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Microscopy (pic heavy)
- Aug 6, 2009 at 9:59 AM
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- Comments (6) Total Views (2806) Everyone can see this journal post.
Microscopy is one of the most fascinating tools scientists have to explore the world around us. Microscopy combines my love for the visual with the excitement of seeing and exploring something that is beyond the means of the human body alone. It's somewhat amazing to think many years ago, people did not believe in germs because they couldn't be seen.
Have you ever seen a microscope image on the news and wonder where it came from, or how small the object really is? Did you know there are many different types of microscopes for use in different applications? Let's take a visual (pic heavy) tour of the microscopic world around us.
There are three main types of microscopy: optical (1), electron (2), and scanning probe microscopy (3).
(1) Optical microscopy relies on scattering or reflecting light interacting with the object to make the enlarged image you see. The below picture from teachersparadise.com shows a basic optical (light) microscope. In order to take pictures, a more expensive light microscope will have an attachment for a compatable digital camera to be attached.
Many objects can be seen in great detail through an optical microscope, such as the ones below:
Cells in culture from ASM Microbe Library
Cyanobacteria from clcbio
Chinese Peacock Butterfly wing detail from Olympus's gallery
Aphids from Olympus's gallery
Striated Frog Muscle from Olympus's gallery:
A fluorescennce microscope is a special type of light microscope that can detect fluorescent labels scientists stain onto the cells. This is a very flexible technique, where every picture you see could be staining for a different compponent in the cell structure. Below, in the image of Normal African Green Monkey Kidney Epithelial Cells (Vero cells) from Olympus's gallery, the DNA is stained in blue. A cytoskeletal component such as tubulin appears in red.
Neurons in the image below from the Institute of Neurobiology in Puerto Rico.
A gloworm from the University of South Alabama.
Section through mouse intestine, shwing the structure and different cell types. Image from microscopyu
(2) Electron microscopy uses an electron beam to interact with the sample in order to make the image. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) in the picture below shows how the size and complexity is greater, and there is a computer attached to control the settings and save digital picture files. The picture is from The School of Geosciences at the University of Edinburgh.
The scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) in this category produces some of the most detailed, beautiful black & white images one could hope to find, such as:
Snow, from Mazm.com
Anthrax from ncemi.org
Granite from Calreton College
Leukemia (left) and bone marrow cells (right) from Britannica online
White blood cell from bacteria-world
The ridges on a dime from electronmicroscopeblog.com
An ant head from knowledgerush.com
The gills of a fish, the mudskipper, from Radboud University Nijmegen
Chickory pollen from bellaitalianaphotography (this looks like it was digitally enhanced)
(3) Scanning probe microscopy uses a solid probe to interact with the object to make the image. The picture below from Clarkson University shows an example of this type of microscope.
Two strands of DNA overlapping each other, from Standford University
The pore (stomate) on the underside ofan ivy leaf from mobot
For a review of the many different types of microscopes that fall into these three areas, check out the Wikipedia article, since I am not going to get into the details!
Which picture did you like the best? Would you like to know more about microscopy?
Tonya
AKA sunmoonstars
Comments:
So cool! Thanks for sharing!
This was an awsome post! I love microscopic images! You know I love your science posts.
Have you heard about the apps that are being created to turn iPhones into microscopes? There was just a paper in PLoS One about a group at Berkeley that has created an attachment (I think?) to the iPhone that turns it into a fluorescence microscope. They've validated it as a diagnostic tool for malaria and tuberculosis. The thought is to use it in remote places as a low-cost diagnostic, such as in African villages. There are a few other similar projects out there too. Hmm...is that a future blog out there that I'm smelling right now?
Evws - I should get into virtual microscopy more, that could be a sequal to this post. Here is what i found.... I had to look since I could not imagine HOW a phone could be a microscope. Well, it isn't, but I guess it's close.
Basically, the doc/nurse inthe field takes a biopsy sample and mounts it on the slide. They will use a slide scanner to generate a digital picture of the slide (and specimin), which they use the iphone to send to a pathologist off-site who can see the slide on HIS microscope, then send back the diagnosis.
Not quite the same thing, but COOL and USEFUL, nonetheless. Thanks for the lesson :)
Update to the phone post from above: It is a series of microscope attachments that allow the user to use the phone for taking pictures and using the screen. Very interesting, and much smaller than having a microscope in the field. They would still need some of the attachments for it to work (not just the phone).
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0006320
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Neat. I like the black and whites..I think the neurons are pretty cool looking too.
- Momforhealth
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