Use the horizontal slider to zoom into the image. On the left you can see a collapsed vein (the structure with the shape of a “2″), the oval structure on the right bottom is an artery. You can clearly see that the wall of the artery is substantially thicker. This is necessary to withstand the [...]

The red blood cells of amphibians contain contain a nucleus, which is visible as a dark purple dot in the center of each cell. In contrast, the red blood cells of mammals do not possess a nucleus. The two pictures show both types of blood photographed with a 40x achromatic objective and a 2.5x photo [...]

The pink oval structures are potato starch grains. One of the easiest and fastest way to observe starch grains is to scratch some sample off the surface of a potato with a sharp object and then adding some diluted iodine solution. Further Reading

Stomates (or stomas) are openings on the underside of a leaf, which allow gases to pass in and out of the leaf. The pictures show these stomates as narrow gaps. Two guard cells control the size of the opening. The guard cells have chloroplasts, which are visible as dark dots in the cell. During the [...]

A simple check of the refrigerator (or the super market) provides many safe sources for microorganisms to view under the microscope.

Observing human cells is a good introductory activity to learn heat-fixing and staining.

The zoom image shows two onion root tips, an ideal place to observe the different stages of mitosis.

First of all: a Happy New Year 2011! I’d like to start the new year by sharing a video that I found – a purely artistic application of stereo microscopes. Willard Wigan is an artist who creates microscopic sculptures.