smallest – Page 2 – TwistedSifter

Miniature Sushi Made with a Single Grain of Rice

It started as a joke with a customer over a decade ago. Chef Hironori Ikeno thought it would be funny to serve one of his regulars a miniature plate of sushi. Soon afterwards, Chef Ikeno wondered just how small he could go.

It turns out he could go really small! Using only a single grain of rice for each piece of sushi, Chef Ikeno is capable of creating an entire selection of miniature sushi for patrons at his Sushi restaurant, located in the old Tokyo district, Nohachi.

Ikeno says each piece can take up to five minutes to create and he usually makes them for fun for kids, couples and tourists.

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Picture of the Day: World’s Shortest Escalator

WORLD’S SHORTEST ESCALATOR

Photograph by TOKYO ESCALATOR

Located in the basement of More’s Department Store in Kawasaki, Japan is the world’s shortest escalator. With only 5 steps, the escalator has a modest rise of 32.8 inches (83.4 cm). It was recognized as the world’s shortest escalator by the Guinness Book of Records back in 1989 so it’s possible a shorter, even more useless escalator exists…

To further add to its futility, it goes down not up, and there’s still another set of stairs you have to descent immediately afterwards! Only in Japan…

Be sure to check out Tokyo Escalator for more interesting escalator designs around Japan.

via TOKYO ESCALATOR

The Tiniest Chameleon in the World

Photograph by Glaw F, Kohler J, Townsend TM, Vences M

A new species of Leaf Chameleons (Brookesia) from northern Madagasar have been discovered and they are the tiniest in the world. Adult males of the species grow to just over a half-inch (16 mm) from nose to bottom and about 1 inch (30 mm) from nose to tail. This makes them one of the smallest vertebrates ever found on Earth! Two smaller vertebrates include the male angler fish and a tropical frog (shown below).

The team of researchers, led by Frank Glaw, searched for the tiny lizards at night as they slept. While they sleep ‘up’ in the branches, those branches are a mere 4 inches (10 cm) off the ground (still a distance at their size!). The team found the tiny reptiles in the northern region of Madagascar during expeditions between 2003 and 2007.

For the full scientific article, be sure to visit the open access journal PLoS one.