As Lewis Black harangued about last night on The Daily Show , there is some seriously silly newly-minted Barack Obama merchandise. Like those horribly cheesy collectible plates , and all the newspapers in the land that have become "November 5th Edition" souvenir stores. And now, from beautifully blue Michigan, come the tiniest and perhaps most "really reaching here, guys" of Obama-associated products. They're called Nanobamas and they're each smaller than a grain of sand. And, OK, they're not technically for sale, but they're still weird! A mechanical engineering professor at the University of Michigan created the minuscule Obama portraits "to raise awareness of nanotechnology and science." Yes, there needs to be more awareness of science! Like about what science is and why it can be used, for some reason, to make wee portraits of our newest president-elect. The coolest part of the whole project, though? How cool everyone who worked on them is:
"Developments like this are an excellent way to bring the concepts of nanotechnology to a broader audience," said [creator John] Hart, who made the portraits with his colleagues by working late on a Friday evening. "Also, we thought it would be fun."