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.entry-content figure { color: #1487c9!important; } </style> <div class="wrapper"> <div class="row single-content"> <div class="col-md-1 share-sticky"> <ul class="share-panel"> <li> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://physicsworld.com/a/noodles-of-fun-as-uk-researchers-create-the-worlds-thinnest-spaghetti/" aria-label="Share on Facebook"><i class="fa fa-facebook" aria-hidden="true"></i></a> </li> <li> <a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=At 372 nanometres, the “nanopasta” is not for consumption https://physicsworld.com/a/noodles-of-fun-as-uk-researchers-create-the-worlds-thinnest-spaghetti/" aria-label="Share on Twitter"> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" shape-rendering="geometricPrecision" text-rendering="geometricPrecision" image-rendering="optimizeQuality" fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" viewBox="0 0 512 462.799"><path fill-rule="nonzero" fill="currentColor" d="M403.229 0h78.506L310.219 196.04 512 462.799H354.002L230.261 301.007 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class="col-md-7 col-sm-7 the-content equalize-sidebar"> <ul class="hero-top-banner__category"> <li><a href="https://physicsworld.com/c/materials/" style="color: #1487c9;">Materials</a></li> <li><a href="https://physicsworld.com/l/blog/" style="color: #1487c9;">Blog</a></li> </ul> <div class="single-header single-sponsored-header"> <h1 class="single-header__heading">Noodles of fun as UK researchers create the world’s thinnest spaghetti</h1> <div class="single-header__meta"> 22 Nov 2024 <a href="https://physicsworld.com/author/michael-banks/">Michael Banks</a> </div> </div> <article id="post-118382" class="post-118382 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-materials article-type-blog"> <div class="entry-content">    <figure class="thumbnail" style="color: #1487c9"> <a href="https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Low-Res_spaghetti-closeup.webp" data-fancybox data-src="https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Low-Res_spaghetti-closeup.webp" data-caption="Penne for your thoughts: not visible with the naked eye, the spaghetti is only 372 nanometres across (courtesy: Beatrice Britton / Adam Clancy)"> <img src="https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Low-Res_spaghetti-closeup-635x476.webp" srcset=" https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Low-Res_spaghetti-closeup.webp 700w, https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Low-Res_spaghetti-closeup-635x476.webp 635w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 635w" alt="thinnest pasta" title="Low-Res_spaghetti closeup" width="635" height="476" /> </a> <script type="application/json"> "Penne for your thoughts: not visible with the naked eye, the spaghetti is only 372 nanometres across (courtesy: Beatrice Britton \/ Adam Clancy)" </script> <figcaption>Penne for your thoughts: not visible with the naked eye, the spaghetti is only 372 nanometres across (courtesy: Beatrice Britton / Adam Clancy)</figcaption> </figure> <p>While spaghetti might have a diameter of a couple of millimetres and <em>capelli d’angelo </em>(angel hair) is around 0.8 mm, the thinnest known pasta to date is thought to be <em>su filindeu </em>(threads of God), which is made by hand in Sardinia, Italy, and is about 0.4 mm in diameter.</p> <p>That is, however, until <a href="https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2024/na/d4na00601a#:~:text=Nanopasta%3A%20electrospinning%20nanofibers%20of%20white%20flour%E2%80%A0&text=By%20dissolving%2017%20wt%25%20flour,372%20nm%20fibers%20of%20pasta.">researchers in the UK created</a> spaghetti coming in at a mindboggling 372 nanometres (0.000372 mm) across (<em>Nanoscale Adv.</em> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1039/D4NA00601A">doi:10.1039/D4NA00601A</a>).</p> <span class="mpu align-right" aria-hidden="true"><div id='div-gpt-ad-3759129-1'class="advert" > <script> googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-3759129-1'); }); </script> </div></span> <p>About 200 times thinner than a human hair, the “nanopasta” is made using a technique called electrospinning, in which the threads of flour and liquid were pulled through the tip of a needle by an electric charge.</p> <p>“To make spaghetti, you push a mixture of water and flour through metal holes,” notes <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/chemistry/people/adam-clancy">Adam Clancy</a> from University College London (UCL). “In our study, we did the same except we pulled our flour mixture through with an electrical charge. It’s literally spaghetti but much smaller.”</p> <p>While each individual strand is too thin to see directly with the human eye or with a visible light microscope, they used the threads to form a mat of nanofibers about two centimetres across, creating in effect a mini lasagne sheet.<article class='editors-pick'> <a href='https://physicsworld.com/a/how-to-cook-pasta-the-scientific-way/'> <div class='editors-pick__image'> <div class='editors-pick__more'>Read more</div> <img decoding="async" width="160" height="90" src="https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Pasta-types-1027777328-iStock_Rawf8-160x90.jpg" class="attachment-list-image size-list-image wp-post-image" alt="Photo of pasta varieties" srcset="https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Pasta-types-1027777328-iStock_Rawf8-160x90.jpg 160w, https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Pasta-types-1027777328-iStock_Rawf8-317x177.jpg 317w, https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Pasta-types-1027777328-iStock_Rawf8-211x118.jpg 211w, https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Pasta-types-1027777328-iStock_Rawf8-768x429.jpg 768w, https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Pasta-types-1027777328-iStock_Rawf8-1024x572.jpg 1024w, https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Pasta-types-1027777328-iStock_Rawf8-716x400.jpg 716w, https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Pasta-types-1027777328-iStock_Rawf8-720x402.jpg 720w, https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Pasta-types-1027777328-iStock_Rawf8-635x355.jpg 635w, https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Pasta-types-1027777328-iStock_Rawf8-350x196.jpg 350w, https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Pasta-types-1027777328-iStock_Rawf8-300x168.jpg 300w, https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Pasta-types-1027777328-iStock_Rawf8-257x144.jpg 257w, https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Pasta-types-1027777328-iStock_Rawf8-128x72.jpg 128w, https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Pasta-types-1027777328-iStock_Rawf8-732x409.jpg 732w" sizes="(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px" /> </div> <h4 class='editors-pick__title'><p>Don’t go boiling mad when you discover these scientific secrets to perfect pasta!</p> </h4> </a> </article></p> <p>The researchers are now investigating how the starch-based nanofibers could be used for medical purposes such as wound dressing, for scaffolds in tissue regrowth and even in drug delivery. “We want to know, for instance, how quickly it disintegrates, how it interacts with cells, and if you could produce it at scale,” says UCL materials scientist <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/pharmacy/people/professor-gareth-williams">Gareth Williams</a>.</p> <p>But don’t expect to see nanopasta hitting the supermarket shelves anytime soon. “I don’t think it’s useful as pasta, sadly, as it would overcook in less than a second, before you could take it out of the pan,” adds Williams. 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