Paramecia in polarized light

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billporter1456
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Paramecia in polarized light

#1 Post by billporter1456 » Mon Apr 04, 2016 5:54 pm

I haven't done much with polarized light but this morning I used a couple of cheap polarizing filters and put a drop of pond water on a slide. I was surprised by how the Paramecia lit up.

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vasselle
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Re: Paramecia in polarized light

#2 Post by vasselle » Mon Apr 04, 2016 8:19 pm

Bonjour
Very nice video
Cordialement seb
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billbillt
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Re: Paramecia in polarized light

#3 Post by billbillt » Mon Apr 04, 2016 8:47 pm

That is a very amazing photo!.... Hmmmm.... Maybe try it with other cultures?...

BillT
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75RR
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Re: Paramecia in polarized light

#4 Post by 75RR » Mon Apr 04, 2016 9:12 pm

Surprisingly colourful. Nice extinction as well.
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JimT
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Re: Paramecia in polarized light

#5 Post by JimT » Mon Apr 04, 2016 10:26 pm

Billporter1456, well done. The particles that exhibit birefrigenece (is there a verb form?) are the same black particles one sees in bright light. Fun to try polarized light on different micro-organisms. Some can surprise you and some show nothing at all. You can also get interesting effects with algae.

JimT
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billporter1456
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Re: Paramecia in polarized light

#6 Post by billporter1456 » Tue Apr 05, 2016 1:03 am

Thanks, seb, BillT, 75RR, and JimT! I appreciate your comments. I don't think many protists show birefringent particles, but Paramecia and Amoeba are two that do.
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billben74
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Re: Paramecia in polarized light

#7 Post by billben74 » Tue Apr 05, 2016 9:51 pm

I love it.
I just can't get enough of crossed polaroids.
And that that is a beautiful example of why. :)
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glennbech
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Re: Paramecia in polarized light

#8 Post by glennbech » Mon Apr 11, 2016 6:22 am

That is very cool indeed. Can you tell me a little more about what kind of filter you used and where you placed them? I want to sacrifice a couple of 3D glasses for an experiment like this. I can put one piece in my pre-condenser filter holder, and the other one in one of the Eyepieces maybe?
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Crater Eddie
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Re: Paramecia in polarized light

#9 Post by Crater Eddie » Mon Apr 11, 2016 8:14 pm

Very cool!
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billporter1456
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Re: Paramecia in polarized light

#10 Post by billporter1456 » Tue Apr 12, 2016 12:16 am

glennbech wrote:That is very cool indeed. Can you tell me a little more about what kind of filter you used and where you placed them? I want to sacrifice a couple of 3D glasses for an experiment like this. I can put one piece in my pre-condenser filter holder, and the other one in one of the Eyepieces maybe?
Thanks, glennbech! The information you asked for is in the video. Did you not see the captions? As long as one is below the subject and the other one above, you're good to go.
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billporter1456
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Re: Paramecia in polarized light

#11 Post by billporter1456 » Tue Apr 12, 2016 12:17 am

Crater Eddie wrote:Very cool!
CE
Thanks, Crater Eddie. Glad you enjoyed it.
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gekko
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Re: Paramecia in polarized light

#12 Post by gekko » Thu Apr 14, 2016 12:05 pm

Very nice!
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billporter1456
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Re: Paramecia in polarized light

#13 Post by billporter1456 » Thu Apr 14, 2016 3:49 pm

gekko wrote:Very nice!
Thank you, gekko! Do you realize that you have now seen over ONE HUNDRED of my microscopy videos? You should win a prize of some sort!
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