For the Past 16 years, microchip designers have been hiding teeny-tiny pictures in their chips. It was a secret practice until recently, when Florida State University researcher Michael Davidson, an avid microscopist, ran across one by accident. He peered into his microscope and saw a smiling face staring back at him. Guess who it was. Waldo! Among a sea of faces, including Daffy Ducks' mug shot.
Later Davidson learned that the practice was common, and has searched out and photographed over 60 secret microchip images. And, of course, the Site-of-the-Day today is a gallery of these images. There are birds, crossword puzzles, license plates, Godzilla, Flowers, Mickey Mouse, boats, space shuttles . . . you'll love it. There are some good stories in the descriptions, too.
Don't go to the "Photo Gallery" link to find them. Just scroll down. They're at the bottom of the page. But if you do go to Photo Gallery, you'll find
another collection -- photomicrographs of molecules, gems, flavorings, moon rocks, and a HUGE collection of others.