# How small is the smallest microchip? How large are vaccine needles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2021, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-is-the-smallest-microchip-how-large-are-vaccine-needles/949218 "2021-08-20T14:07:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-is-the-smallest-microchip-how-large-are-vaccine-needles/949218/61 "2021-08-23T06:33:18Z")
And, just as coincidentally, [“micro” comes from](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro-) . . . > [@Wikipedia](#): > > the prefix comes from the [Greek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek) [μικρός](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%BC%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%81%CF%8C%CF%82) ( **mikrós** ), meaning “small” Prescient, those ancient Greeks were! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-is-the-smallest-microchip-how-large-are-vaccine-needles/949218/62 "2021-08-23T11:19:18Z")
And while we’re at it, \Omega and \omicron, “Omega” and “omicron”, are literally “Big O” and “Little O”. > [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > There is no unit, metric or imperial that makes sense with a _micro_ prefix. Not true: A microchip could very easily be a square one micromile on a side. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-is-the-smallest-microchip-how-large-are-vaccine-needles/949218/63 "2021-08-23T11:22:12Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > And note how “mega-” has been used to mean “anything really really big”. Or indeed: _macro_ Micro, macro, mini, mega are standard prefixes in everyday English for “small” or “big”. It’s pretty clear that the term microprocessor is using the term in the everyday sense. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-is-the-smallest-microchip-how-large-are-vaccine-needles/949218/64 "2021-08-23T11:24:23Z")
Very interesting! Thank you! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-is-the-smallest-microchip-how-large-are-vaccine-needles/949218/65 "2021-08-23T11:41:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And while we’re at it, \Omega Ω\Omega and \omicron ο\omicron , “Omega” and “omicron”, are literally “Big O” and “Little O”. There was a chorus of "Oh!"s when our teacher in Greek class pointed that out to us. It’s funny that those words (mega and micron) could be hidden in the letter names with the addition of a single vowel. BTW, for those whose may not have studied Ancient Greek, the big and small refer not to the size of the letter form, but to how long the sound is voiced. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-is-the-smallest-microchip-how-large-are-vaccine-needles/949218/66 "2021-08-23T11:58:21Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > biggest manufacturer of needles and fish hooks I’m not sure I would buy either from a company that makes both. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-is-the-smallest-microchip-how-large-are-vaccine-needles/949218/67 "2021-08-23T13:13:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Not true: A microchip could very easily be a square one micromile on a side. Pah! About as sensible as a micro-fortnight or nano-acre. However both these actually have provenance. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-is-the-smallest-microchip-how-large-are-vaccine-needles/949218/68 "2021-08-23T14:15:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And while we’re at it, \Omega Ω\Omega and \omicron ο\omicron , “Omega” and “omicron”, are literally “Big O” and “Little O”. Well, _literally_, they are “O Big” and “O Little.” ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-is-the-smallest-microchip-how-large-are-vaccine-needles/949218/69 "2021-08-23T18:35:04Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > The microchip was named for the size of it’s external dimensions, not for it’s semiconductor feature size. Right, so feet have nothing to do with it. And come to think of it, I don’t recall anyone calling them microchips in the over 35 years I worked in the field. That’s a press term. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-is-the-smallest-microchip-how-large-are-vaccine-needles/949218/70 "2021-08-23T18:45:00Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > Not convinced this works either. The vast majority of chip dies are a few millimetres on a side. Big dies up to a centimetre on a side. When the term microchip was invented all wire bonding was done by hand, and the die was large enough to allow a human with a microscope to see the bonding and perform it. There is no unit, metric or imperial that makes sense with a _micro_ prefix. I worked on high end processors which often bumped up against the limits of what were manufacturable. I have a wafer floating around here somewhere with unpackaged parts and they are hardly micro. Back 30 years ago feature sizes could be expressed in micrometers, but now we’re down to nanometer. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2021, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-is-the-smallest-microchip-how-large-are-vaccine-needles/949218/72 "2021-08-24T07:04:46Z")
If anyone was going to implant chips in newborn humans, the underside of the heel would possibly be one of the worst, least practical locations, given the stresses it will be continually subjected to, from the moment the infant starts walking. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2021, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-is-the-smallest-microchip-how-large-are-vaccine-needles/949218/73 "2021-08-24T07:05:48Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > > [@Chronos](#): > > > > And while we’re at it, \Omega Ω\Omega and \omicron ο\omicron , “Omega” and “omicron”, are literally “Big O” and “Little O”. Oh-oh! Math text with the $'s doesn’t quote cleanly. Someone tell @codinghorror ! (I envision that fixing this will indeed be a coding horror.) ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2021, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-is-the-smallest-microchip-how-large-are-vaccine-needles/949218/74 "2021-08-24T08:27:13Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I have a wafer floating around here You will be horrified to know I have an early Itanic in a lump of clear plastic. SGI handed them out when we bought a big machine from them. I have a MIPS R10000 and a few late Alpha processors as well. Rather dates when I was in the HPC game. Also have the chipset from a 70’s era Sharp calculator. You can just about see the gates on that with the naked eye. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2021, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-is-the-smallest-microchip-how-large-are-vaccine-needles/949218/76 "2021-08-24T10:47:22Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > You will be horrified to know I have an early Itanic in a lump of clear plastic. For many years I had a ball point pen with a chip floating in it. That is, the top of the pen had a cylinder filled with water and a chip was floating in it. Well, it wasn’t actually floating, but it was immersed in it and would move around if I tilted the pen. I think it was a Motorola 68000, but am not sure. The pen finally ran out of ink and I think I disposed of it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2021, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-is-the-smallest-microchip-how-large-are-vaccine-needles/949218/77 "2021-08-24T14:43:35Z")
The constant motion and use provides power for the transmitter. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2021, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-is-the-smallest-microchip-how-large-are-vaccine-needles/949218/78 "2021-08-24T15:02:25Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/pITQruN_6PY/maxresdefault.jpg "OLBERMANN VS...VACCINE SKEPTICS, PARANOIDS, NEEDLE-FEARERS. Hey! Inject it directly into your veins!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pITQruN_6PY) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2021, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-is-the-smallest-microchip-how-large-are-vaccine-needles/949218/79 "2021-08-24T16:58:39Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > You will be horrified to know I have an early Itanic in a lump of clear plastic. SGI handed them out when we bought a big machine from them. I have a MIPS R10000 and a few late Alpha processors as well. Rather dates when I was in the HPC game. Not horrified at all. I worked on Merced, the first Itanic, for 6 quarters where we made maybe 2 quarters worth of progress. We were nowhere close to silicon when I left. That was the only project I ever worked on which was a true and utter disaster. I went from there to Sun which was in the process of kicking SGI’s butt, having bought the profitable part of Cray among other things. Most of my my wafers and silicon are various Sparcs. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2021, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-is-the-smallest-microchip-how-large-are-vaccine-needles/949218/80 "2021-08-24T19:00:59Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Indeed, it is freaking huge. Compare a 22 or 25 gauge used for a vaccine with a 15 gauge used for a dog microchip or human tongue pierce. Need pics ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2021, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-is-the-smallest-microchip-how-large-are-vaccine-needles/949218/81 "2021-08-24T21:30:51Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Are they saying it will transmit and/or receive data all on its own? If so, the microchip will need a power source. And there will need to be an antenna. > > Are they saying a local scanner will be able to read it? Sort of like RFID? If so, the chip will still need an antenna. RF antennas are not small. How does a pet’s microchip work? There’s no external antenna - nor is there a power source (unless it’s built into the chip; if so, what is its lifespan?). Ignoring the size issue - something as tiny as mentioned early on would be unlikely to be reachable through any kind of reader, under more than a small amount of skin and flab, while a pet-sized microchip must manage the job - some kind of reader such as is passed over a dog or cat to check for a chip would presumably do the same for a human. Just have these readers everywhere a human is likely to go. Sure, it’ll have to be something that can get close enough to a person to read the chip, but any time you go in or out of a public building chances are you get close enough to a doorway that the chip might be read. Just start installing readers at roughly shoulder height on both sides of every door in any public spaces. Airports are perfect - those security scanners could certainly be adapted to include a chip reader. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2021, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-is-the-smallest-microchip-how-large-are-vaccine-needles/949218/82 "2021-08-24T22:22:10Z")
Pet chips do include an antenna, and the antenna is the limiting factor in how small they can be. And the reader doesn’t need to be walk-through-a-doorway close; it needs to be held right up against the skin. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-is-the-smallest-microchip-how-large-are-vaccine-needles/949218.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-small-is-the-smallest-microchip-how-large-are-vaccine-needles/949218.md?page=5)