Dec. 4, 2002 — The book that regales with tales of the longest mustache, largest abacus and most couples kissing simultaneously has sized and prized a thermometer that uses carbon nanotubes.

The Guinness World Records book said the thermometer developed by Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science is the world’s smallest thermometer. The government institute unveiled its device in February in the journal Nature, and applied for the record the same month, according to Kyodo News.

The thermometer, which measures about 85 nanometers in diameter and several thousand nanometers in length, can be used to take temperatures in capillary blood vessels and detect abnormalities in computer chips, the report said.

The scientists created it by filling a tiny carbon tube with gallium, a metallic element with a melting point just above room temperature. The thermometer is so small that temperatures on it must be read with an electron microscope.