Tag Archives: small things

Brilliantly Dotty! by Celia Berrell

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Quantum just means very small.
A quantity so tiny,
electrons in its atoms will
behave constrained and tidy.

Quantum Dots are very small.
They’re nano-sized or less.
When energized by radiant light,
they vividly fluoresce.

Many modern TV screens
now use such Quantum Dots,
creating glowing hues for scenes
from brightly coloured spots.

Carbon Dots fluoresce in red.
If silkworms on those dots are fed,
they’ll glow in daylight – not in red …
their skin and silk glow PINK instead!

First published in Double Helix #70 magazine by CSIRO Publishing.

Image from Pixabay

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Poems for

National Science

Week 2025

SCIENCE RHYMES, hosted by Celia Berrell, are seeking your rhyming science poetry about SOMETHING SMALLER THAN YOU to feature in the SCIENCE RHYMES ITTYVERSE blog this August to celebrate National Science Week.  The free PDF called SMALL TINY NANO is available through this Science Week Competition Event and on the Science Rhymes / National Science Week page to help with some ideas.  

Please email your submissions by Monday 28th July to: feedback@sciencerhymes.com.au.  We prefer poems of 1 to 4 verses that rhyme.  Children are especially encouraged to participate: just make sure you correspond via an adult’s email address so we can reply.  Poems authored by children will be acknowledged by first name only (with School name, or town and State where applicable).  Anyone using ChatGPT to create poems: please acknowledge ChatGPT or AI equivalent as co-author of your submission.

Thank you to all ACP poets who participate in these annual Science Rhymes / Science Week projects!
Best Wishes,
Celia

Minuscule Madness by James Aitchison

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I’ve been collecting tiny things,

like frozen fleas and freckles,

and a book a centimetre long

written by a man named Eccles.

In a jar I have a nano newt,

and a full stop in another,

and a dingbat’s DNA

I’m saving for my brother.

Tiny footprints made by mice,

fingerprints of butterflies,

a spare hair from a busy hare,

and seeds I found in apple pies.

The only question really is,

what will I do with all this stuff?

I’ve got so many tiny things,

my room’s not big enough!

Photo from Pexels by srini