Wasp Head, stereomicroscope micrograph

This is the head of a wasp taken from storage in 70% ethanol, air dried, and then photographed through a stereomicroscope using a digital camera. Although not a high magnification image, you can start to resolve the compound eyes.

sea squirt

This is from the intestine of a sea squirt.

grape leaf

This is a strange looking trichome on a grape leaf.

bacteria colony on agar

This is a colony of bacteria isolated from a mixed waste sludge and then grown onto agar media. You can see a lot of attachment structures between the bacteria and agar. A number of the bacteria are dividing as well.

tobacco mosaic virus

Here is a scanning electron micrograph of a group of tobacco mosaic virus particles. The protein coat or capsid of the virus can be clearly seen. These were simply dried from an infected plant on silicon wafer and then coated with 1 nm of platinum followed by 10nm of carbon. Imaging with a backscatter detector allowed high resolution imaging of only the platinum and gives the cool shadow effect.

biofilm2

Another image of the biofilm from the creek. This one is centered on a colony of diatoms in the biofilm.

biofilm

This is an image of a biofilm (jello like mush), from a creekbed. You can see diatoms (probably diatoma or fragilariaceae), the biofilm gel, and a few fungi in the image.