What’s the smallest thing in the universe? - Jonathan Butterworth?

The smallest things in the universe are called particles, and they're so tiny you can't see them even with the biggest microscope.

Imagine you have a glass of water. To most people, it looks like just plain old water. But if you look really closely, really closely, it's made up of little building blocks called molecules. And those molecules are made up of even tinier things called atoms, and inside atoms there are particles like protons, neutrons, and electrons.

Now imagine one of those particles is as big as a marble. If you zoom in on that marble, it's still made up of even smaller pieces, like tiny marbles inside the big one. These smallest pieces are called quarks, and they’re what make up protons and neutrons.

Scientists think quarks might be the smallest things we’ve found so far. But maybe there’s something even tinier out there, waiting to be discovered, just like how you can always find a smaller toy inside your favorite one!

They use special machines called particle accelerators, which are like giant playgrounds for particles. They smash particles together at super high speeds, and when they crash, they create new particles that we can study, it’s like watching a big explosion of tiny toys flying everywhere!