2018.03.31 13:00 - Phase Contrast Microscopy

The Guardian for this meeting was Bruce Mowbray. The comments are by Bruce Mowbray.

Riddle Sideways: Hey

Bruce Mowbray: Hey, Riddle!

Riddle Sideways: decorating has happened

Bruce Mowbray: Indeed it has.

Riddle Sideways: ㋡

Bruce Mowbray: Fancy meeting you here!

Riddle Sideways: had not noticed the time

Riddle Sideways: and had almost stopped checking in on Saturdays.

Bruce Mowbray: Well, sadly, I've missed a few times recently.

Bruce Mowbray: I was messing with my new microscope in RL,

Riddle Sideways: oooooo microscopes

Riddle Sideways: funnnnn

Bruce Mowbray: Are you into microscopy?

Riddle Sideways: was years and years ago

Riddle Sideways: don't have one at all now.

Bruce Mowbray: The tech for it has advanced amazingly.

Bruce Mowbray: as with automobiles.

Bruce Mowbray: Yikes!

Riddle Sideways: mmm, self-driving microscopes

Bruce Mowbray: Mine uses a 14 MP digital camera, so all viewing is done on computer monitor.

Bruce Mowbray: It's also a "phase contrast"

Bruce Mowbray: (so I can see internal organs of animals and plants.)

Riddle Sideways: ? how does that work?

--BELL--

Bruce Mowbray: The phase contrast?  or the digital camera?

Riddle Sideways: the seeing internal organs of animals

Riddle Sideways: walking in the yard

Bruce Mowbray: Well, with a normal scope.... the contrast is not that good...

Bruce Mowbray: but with phase contrast, there are two "condensers" that refocus the light in such a way that the innards of tiny organisms, like amoebas, are in sharp contrast.

Bruce Mowbray: It's quite a bit more expensive, of course.

Riddle Sideways: yep

Bruce Mowbray: Here's my setup:

Bruce Mowbray: http://www.amscope.com/phase-contrast-video

Bruce Mowbray: (Mine is the T-390 phase contrast scope -- like the one in the vid.)

Riddle Sideways: oooo very cool

Bruce Mowbray: Yep.

Bruce Mowbray: It took me two days to get the four annuli centered.

Riddle Sideways: triky alignment operations

Bruce Mowbray: and another day to learn how to calibrate distances (to .01 mm accuracy).

Bruce Mowbray: Today I made a series of images of the hooks on the foot of a wasp that I found in my kitchen.

Riddle Sideways: ... sorry, need to go help the cleanup upstairs that is starting again.

Bruce Mowbray: KK.   Bye for now!

Riddle Sideways: and watch stupid TV with visiting daughter

Bruce Mowbray: :0

Riddle Sideways: bye now

- - - - -

Afterward:  Last night I posted a YouTube video of a 10x pan of a wasp's wing:  https://youtu.be/<wbr/>W9cbg7SLq3Y

The two images below are best viewed by right-clicking on the title and opening each in a new tab.