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Human BodySurprise 5/5Difficulty 4/5Reviewed on September 13, 2026

The world's smallest tattoo has been made on a tardigrade.

Why it is true

In 2025, researchers used electron beams to engrave dots on a thin layer of ice covering a tardigrade's body. The tattoo, only a few micrometres wide, is the smallest ever made and demonstrates the technology's potential for marking microscopic organisms, including bacteria.

Source: Cell

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