Faster super-resolution microscope can see virus particles moving through a cell

941980B2-9E6D-4FE3-934C-53D80F318C1D

This image taken by the new microscope shows a living bone cancer cell with nucleus (blue), mitochondria (green) and cytoskeleton (magenta).

When you want to look at something small up close, you use a microscope. And when you want to look at something really really small, you use a super-resolution microscope. These tools can look in resolutions of a millionth of a millimeter, but they work slowly due to the volume of image data that they need to record. Now, researchers have developed a way to speed up the process by creating a method which can record data at this microscopic scale in real-time.

Continue reading… “Faster super-resolution microscope can see virus particles moving through a cell”

Google researchers have developed an augmented reality microscope for detecting cancer

IMG_6568

Augmented reality might not be able to cure cancer (yet), but when combined with a machine learning algorithm, it can help doctors diagnose the disease.

Researchers at Google have developed an augmented reality microscope (ARM) that takes real-time data from a neural network trained to detect cancerous cells and displays it in the field of view of the pathologist viewing the images.

Continue reading… “Google researchers have developed an augmented reality microscope for detecting cancer”

New microscope captures ultra-high-resolution movies of live 3D biomolecules

microtubules-in-mitosis

A single HeLa cell in metaphase (during mitosis), imaged by a lattice light sheet microscope.

A new imaging platform called a “lattice light sheet” developed by Nobel laureate Eric Betzig and colleagues at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus is a significant leap forward for light microscopy. It captures high-resolution images rapidly and minimizes damage to cells, so it can image the three-dimensional activity of molecules, cells, and embryos in fine detail over longer periods than was previously possible, according to the HHMI scientists. (Videos)

 

 

Continue reading… “New microscope captures ultra-high-resolution movies of live 3D biomolecules”

How to turn your smartphone into a digital microscope

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpMTkr_aiYU[/youtube]

The world is a fascinating place up close.  Through the lens of a microscope you can find details that you would otherwise never notice.  But now you can. There is a simple method for building a digital microscope that uses your smartphone camera, focused by a laser-pointer lens.

 

Continue reading… “How to turn your smartphone into a digital microscope”

IBM makes world’s smallest movie ever

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSCX78-8-q0[/youtube]

The world’s smallest movie made by IBM Research has carbon monoxide atoms being moved around on a copper surface with a scanning tunneling microscope. The 250-frame stop-motion film, entitled “A Boy and His Atom,” uses discrete atoms to draw a stick-figure-like boy that bounces on a trampoline and plays catch with an individual atom “ball.”

 

 

Continue reading… “IBM makes world’s smallest movie ever”

‘Nothing is Impossible’ – World’s Smallest Engraving on the Edge of a Razor Blade

world's smallest engraving

The world’s smallest engraving by human hand has been completed on the edge of a razor blade.

Graham Short etched the motto “Nothing is impossible” which measures just a tenth of a millimetre.  The letters are invisible to the naked eye, and can only be read with a medical microscope at 400 times magnification.

Alcohol Under the Microscope Looks Like Beautiful Artwork

DRY-MARTINI[9]

This is Dry Martini at 1000x magnification.

A company called Bevshots has produced a series of shots of booze under the microscope at the Florida State University’s chemistry labs. The process consist of letting a droplet of liquor dry out completely on a slide in an airtight container, and photographing the result with a 35mm camera. The entire process can take up to three months and as many as 200 attempts to properly capture the drink’s constituent parts. (Pics)

 

 

Continue reading… “Alcohol Under the Microscope Looks Like Beautiful Artwork”

ASPEX Kicks Off “Name That Sample! Campaign

name-that-sample-image-3

What do you think ASPEX scanned this time?  Make your guess at Name that Sample!

Because of the huge success ASPEX has had with  “Send Us Your Sample” campaign … they are asking everyone to help them NAME THAT SAMPLE!  ASPEX is the world’s only SEM Elemental Analysis company that allows anyone to send in their sample to get scanned by our SEM.  Now ASPEX in their newest campaign, “Name That Sample” in which they put up a sample on their blog and the winner who guesses the right answer, or closest, receives a brand new Netbook!  No strings attached. 

 

Continue reading… “ASPEX Kicks Off “Name That Sample! Campaign”

ASPEX Kicks Off “Send Us Your Sample” Campaign – Anyone Can Have An Object Scanned For Free

Chalk-Crayon-2-afterChalk-Crayon-2-before

Chalk Crayon Under an SEM Scanning Electron Microscope

ASPEX is the world’s only SEM Elemental Analysis company that allows anyone to send in their sample to get scanned by our SEM.  Ever wonder what something looks like up close? Really close? Most people have seen objects under a standard optical microscope, but few have seen what something looks like under a more powerful magnifying instrument. ASPEX, makers of the Personal Scanning Electron Microscope (PSEM), recently kicked off their “Send Us Your Sample” campaign, encouraging science geeks, educators, students and anyone else to send in samples to be scanned by one of their PSEMs.  (Pics)

 

Continue reading… “ASPEX Kicks Off “Send Us Your Sample” Campaign – Anyone Can Have An Object Scanned For Free”

Fossils of Martian Bugs Found on Meteorite

meteorite microscope 1
A microscopic view of the rock which was found in 1996.

New evidence has made it more likely that remnants of Martian microbes were transported to Earth in a meteorite, it was revealed recently.

A study by scientists from the American space agency Nasa has found chemical signatures in the rock strongly associated with life.

The discovery strengthens the case for believing that worm-like structures in the meteorite are ‘microfossils’ of ancient Martian bugs.

Sceptics have pointed out that similar-shaped structures could be formed from non-biological processes…

Continue reading… “Fossils of Martian Bugs Found on Meteorite”