National Geographic Kids Sets 9 GUINNE WORLD RECORDS Title For Smallest Magazine Cover

WASHINGTON (April 25, 2014)-National Geographic Kids today claimed its ninth GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for the Smallest Magazine Cover, using technology from IBM, at the USA Science & Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C.

To create the record-setting cover, IBM scientists invented a tiny chisel with a heatable silicon tip 100,000 times smaller than a sharpened pencil point. Using this nano-sized tip, which creates patterns and structures on a microscopic scale, scientists etched the magazine cover onto a polymer, the same substance that creates plastic. The resulting magazine cover is so small at 11 14 micrometers that 2,000 of them can fit on a grain of salt.

To select which cover to shrink down, National Geographic Kids asked its readers to vote online for their favorite. The March 2014 cover, which featured panda twins, earned the most votes, and the microscopic version, visible through a Zeiss microscope, was unveiled at the USA Science & Engineering Festival. It will be on display at the National Geographic Kids booth at the festival this weekend, April 26 and 27.

National Geographic Kids magazine subscribers loved this cover, so it makes sense that a broader audience would vote it as their favorite of 2014 as well. And by helping to set this Guinness World Records title, they're learning about science while having fun, which is what Kids is all about, said Rachel Buchholz, vice president and editor of National Geographic Kids.

National Geographic Kids' eight previous GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS titles are: Longest Line of Footprints (10,932 prints measuring 2 miles, set in 2004); Largest Collection of Plush Toys (2,304 stuffed animals, set in 2006); Longest Chain of Shoes (10,512 shoes, set in 2008); Most Items of Clothing Collected for Recycling (33,088 items of denim clothing, set in 2009); Most People Doing Jumping Jacks in 24 Hours (300,265 jumpers, set in 2011), Largest Collection of Shoes to Recycle (16,407 shoes, set in 2013); Most People Running 100 Meters in 24 hours (30,914 runners, set in 2013); and Largest Online Photo Album (104,022 pictures, set in 2013).

About National Geographic Kids

National Geographic Kids inspires young adventurers to explore the world through award-winning magazines, books, apps, games, toys, videos, events and a website and is the only kids brand with a world-class scientific organization at its core. National Geographic Kids magazine (10 issues per year) and Little Kids magazine (six issues per year) are photo-driven publications available on newsstands or by subscription in print and on tablets. The award-winning website kids.nationalgeographic.com excites kids about the planet through games, videos, contests, photos, quizzes and blogs about cultures, animals and destinations. National Geographic Kids Books is the leading nonfiction publisher with 60 titles each year, including The New York Times best-seller Kids Almanac. National Geographic Kids safely engages kids to learn through digital play in the virtual animal world of Animal Jam. National Geographic Kids apps bring the best of National Geographic Kids to smartphones and tablets.

About IBM Research

For more information, visit www.research.ibm.com.

About GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS (GWR)

GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS (www.guinnessworldrecords.com) is the global authority on record-breaking achievements. First published in 1955, the annual Guinness World Records book has become one of the biggest-selling copyright titles of all time, selling 120 million copies to date in 22 languages and in more than 100 countries. The internationally renowned brand is now also available across a number of platforms - GWR's global television shows are watched by 250 million viewers annually; digital media and online record-processing services attract more than 50 million visitors a year; and the live events team annually entertains and inspires 1.5 million people around the world. GWR receives more than 1,000 applications each week and has a specialized team of multi-language record managers and adjudicators who travel the globe to verify official record attempts. GWR also has a commercial division (Guinness World Records Corporate) that offers accessible record-breaking business solutions to other organizations and brands.

NOTE: Photos are available at https://ibm.biz/worldssmallestcoverphotos; b-roll is available at https://ibm.biz/worldssmallestcover; and a YouTube video can be viewed at https://ibm.biz/worldssmallestcovervideo.

LINK:	http://press.nationalgeographic.com/2014/04/25/national-geographic-kid...
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