic ramen served

Japanese scientists say they have used cutting-edge technology to create a noodle bowl so small it can be seen only through a microscope.

For the dieter: "Carbon nanotube ramen" in a bowl with diameter measuring one-thousandth of a millimeter is seen in this December 2006 photomicrograph released last week by the Nakao Hamaguchi Lab at the University of Tokyo. AP PHOTO

Mechanical engineering professor Masayuki Nakao said he and his students at the University of Tokyo used a carbon-based material to produce a noodle bowl with a diameter 1/25,000 of an inch in a project aimed at developing nanotube-processing technology.

The microscopic bowl was first created in December 2006 but not revealed until last week after its entry in a microphotography competition was filed.

The bowl was carved out of microscopic nanotubes, tube-shaped pieces of carbon, measuring about 1/10,000 of the thickness of a human hair.

"We believe it's the world's smallest ramen bowl, with the smallest portion of noodles inside, although they are not edible," Nakao said.