It’s time to write another short editorial and to summarize some of the trends of the past 3 weeks. The Magazine Today we celebrate the download of the 500th MicrobeHunter magazine, and I expect the download frequency to go up with every issue. Currently I’m working on the next issue (for Feb. 2011), which will [...]

I found the following YouTube video, which illustrates the use of an iPhone applet for the taking of micrographs.

“How many cells are there in a 9-year old tree, in a flower and in an elephant?” – I was asked this question recently by an elementary school teacher, and I, as a biologist, should naturally know this answer. The students found out, by research, that the adult human body contains an estimated 10 trillion [...]

Today something different! I found some cartoons and comics relating to microscopy. Here are the links: Cartoons 1 | Cartoons 2

Why a home lab? For someone who wants to observe ready-made permanent slides or an occasional pond water sample, a fully equipped home laboratory may not be necessary and somewhat of an overkill. In this case it is sufficient to find a reasonably dust-free place to store and operate the microscope. The microscope can then [...]

Air is completely transparent, I hope you agree. And water is transparent. If this is indeed the case, then why is it possible to see air bubbles in water? The answer is, that the bubbles have a different refractive index than the surrounding medium, the water. Phase contrast microscopy is now capable of converting a [...]

Today, I’d like to continue my thoughts on microscopy as a hobby. I tried to brainstorm a list of strengths and opportunities as well as areas of improvements. In a previous article I already mentioned that (in my personal view), recreational microscopy as not as well established as other recreational sciences. In particular, I compared [...]

I’ve now installed a microscopy forum which adds an extra level of organization by pre-defining certain categories. It is also not necessary to register in order to use the forum.