MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

We are planning a fun/educational event in several months, and I'd like to create a small text (several words is better, but several letters is also OK) that is readable through a microscope only (say, with 10x or, better, 40x objective). I don't think this is possible with a consumer printer, is it?

It would be really cool to make a message with arranged diatoms, but this is probably not feasible for me (and I'd prefer to have 2-4 copies of the message).

John Benjamin Dancer was the pioneer of microphotography and I think one of his slides would be a fun specimen. Getting one is another story.

A bit of google for terms like microprinting may give you some ideas.

Have the kids collect a bunch of natural specimens as there is nothing more fascinating that the wonders of mother nature, especially if you have no experience, or when you have lots of experience.

When we have microscope day at the library we just go on a scavenger hunt with a petri dish. What the kids bring back goes far beyond what one may imagine and since they collected it there is even more interest. We do drawing and color the pictures the kids draw.

lorez

lorez wrote:John Benjamin Dancer was the pioneer of microphotography and I think one of his slides would be a fun specimen. Getting one is another story.

A bit of google for terms like microprinting may give you some ideas.

Have the kids collect a bunch of natural specimens as there is nothing more fascinating that the wonders of mother nature, especially if you have no experience, or when you have lots of experience.

When we have microscope day at the library we just go on a scavenger hunt with a petri dish. What the kids bring back goes far beyond what one may imagine and since they collected it there is even more interest. We do drawing and color the pictures the kids draw.

lorez

Thanks!
I feel that I need to clarify that this will be a "puzzle", where participants need to find the answer (usually a word or short phrase) and enter it into computer system. And the participants are mostly university students (computer science and software engineering).

Well, that does make a difference...

lorez

I don't think this is possible with a consumer printer, is it?

Having read your question I opened a new image in PS, typed a few words in 6 pt. font size, reduced the image ~50%, and printed it on my Epson ink jet printer. Since I knew what I typed I could read it with the 4X obj. but lots of skipped spaces from the ink jets.

Doesn't seem possible with a consumer printer.

I doubt you can find any organization that still has a microfilm camera.

JimT

Hello,

Make a text to display on a computer screen (eg. with powerpoint) and then use an analog film camera to take a picture of the screen. Get the film developed (if this service is still available) and cut out the text on the film, glue film to microscope slide with transparent tape.

Better then text for children are pictures of animals etc. for example, for a science fair etc.

Best to use is slide film, of course, as it produces a positive image.

Oliver.

Thanks, Oliver! Sounds like a feasible idea.

Unfortunately, main even organizers nave chosen a different theme, and this microscopy "puzzle" wouldn't fit anymore.