Miniature

We've seen some tiny campers over the years but nothing quite as tiny as the newest member of VW's storied van fleet. Shrunken down to fractional scale, this ID. Buzz is more than just a toy, working as part of the world's largest model railroad.

Whether you're furnishing a hyper-realistic dollhouse or you just like marveling at miniaturized tech, the TinyTV 2 may be just what you're looking for. And if it's still too big for your liking, you might want to check out its even smaller sibling, the TinyTV Mini.

Researchers at Northwestern University in Illinois have demonstrated the world's smallest remote-controlled walking robot. These tiny machines can bend, twist, crawl, walk, turn and jump without hydraulics or electricity, using shape-memory alloys.

If you're like a lot of people, every so often you'll find yourself needing a screwdriver without having one to hand. The Titanium Pocket Bit is a satisfying solution to that problem.

Researchers at the University of Texas have produced a miniature version of a component essential to multi-frequency radio that may well revolutionize the design and construction of cellphones, transceivers, and other portable communications devices.

Researchers have developed a completely self-contained radio-on-a-chip device that comprises receiving and transmitting antennas and a central processor. Very cheap to manufacture and powered by ambient radio waves, it could give the "Internet of Things" a serious kick start.

Professor J.C. Chiao and his postdoc Dr. Smitha Rao of the University of Texas at Arlington have developed a MEMS-based nickel alloy windmill so small that 10 could be mounted on a single grain of rice. They are aimed at very-small-scale energy harvesting applications.

The Swiss watchmaking firm Jaquet Droz has short-circuited the 18th and 21st centuries with the Charming Bird. It's a wristwatch that includes a tiny automaton bird inside the crystal, that sings and dances at the press of a button.

The LoFi-Fisheye Digicam micro camera shoots HD video, snaps up to 12-megapixel images, and sports a high quality glass fish-eye lens.

A Japanese company is scanning people to create realistic miniatures using a 3D color printer.

Szymon Klimek fabricates the most amazing miniature electromechanical artwork you are ever likely to see.

The PFCA is a pinhead-sized lens-free camera, that could prove very useful in scientific research and electronics.