2013/01/14
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Electron micrograph of a squid’s suckers. The white fang-like rings are approximately 400 micrometres in diameter and are used by the squid to latch on to prey.
2013/01/07
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svlc:
Apparently forget-me-not pollen grains are among the smallest of any plant species.
2012/12/28
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>Best microscope photographs of 2012
These incredible microscope photographs are some of the winners of Olympus Bioscapes Digital Imaging Competition. The contest consisted of almost 2,000 photographs hailing from 62 countries. Each image is stunning in its own way, and it just goes to show that sometimes the smallest things can be the most fascinating.
2012/12/10
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>Pollen, seeds and fruit under the microscope
If you’re a photographer and you like to get really, really close to things we may have found you someone new to aspire to. British professor and photographer Rob Kesseler is taking macro to a whole new level with his latest series of photographs that look at nature under a microscope.
The specimens are coated in a fine layer of gold and then photographed under the microscope, before being digitally manipulated to amplify clarity and intricacy. The final results are pollen, seeds and fruit as you’ve never seen them before – harmoniously bridging the gap between art and science.
2012/12/09
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Beyond their pretty remarkable ability to “think” and problem-solve, slime molds are just plain beautiful.
John Bonner, a professor emeritus at Princeton, has been studying them for seventy years. He’s been fascinated by the ability of this “bag of amoebae encased in a thin slime sheath” to operate like a simple brain, despite its biological simplicity. He’s used the gooey little guys to further the study of evolution and development for over half a century, and some of the images he’s collected are stunning.
The GIFs above are from this collection of half-century-old film clips captured by a young Bonner, showing the life cycle of a slime mold. Lastly, you absolutely do not want to miss this gorgeous new collection of close-up slime mold photos SciAm’s Alex Wild.
Old and new, these little creatures are as beautiful in form as they are amazing in biology.
Check my archive for today’s other slime mold posts!!
(via thescienceofreality)
2012/12/08
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Various alcohols under an electron microscope. This has certainly reinforced my love of beer.
“What you can see in the magnified pictures are the crystalised carbohydrates that have become sugars and glucose. Each image was created by using a pipette of each particular drink and squeezing a drop onto a slide. Then the droplets are allowed to dry out and the slide is placed under the microscope and a picture taken.” -Lester Hutt, founder of Bevshots, who created these beauties.
For those who may not know (thanks, Wikipedia!): “An electron microscope uses a beam of electrons to illuminate a specimen and produce a magnified image… The electron microscope uses electrostatic and electromagnetic ”lenses” to control the electron beam and focus it to form an image. These lenses are analogous to but different from the glass lenses of an optical microscope that form a magnified image by focusing light on or through the specimen. Electron microscopes are used to observe a wide range of biological and inorganic specimens includingmicroorganisms, cells, large molecules, biopsy samples, metals, and crystals.”
2012/12/08
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Marigold reflected quarter section, section taken by an electron microscope-Robert Kessler.
