WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- Scientists have taken the idea of a film short down to new levels. Molecular levels.


Each frame measures 45 by 25 nanometers -- there are 25 million nanometers in an inch -- but hugely magnified, the movie (http://bit.ly/17ZmHIt ) is reminiscent of early video games, particularly when the boy bounces the ball off the side of the frame accompanied by simple music and sound effects.

The movie is titled "A Boy and His Atom."













Associated Press Science Writer Seth Borenstein contributed to this report from Washington.

This image provide May 1, 2013 by IBM(International Business Machines) shows a still from &quot;A Boy and His Atom: The World&#8217;s Smallest Movie.&quot;
This image provide May 1, 2013 by IBM(International Business Machines) shows a still from "A Boy and His Atom: The World's Smallest Movie." IBM scientists Wednesday unveiled what they called "the world's smallest movie," which tracks the movement of atoms magnified 100 million times. The film, "A Boy and His Atom," depicts a character named Atom who befriends a single atom and follows him on a journey of dancing and bouncing that helps explain the science behind data storage. "Capturing, positioning and shaping atoms to create an original motion picture on the atomic-level is a precise science and entirely novel," said Andreas Heinrich, a scientist at IBM Research. "At IBM, researchers don't just read about science, we do it. This movie is a fun way to share the atomic-scale world while opening up a dialogue with students and others on the new frontiers of math and science." To make the movie, the atoms were moved with an IBM-invented scanning tunneling microscope, a device which earned its inventors a Nobel Prize. AFP PHOTO / HANDOUT / IBM == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE / MANDATORY CREDIT: "AFP PHOTO / IBM / NO SALES / NO MARKETING / NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS / DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS ==HO/AFP/Getty Images ( HO )