I have tried the camera port on my stereo and found the results marginal. In addition, because of the dual objectives, focus stacking is not possible. And, no matter how hard I set the drag on the focus, the weight of the camera caused focus creep.

Mike

Lou, I hear ya. I recently bought a 113 gram jar of Holistic Pet Organics Diatomaceous Earth which is used as a pet food additive for deworming. Not a single whole diatom in the whole sample. This is because these products are milled to a fine powder and are valued for their absorptive properties an...

Forgot the Pinnularia

I recently purchased three Diatomaceous Earth slides from Ward's Scientific ($5,45 USD each) and was very disappointed. I expected the quality of their Radiolarian Strew slides of which I have two. These are very clean, but the Diatomaceous Earth slides are very dirty - they haven't been acid or hyd...

One of the great mysteries - how a cyanobacteria can work out this geometry. Right up there with how an amoeba with no brain can construct a species specific test.

When I encounter midge larvae in pond water, I marvel at the energy they expend wriggling around. They also take a long time to euthanize with glutaraldehyde. I'm sure many of us has found a perfect specimen of some other organism only to have the thrashing of these worms displace our specimens.

Mike

From my observations, this scale isn't a mutant but is part of the structure to provide nuances to the colors of the butterfly. I think many of us winced when Dustin Hoffman explained to Steve McQueen in the film Papillon about the dyes of this particular butterfly are used in currency. That was not...

Anamoeoneis
Cyclotella girdle view

Very nice. What are the stains?

Mike

Very nice. What are the stains?

Mike

When I do water-dissolved chemicals for cross-polarization I have tried forced drying on a coffee-cup warmer and windowsill drying. I have found that windowsill-drying offers molecules of trace chemicals (such as plant fertilizers like Miracle-Gro) time to find each other and add crystals of their o...