The Sperm Whale (Darkfield)

The Sperm Whale (Darkfield)

We spotted this Sperm whale swimming in a channel just off the Coast of RAM on an Allen-Bradley/Rockwell node adapter integrated circuit. This 85 micron-long polysilicon cetacean symbolizes the larger mammalian specimen that slammed into the planet Magrathea in Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and shares space on the same chip with Don't Panic, the number 42, and the cricket wicket. Michael Philippi did the artwork and layout for this silicon doodle, and designer Bob Weppler, who provided us with this chip, engineered the on-board processor and firmware.

View this silicon artwork under differential interference contrast and brightfield illumination.


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