Looking At The World Through A Microscope (Part I)

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1944 days ago by Tom

When you get bored of looking at the world with your own eyes why not look at it trough a microscope?

It seems that there are two worlds – the world of huge things that we see everyday (a tree, a car, etc..) and a micro world of incredibly small things.

Just looking at the micro world takes our breath away – it’s incredibly rich, beautiful and active. I’ve heard that even science people after looking at the smallest corners of our world see a god here.

I could go on an on, but you just have to see it yourself. Happy scrolling down the list, and don’t forget to subscribe and wait for the part II. Update: part II is out!

Red Blood Cells

(Bamboo leaf for Annie Cavanagh, Scanning electron micrograph Wellcome Images)

Looking At The World Through A Microscope (Part II)

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1938 days ago by Tom

Did you enjoy looking at the World through a Microscope (Part I) ? Most of the pictures on this post series were taken with electron microscope and I forgot to explain what it is and how it works.

Panda is very sorry for that, so this time let’s cite http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org:

What’s an electron microscope?
If you looked down the most powerful light microscope in the world, you’d be able to distinguish individual objects that are around 200 nanometres apart – roughly 1/500 the width of a human hair. But objects closer together than that would just merge into one. This is because the wavelength of visible light is longer than 200 nanometres.

But electron microscopes use beams of electrons, instead of light. The wavelength of these electron beams is much shorter, allowing scientists to see structures as small as 1 nanometre (1 millionth of a millimetre).

There are two types of electron microscopes, creating different types of images for different purposes. Transmission electron microscopes (TEM) fire beams of electrons straight through prepared samples of cells, picking up fine details of the tiny structures within. This technique allows scientists to see what’s going on deep within a cell – effectively a “molecule’s eye view”.

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is slightly different. Instead of firing beams straight through a sample, the beams are angled so they bounce off the cell surface, providing detailed three-dimensional images.

But we are here not for the in depth scientific study, right? Let’s jump straight to the photos and kill boredom once again. Enjoy!

Surface of tongue

Photo Series Pokes Fun at Ridiculous Laws You Probably Didn’t Even Know Existed

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• DL Cade · Nov 13, 2013

Living in Alabama, one of the more frequent pieces of trivia I hear mentioned at social gatherings has to do with ridiculous state and city laws that are so ludicrous as to be unbelievable. The thing is, these laws exist, and not just in the great state of Alabama.

Temples of Stainless Steel in Thailand

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Extreme Close-Ups: 16 Mind-Blowing Macro Nature Photos

By Steph in Animals & Habitats, Nature & Ecosystems

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Have you ever watched a grasshopper scratch its chin, or examined all of the tiny hairs on the face of a bee? Have you seen the world around you reflected in a drop of dew? Unless you’re a macro photographer – taking extreme close-up images of insects, flowers and other objects – you’ve probably never had the chance. These 16 amazing photographs give us up-close-and-personal views of flowers, creepy-crawlies, geckos and water droplets.

Russia’s Seven Wonders

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There are seven wonders of the world, but most of them were already destroyed either by the hands of humans or by the cruel passing of time. And last year a group of some Russian TV-channels, newspapers and radio stations hold an official opinion poll and discovered what kinds of real wonders Russia has. Anyone could participate in the poll taking votes via internet or SMS services. So, the seven best-looking and really fascinating places were chosen.

35 Impossible Landscapes from Mars

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Are you tired of seeing landscapes from this planet? If you are, we have a treat for you. Thanks to NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) which has been orbiting Mars since 2006, currently circling approximately 300 km (187 mi) above the Martian surface. On board the MRO the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera has been photographing the planet for several years now at resolutions as fine as mere inches per pixel.

Top 10 Creepy Aspects of Victorian Life

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by JFrater

My birthday is on Monday so today I am in a mood of recollecting that life is short and we should live it to the full. In honor of the “life is short” bit, I have come up with a slightly depressing list (don’t worry – I will post a happier one tomorrow). The Victorians were a special breed and this list looks at 10 aspects of life from the Victorian era that are creepy. Note that the focus is entirely on Victorian England. Be sure to post any we have missed in the comments.

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Vignettes

The Victorian upper class (and later middle class) had no televisions to entertain them, so they entertained themselves. One of the popular forms of entertainment was for friends and family to dress up in outrageous costumes and pose for each other. This sounds innocent – but just think: can you imagine your grandmother dressing up as a greek wood nymph posing on a table in the living room while everyone applauds? No. You can’t. The idea is, in fact, creepy. But for the Victorians, this was perfectly normal and fun.