What is the smallest particle in the universe that exists. The smallest animals in the world The smallest of all in
This world is strange: some loves strive to create something monumental and gigantic in order to become famous all over the world and go down in history, while others create minimalist copies of ordinary things and amaze the world with them no less. This review contains the smallest items that exist in the world and at the same time are no less functional than their full-sized counterparts.
1. SwissMiniGun gun
The SwissMiniGun is no bigger than a regular wrench, but it is capable of firing tiny bullets that shoot out of the barrel at speeds in excess of 430 km/h. That's more than enough to kill a man at close range.
2. Car Peel 50
Weighing just 69 kg, the Peel 50 is the smallest vehicle ever to be approved for road use. This three-wheeled "pepelats" could reach a speed of 16 km / h.
3. Kalou School
UNESCO recognized the Iranian Kalou school as the smallest in the world. It has only 3 students and a former soldier, Abdul-Muhammed Sherani, who is now a teacher.
4. Teapot weighing 1.4 grams
It was created by ceramics master Wu Ruishen. Although this teapot weighs only 1.4 grams and fits on the tip of your finger, you can brew tea in it.
5. Sark Prison
Sark Prison was built in the Channel Islands in 1856. There was room for only 2 prisoners, who, moreover, were in very cramped conditions.
6. Tumbleweed
This house was called "Perakati-field" (Tumbleweed). It was built by Jay Schafer of San Francisco. Although the house is smaller than some people's closets (only 9 square meters), it has a workspace, a bedroom, and a bath with shower and toilet.
7. Mills End Park
Mills End Park in Portland is the smallest park in the world. Its diameter is only ... 60 centimeters. At the same time, the park has a swimming pool for butterflies, a miniature ferris wheel and tiny statues.
8. Edward Niño Hernandez
The growth of Edward Niño Hernandez from Colombia is only 68 centimeters. The Guinness Book of Records recognized him as the smallest person in the world.
9. Police station in a telephone booth
In fact, it is no more than a telephone booth. But it was actually a functioning police station in Carabella, Florida.
10. Sculptures by Willard Wigan
British sculptor Willard Wigan, who suffered from dyslexia and poor school performance, found solace in creating miniature works of art. His sculptures are barely visible to the naked eye.
11. Bacterium Mycoplasma Genitalium
12. Porcine circovirus
Although there is still debate about what can be considered "alive" and what is not, most biologists do not classify a virus as a living organism due to the fact that it cannot reproduce or has no metabolism. A virus, however, can be much smaller than any living organism, including bacteria. The smallest is a single-stranded DNA virus called porcine circovirus. Its size is only 17 nanometers.
13. Amoeba
The size of the smallest object visible to the naked eye is approximately 1 millimeter. This means that under certain conditions, a person can see an amoeba, a ciliate shoe, and even a human egg.
14. Quarks, leptons and antimatter...
During the last century, scientists have made great strides in understanding the vastness of space and the microscopic "building blocks" of which it is composed. When it came to figuring out what is the smallest observable particle in the universe, people faced certain difficulties. At some point they thought it was an atom. Then the scientists discovered the proton, the neutron, and the electron.
But it didn't end there. Today, everyone knows that when you push these particles into each other in places like the Large Hadron Collider, they can be broken into even smaller particles, such as quarks, leptons, and even antimatter. The problem is that it is impossible to determine what is the smallest, since the size at the quantum level becomes irrelevant, as well as all the usual rules of physics do not apply (some particles have no mass, and others even have negative mass).
15. Vibrating strings of subatomic particles
Given what was said above about the fact that the concept of size does not matter at the quantum level, we can recall string theory. This is a slightly controversial theory, suggesting that all subatomic particles are made up of vibrating strings that interact to create things like mass and energy. Thus, since these strings do not technically have a physical size, it can be argued that they are in some sense the "smallest" objects in the universe.
Have you ever seen the smallest animals that live on our planet? Many of them are so small that, at first glance, they seem like toys.
And the most interesting thing is that they were discovered relatively recently. This makes one think about the probability of the existence of other similar creatures, still unknown to science.
1. Chihuahua
The smallest chihuahua in the world is named Millie. Her height is 10 centimeters. It looks like women's shoes with high heels.
2. Tiny rabbit
The smallest and rarest species. On average, its dimensions range from 23 to 28 cm, and its weight is 450 grams.
3. Marmoset monkey
Among the primates, the marmoset is the smallest. The habitat of this species is South America. Outwardly, it resembles a squirrel. The marmoset is so small that it fits easily in the palm of your hand.
4. Chameleon Brookesia Micra
This chameleon lives in Madagascar. The size of his body is akin to a match, or half a finger.
5. Tiny pony
Thumbelina. That is the name of the horse-record holder. A small brown pony has a height of only 45 cm.
6. Lizard
Lives in the Dominican Republic. The size of the lizard allows it to easily fit on a 10 US cent coin. In length, they grow no more than 15 mm.
7. Cat
The smallest cat was found in Taylorville, Illinois. A blue-colored Himalayan-Persian male named Tinker grew to just 7 cm.
8 Pygmy Lantern Shark
A tiny predator can be found infrequently, at a depth of 440 m in the waters of South America. Do not believe it, but the size of this shark allows you to take it in the palm of your hand.
9. Etruscan shrew
She has the smallest body mass of all mammals. As a rule, it weighs a couple of grams, and the height is no more than four centimeters. Although it weighs little, the amount of food it absorbs exceeds its own body weight by 2 times.
10. Royal antelope
The forests of Ghana and Sierra Leone are considered its homeland. Growth reaches no more than 25 cm and weighs no more than 2.5 kg. She does not like the light very much and goes out mainly at night, so seeing her is a rarity.
11. Pig-nosed bat
On average, the height of a bat is 30 mm, and its weight is no more than 2 grams, so it will not scare anyone with its size, but rather like it.
12. Seahorse
It was discovered in the western part of the Pacific Ocean. Initially, scientists thought it was a baby seahorse, but then they realized that the animal with a diameter of 16 millimeters is a fully mature individual.
13. Spotted Turtle
The size of the female spotted turtle is no more than four centimeters, the size of the male is 3 cm larger. Found turtles in South America.
14. Cow Manikam
Manikam, of course, does not fit in the palm of your hand, but among all the cows it is the tiniest. Her height is only 61.5 cm and she is used exclusively in the household.
15. Frog from the genus Paedophryne
About the size of a 10 cent coin, this frog is considered the smallest vertebrate in the world.
16. Pygmy mouse lemur
The birthplace of these lemurs is Madagascar. The weight of the lemur is only 55 grams. Its tiny body is 5 cm, but the tail is 2 times longer.
17. Salamander
Mexico is considered the birthplace of this animal. Its thin body and wide head measure only 17 millimeters. Unfortunately, this species is endangered due to deforestation.
18. Samoan moss spider
Spiders come in various shapes and sizes. But this species is the smallest in the world. In length, it reaches only three millimeters.
19 California porpoise
Illegal fishing has made this type of pig disappear. Cetaceans on average do not exceed a meter. Recently it became known that only 30 individuals remained in the wild.
20. Tiny snake
The home for this snake is the island of Barbados. Measurements showed that its length is only 10 cm, and the body looks like spaghetti. Part of the tiny snake's habitat has been ravaged by construction work.
21. Fish Paedocypris progenetica
It is the smallest vertebrate fish in the world. It is about 8 millimeters long and fits easily on the finger. In addition, it is notable for the fact that it can live even in an acidic environment.
22. Bee Hummingbird
The bee hummingbird is native to Cuba. The weight of the bird is only 28 grams, and its eggs are equal in size to coffee beans. Because of their size, the hummingbird fights for survival not with other birds, but with insects.
23. Smooth-fronted pygmy caiman
The caiman lives in South American waters, trying to feed itself. Although his meter height does not seem terrifying, he is still dangerous.
24. Long-tailed planigal
Planigal looks like a mouse. Planigal is the smallest marsupial in the world. It has a body of about 5 centimeters and a tail of about the same size. Home for him are the North Australian grasslands.
25. Three-toed jerboa
The three-toed jerboa looks like a small ball with eyes and large legs. It weighs about a gram, and the length is no more than four centimeters.
These are such funny, cute and interesting, and sometimes scary creatures that live on the planet. Their tiny size seems to tell us how fragile nature is and how carefully we need to treat our smaller brothers.
The world and science never stand still. More recently, in physics textbooks, they confidently wrote that the electron is the smallest particle. Then mesons became the smallest particles, then bosons. And now science has discovered a new the smallest particle in the universe is a Planck black hole. True, it is open so far only in theory. This particle belongs to the category of black holes because its gravitational radius is greater than or equal to the wavelength. Of all the existing black holes, the Planckian is the smallest.
The too short lifetime of these particles cannot make their practical detection possible. At least for now. And they are formed, as is commonly believed, as a result of nuclear reactions. But it is not only the lifetime of Planck black holes that prevents them from being detected. Now, unfortunately, this is not possible from a technical point of view. In order to synthesize Planck black holes, an energy accelerator of more than a thousand electron volts is needed.
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Despite such a hypothetical existence of this smallest particle in the Universe, its practical discovery in the future is quite possible. After all, not so long ago, the legendary Higgs boson also could not be detected. It was to detect it that an installation was created that only the laziest inhabitant on Earth had not heard of - the Large Hadron Collider. The confidence of scientists in the success of these studies helped to achieve a sensational result. The Higgs boson is currently the smallest particle of those whose existence has been practically proven. Its discovery is very important for science, it allowed all particles to acquire mass. And if particles didn't have mass, the universe couldn't exist. Not a single substance could be formed in it.
Despite the practical proven existence of this particle, the Higgs boson, practical applications for it have not yet been invented. So far, this is just theoretical knowledge. But everything is possible in the future. Not all discoveries in the field of physics immediately had practical application. Nobody knows what will happen in a hundred years. After all, as mentioned earlier, the world and science never stand still.
The animal world is so diverse that we are hardly familiar with a hundredth of the inhabitants of our planet. The most famous are large mammals. But there are many miniature representatives of the fauna.
The smallest frog
The length of this tiny frog called Paedophryne is 7.7 millimeters, although there are “giants” among them, reaching 11.3 millimeters. Males are always smaller than females. Due to their brown color, they manage to remain unnoticed both on the ground and in the trees.
The smallest chameleon
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The tiny chameleon lizard the small brookesia (Brookesia minima) lives in the tropics of Madagascar. Its length is 1.2 centimeters.
The smallest jellyfish
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The Irukandji jellyfish looks like a tiny (25 by 12 millimeters) almost transparent white bell. At the same time, the size of the tentacles can reach lengths from one millimeter to a meter. The main feature of the Irukandji is that its poison, which, by the way, has not been studied by scientists, can paralyze or kill a person.
smallest mammal
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The weight of a dwarf multi-tooth with a body length of 3-4.5 centimeters is less than 2 grams.
The smallest deer
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The growth of the northern pudu reaches 30-40 centimeters. The horns are also very small. The northern pudu lives in southern Chile and the island of Chilos, although it is very difficult to see it there - the animals lead a rather secretive lifestyle.
Little animals of Russia
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The smallest bird is the yellow-headed kinglet. The length of his body is about 10 centimeters, the bird weighs up to 10 grams. His brother - the red-headed kinglet - weighs even less, only 5 grams, and the body length barely reaches nine centimeters.
8
Quails are considered the smallest representatives of chicken. They weigh about 100 grams.
9
The smallest fox is called the corsac. With a body length of about 50 centimeters, the fox reaches a height of 30 centimeters.
The smallest creature on earth
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Kitty's pig-nosed bat is considered the smallest creature on Earth. This inhabitant of Thailand weighs less than 2 grams with a body length of 2.9 cm to 3.3 cm. During the day, animals hide in the caves of limestone hills, and in the evenings they hunt insects in small groups. According to biologists, their number reaches a little more than 500 individuals.
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The pygmy shrew Savi is the smallest animal on Earth among land mammals. Its weight is approximately 1.5 - 2.5 grams. This creature has one feature - it eats food about three to four times its weight per day.
On Earth you can meet many animals that surprise every person with their size, external features and behavior. In addition to water giants, large mammals and ferocious predators, tiny representatives of the fauna also live in nature. Today we will highlight the TOP smallest animals in the world.
As the statistics say, many have never heard of many miniature creatures, and when they meet them, they take their breath away. Rating, we will pay attention to the inhabitants of reservoirs, forests and steppes, as well as the class of amphibians. Oddly enough, but unique individuals with incredibly small sizes are found in almost all classes of animals. We select representatives:
- the organic world as a whole;
- amphibians;
- reptiles;
- mammals;
- birds;
The smallest animal in the organic world
If we take into account the little-studied organic world of wildlife, then mycoplasma will become its smallest representative. Although it is essentially impossible to call this creature an animal. This is just one of the varieties of living matter of the organic world, which is the simplest microscopic unicellular organism. Having studied the structure of such matter, scientists determined that her cell lacks a nucleus. It's hard to imagine how small mycoplasma is.
According to microbiologists, the size of such an organism rarely exceeds 0.8 microns and ranges from 0.3-0.8 microns. But despite this, the creature can significantly harm the human body, becoming the causative agent of diseases of the genitourinary, circulatory and immune systems.
The smallest amphibian
Few people know about the existence of a tiny frog Paedophrynewhose length is 7.7 mm. The largest individuals rarely reach 11.3 millimeters in length and, as a rule, they are females. The miniature animal has a brown color, so it is almost impossible to notice in the wild. especially on the grass, tree bark or foliage. Due to its tiny size, the frog received presacral vertebrae and a reduced number of fingers.
The frog was first found by American biologists during an expedition to New Guinea. The creation is several times smaller than the 100-cent coin of the United States of America, so it can easily fit on such a coin. The amphibian is considered the smallest animal belonging to the subtype of vertebrates.
The smallest representative suborder of lizards on Earth is the chameleon lesser brookesia. Its dimensions are 1-2 mm. There is a chameleon in the forests of Madagascar, although it is extremely difficult to find it among the foliage. It is known that such an animal has a unique ability to change the color of its skin in accordance with the colors of the environment.
Also on the list of the smallest reptiles is the Namaqualand tortoise, or as it is called the "Cape speck". If the largest turtles reach 200 kilograms of weight, then these individuals rarely weigh more than 160 kilograms. The average body weight of an adult varies between 95-165 kilograms with a body length of 6-10 centimeters. Females are always larger than males.
During the mating season, males become aggressive, and not only to other same-sex individuals, but also to females. Because of this, they often fight each other, bite and stab with the front edge of the shell.
The female goes to the winner, and after mating immediately lays tiny eggs in a dug hole. After four months, a newborn appears in the world, which weighs less than 5-8 grams. By the way, by weight, it is less than a quail egg, which reaches 10-12 g.
The miniature turtle can be found in South African regions, usually in dry forests and scrub savannahs. Currently, reptiles are listed in the Red Book as an almost extinct species. Until recently the tribes, inhabiting the Republic of South Africa, used these animals for medical purposes.
The smallest fish in the world
Compiling a rating of the smallest animals in the world, one cannot ignore the group of fish. According to the latest up-to-date information, there are two representatives of the group in the Guinness Book of Records. The first, called Paedocypris progenetica, belongs to the carp family and is found in the peat bogs of Indonesia. The second one (Photocorybus spiniceps) lives in tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans at depths of 1000 meters, where there is practically no sunlight. An adult reaches 7.9-10.3 millimeters.
Males are distinguished by unique spots between the eyes and on the crown. It is important to note that until the 21st century, scientists did not study the fauna of peat bogs, referring to the high acidity of the water, which prevents the formation of any life forms. However, in 2006 they managed to make an incredible discovery in the form of a tiny fish from the carp family. Such a surprise from nature has become a real phenomenon of the underwater world. The body length of the female reaches 5-7 centimeters, and the males - 6-9 millimeters.
The smallest mammals
In the list of the smallest mammals there are unique animals that may seem like a miniature copy of their larger counterparts or characters from a science fiction movie about other worlds. Due to their amazing size, these little animals freely climb plants, thin branches of trees and catch insects in the smallest depressions. Often their size is comparable to the size of a bumblebee.
So, let's highlight the smallest mammals that are found in the world.
dwarf couscous
And although pygmy couscous looks more like tiny chinchillas, it belongs to the marsupial family and is compared with kangaroos. The length of an adult couscous varies between 5-10 centimeters and weighs 10-45 grams.
Like other relatives, these tiny creatures are used to being nocturnal. Using a flexible tail, they calmly hang upside down from tree branches. The main range is Australia, Papua New Guinea and the islands of Indonesia. With the advent of winter cold, the animal forms a dense ball, and closing its eyes with its ears, it goes into hibernation. Due to the decrease in metabolism, there is no need for nutrition. For wintering, there is enough nutrients collected during the warm season, which are found in the sebaceous deposits of the tail.
American shrew mole
The length of this mammal reaches 6 centimeters, while the tail grows up to 2.5 cm. The tiny fluffy is found in the forests of the northwestern United States and in Canada, in places with high humidity.
The animal has a long, flat-tipped snout, characteristic of other moles, and sharp claws that allow it to quickly dig deep tunnels underground. Unlike relatives leading an underground lifestyle, these miniature moles often come to the surface of the earth in search of food. They often prey on insects by climbing bushes and plants.
Etruscan mouse shrew
The weight of an adult Etruscan shrew mouse is 2 grams. The body length is 3.5 centimeters, while the tail reaches 1/3 of the body length.
The mouse stands out with an impressive appetite, because. she is able to eat a lot of food, about twice her weight. And this is every day. Also, the crumbs are characterized by an increased heart rate, about 25 heart beats per second or 1500 beats per minute. For example, the human heart makes 72-80 beats per minute.
Most often, the Etruscan mouse is found in the wet fields of southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
The smallest birds
Among the smallest birds in the world, the following types can be distinguished:
- Cuban bird-bee - hummingbird. It is considered the smallest bird in the world and the smallest warm-blooded animal. The length of an adult male from beak to tail hardly reaches 5 centimeters. Females are slightly larger, although when compared to butterflies or beetles, they still seem like real crumbs. The size of the bird is slightly larger than the size of a bee, due to which the hummingbird began to be called the “bird-bee”. The distinctive features of the hummingbird are the incredible speed of the flapping of wings, which reaches 80 times per second, the bright color of shiny feathers and the sharp beak - a tool for extracting flower nectar.
- Korolki. They are found in the forests of the Russian Federation and are considered the smallest songbirds in the world. They can only live in the wild, so any attempt to keep them in a cage leads to the death of the chicks. The bird needs a constant search for food in the form of larvae, small insects and their eggs. You can’t feed the beetle with anything, because. his diet should be balanced. The body length of the beetle reaches nine centimeters, and the weight is 5-6 grams.
- Wrens are another species of the smallest birds in the world, which reach 10.7 centimeters in length. These birds differ from the aforementioned kinglets only in body weight. These little ones feed on spiders and other small insects. They live in Russia.