THE ANONYMOUS MICROSCOPIST

ITS A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL

[theanonymousmicroscopist-blog]

Did you know that the anonymous Microscopist is also a miner? Kinda? Well, I do fee digs at a local gem mine and found some awesome black tourmaline crystals. The images were taken at 20-75x. A bit alien looking, eh?! I'm getting these printed for an art gallery showing. If you are interested in limited edition prints, using dye sublimation on Aluminum, find a way to contact me. ;)

[thisfuturemd]

The cytoplasmic projections of these cultured HeLa cells are currently under research to determine whether they are involved in sensing, migration, and/or cell-cell communication. (Photo by Thomas Deerinck & Mark Ellisman)

[natureofnature]

popcorn on SEM :)

[natureofnature]

Beechworm on SEM

[heythereuniverse]

Loperamide crystals | wellcome images

False-coloured scanning electron micrograph of loperamide crystals. An anti-motility drug used for diarrhea, loperamide works by slowing down the movement of the intestine and reducing the speed at which the contents of the gut pass through. Food remains in the intestines for longer and water can be more effectively absorbed back into the body. This results in firmer stools that are passed less often. The crystal group measures about 150 microns.

[kafkasapartment]

Scanning electron micrograph, false colored, of the parts of a flower. Peduncle: The stalk of a flower. Receptacle: The part of a flower stalk where the parts of the flower are attached. Sepal: The outer parts of the flower (often green and leaf-like) that enclose a developing bud. Petal: The parts of a flower that are often conspicuously colored. Stamen: The pollen producing part of a flower, usually with a slender filament supporting the anther. Anther: The part of the stamen where pollen is produced. Pistil: The ovule producing part of a flower. The ovary often supports a long style, topped by a stigma. The mature ovary is a fruit, and the mature ovule is a seed. Stigma: The part of the pistil where pollen germinates. Ovary: The enlarged basal portion of the pistil where ovules are produced.

I decided not to put labels on the pictures so as not to interfere with the esthetics. There is a good basic illustration of the parts of a flower, with labels, here.

[unruly-notruly-blog]

Dead insects peeled off the windshield of a car photographed by Voker Steger

[theanonymousmicroscopist-blog]

I absolutely love this concept. The mundane made beautiful yet again by microscopy.

[heythereuniverse]

6 day old human embryo implanting. Life is beautiful.

[post-mitotic-blog]

while the tufted hill above looks rather like the backdrop of a Dr. Seuss novel, this is actually nasal epithelium 

sorry to disappoint

(does Horton hear a who?)

colored SEM

credit: Science Photo Library 

[post-mitotic-blog]

colored SEM of blood vessels located in the superficial wall of the small intestine

the high density of vasculature allows absorption of nutrients from ingested food, which is further maximized by surface area-increasing villi

credit: Susumu Nishinaga

[post-mitotic-blog]

single erythrocyte balanced precariously on the tip of a needle

which reminds me of something I learned yesterday that rocked my world (and I absolutely love when that happens):

BIRDS HAVE NUCLEATED RED BLOOD CELLS

mhm

if that didn’t rock your world, you’re either dead, a fan of avian hematology, or an insufferable know-it-all

or maybe I’m just an idiot, and this is common knowledge

anyway

you can find circulating nucleated erythrocytes in pathological situations, sure, but birds—they don’t even have an excuse

colored SEM

credit: Science Photo Library

[rorschachx]

Electron microscope photo of a snowflake | More

[scienceisbeauty]

A close-up of the ommatidia and hairs that make up the Drosophila compound eye.

Credit: Pete Splatt

Source: Drosophila Links, Wakefield Lab

[sciencenote]

Sperm Shop

By Roger Wagner, University of Delaware

In mammals, sperm is generated in long, thread-like tubes, called seminiferous tubules (beige). Each tube is lined with an epithelium that contains spermatogonia cells (blue). Over the course of ~64 days, these cells differentiate into mature sperm cells (yellow). The spermatogonia cells divide by mitosis to produce diploid spermatocytes (lavender), which then undergo meiosis to generate two haploid spermatids. Spermatids develop further through “spermatogenesis” into the elongated spermatozoa (yellow).

Image: Cross section of a rat seminiferous tubule imaged with a Phillips 501 scanning electron micrograph (~500X). The spermatogonia and spermatocytes are colored blue and lavender, respectively, while the mature sperm cells are yellow. Color was added with the paintbrush in “Color” mode on Photoshop; the “plastic wrap” filter was then applied to add a glistening appearance.

[theanonymousmicroscopist-blog]

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE INANIMATE OBJECT?

All objects are animate, at the atomic level. Silly bot!

[eyeledastray]

A coloured scanning electron micrograph of the open fruit and seeds from a bird’s eye chilliPicture: SPL / Barcroft Media

[justanothersky]

“Spicules from a sponge found in South African waters.”

(via Scanning electron microscope images reveal hidden horror and beauty - Telegraph)