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People who make toys, dollhouses, or other miniatures know that certain laws of physics apply that make miniaturization difficult. Certain laws of biology apply, too, but the fairy wasp seems to do an end-run around some of those rules. How else could an insect exist that is smaller than many single-celled creatures? Some are revealed by Alexey Polilov from Lomonosov Moscow State University, who has studied these tiny wasps for years.
Polilov found that M.mymaripenne has one of the smallest nervous systems of any insect, consisting of just 7,400 neurons. For comparison, the common housefly has 340,000 and the honeybee has 850,000. And yet, with a hundred times fewer neurons, the fairy wasp can fly, search for food, and find the right places to lay its eggs.
On top of that Polilov found that over 95 per cent of the wasps’s neurons don’t have a nucleus. The nucleus is the command centre of a cell, the structure that sits in the middle and hoards a precious cache of DNA. Without it, the neurons shouldn’t be able to replenish their vital supply of proteins. They shouldn’t work. Until now, intact neurons without a nucleus have never been described in the wild.
And yet, the fairy wasp has thousands of them. As it changes from a larva into an adult, it destroys the majority or its neural nuclei until just a few hundred are left. The rest burst apart, saving space inside the adult’s crowded head. But the wasp doesn’t seem to suffer for this loss. As an adult, it lives for around five days, which is actually longer than many other bigger wasps. As Zen Faulkes writes, “It’s possible that the adult life span is short enough that the nucleus can make all the proteins the neuron needs to function for five days during the pupal stage.”
There are other tricks tiny insects use to maintain life in miniature, which you can read at Not Exactly Rocket Science. Link
T Zero made this arm sculpture from the movie Terminator 2: Judgement Day out of spare parts. Then he gives you the process so you can make your own. However, you should be aware that it’s only two inches tall! Still, having on of these on your desk would be pretty cool. Link -via Everlasting Blort
You know how people sometimes put a quarter into a picture with another object to show its size? What if you had a really, really big coin for that purpose? The Norwegian design studio Skrekkøgle makes (and sells) giant coins so that you can make everyday objects look like miniatures! Link | Artist’s site -via reddit
How cute is this? The World’s Smallest Postal Service began in 2008. Postmaster Lea Redmond started a tiny letter transcription service for patrons of San Francisco cafes and shops. Now an online service has been added. Normal size letters are transcribed by hand on a miniature, wooden roll-top desk into miniature script and sealed with a tiny monogrammed wax seal. A mini magnifying glass is included to help the postal worker decipher the tiny print.
Link - Via Book Of Joe
Graham Short managed to engrave three words on the edge of a razor blade. You can only see it at 400x magnification (or by going to the link to see a larger picture). The 64-year-old Short, who admits he is obsessed with miniature engraving, made about 150 attempts before he got the engraving right.
He was only able to work at night, when traffic vibrations are at a minimum, with his right arm bound to the arm of his chair with a luggage strap to minimise unwanted movement. He uses a stethoscope to monitor his heart, attempting a stroke of the letter only between beats, when his body is perfectly still. He swims 10,000 metres a day and can slow his heart rate to 30 beats a minute.
He worked from midnight to 5.30am most nights of the week, for seven months on his razor blade. On a good night he’d manage three minuscule letters.
The Wilkinson’s Sword blade is now available to buy, with a £47,500 price tag.
Link -via J-Walk Blog
(Image credit: Cascade)
Artist Ji Lee creates miniature rooms of furniture, and installs them on ceilings!
People fill the floor of their homes with furniture and walls with paintings and pictures. So why are the ceilings left empty? Decorating ceilings was a celebrated art form in the past centuries that somehow got lost through the reductionism of modernism. People don’t look at the ceiling anymore. It’s a dead space. So I wanted to bring a small wink to this space. I also liked the idea that somehow there’s a parallel world which coexists with ours.
One of the installations in Lee’s Parallel Worlds project includes R2D2 and a hippo! Link -via Laughing Squid
Canal St. Cross-Section (2009-2010)
What’s that giant quarter doing in the Canal Street subway station? Actually, the entire diorama is a realistic miniature urban sculpture by Alan Wolfson. It took him 18 months from start to finish, but the result is simply amazing.
Check out the rest of his fantastic miniature sculptures here: Link – via Nerdcore
Cuban-American artist Elsa Mora created this lovely miniature dollhouse featuring artist Frida Kahlo. You can see pictures of the details, as well as a similar work called Frida Kahlo’s Studio and other dollhouse projects in her dollhouse gallery. Link -via Everlasting Blort
Take a look at this lovely and cute collection of miniature copies of some animals, like the horse. Several breeds of horse are less than three feet tall!
People sometimes train them as service animals (be the first on your block with a “Seeing Eye Horse”), and even as house pets, since I presume they make tiny road apples. However, they are still horses when it comes down to it, and their natural reaction to being scared is to run like hell, so they won’t be replacing your Black Lab anytime soon for those long walks in the woods playing fetch.
From the Upcoming 
ueue, submitted by euphoriajoca.
Photo: Mathew Albanese
This looks like a real volcano, but it’s actually one of Matthew Albanese’s finely detailed models made out of tile grout, cotton, phosphorous ink, and lit from within by 6-60 watt light bulbs. Other realistic shots include the surface of Mars from paprika, and a lake vista using a common glass patio tabletop. In his own words:
My work involves the construction of small-scale meticulously detailed models using various materials and objects to create emotive landscapes. Every aspect from the construction to the lighting of the final model is painstakingly pre-planned using methods which force the viewers perspective when photographed from a specific angle. Using a mixture of photographic techniques such as scale, depth of field, white balance and lighting I am able to drastically alter the appearance of my materials.
The 2nd Annual Golden Gate Express Garden Railway is open at San Francisco’s Conservatory of Flowers. The garden features miniature versions of the city’s most recognizable landmarks, buildings, and of course, a train! Plus, they are all made of recycled materials. The exhibition is open until April 18th, but if you can’t go, you can see more pictures at Laughing Squid. Link
(image credit: Todd Lappin)
A tiny breed of pig is born the size of a teacup and is the hot new pet among British celebrities. The micro pig is about nine ounces and the size of a teacup when born, but can sell for up to £700. Breeder Jane Croft has given up her former career to breed the tiny pigs full-time.
At two years old they are fully grown and weigh in around 40-65lb and are about knee height at 12-16in tall.
They can live for up to 18 years, but make popular pets as they are low maintenance, quiet and surprisingly clean.
‘Micro pigs make fantastic pets as they are very low maintenance. You don’t have to take them for walks and they have very few health issues,’ said Miss Croft.
‘They don’t make much noise, they are easy to toilet train and once they have bonded with you they are very loving
The pigs are also good pets for people who are allergic to dogs or cats. Link -via the Presurfer
(image credit: Geoff Robinson Photography)
This 18th Century French Chateau is only 1:12 scale (your 6 foot tall liveried footman would be represented as 6 inches tall here). The chateau was the central display in the 2009 South Australian Miniatures Enthusiasts (SAME) Dollhouse and Miniatures Festival. Each room was made seperately by club members and put together for the weekend. It represents a year’s work. The chateau features servant’s quarters, two chapels, bedrooms, music rooms, sitting rooms, dining rooms, a library, and more! A lot of effort went into this group project.
The photos are spread over seven blog posts. I am linking to the final post, as it has a picture of one of the whole sides of the house. The rest can be found by the photo links below the article.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by 
You’d be excused if you ask why we’re posting a photo of somebody’s kitchen – what makes nifty is that it’s not a real kitchen; you’re looking at part of a highly detailed 1:12 miniature house, painstakingly created by Josje.
Check out the entire gallery here (complete with some build pics):
Link – via fluffybricks
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Maeveone.
My encaustic media is a carefully controlled combination of all natural beeswax and damar resin. Damar resin is from trees that grow in the East Indies. When melted and mixed with the beeswax, it produces a harder, more durable material, with a distinct luminous quality.
See more at her Etsy shop. Link
Peterson is also giving away one of her drawings at her blog. Link
