![Prof Poliakoff Prof Poliakoff](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Qf0JGINxXDe2D1JOv4i_QYpF9swWjykMwCMGDLgQoKU8IWL7JVy6XDtUgTJbquNhvwtnUPYV7Ckc4l12TEyWwtEZFc1NVaUr3Uayawxg-nKOKX8lpOHXhzkPM0nnyCEWOJsNqXpO1XZC/s1600/Poliakoff.jpg)
When it came to finding a birthday present for the Professor of Chemistry, they took a hair from his head (he has plenty to spare), wrote a copy of the periodic table onto it using a beam of gallium ions, and handed it to him in a sample tube.
The video shows the entire process and is entertaining to watch.