Mouse Vertebra Section at 200x

This cool picture was taken of a Mouse vertebra section. This picture was taken by Dr Michael Nelson and Samantha Smith from University of Alabama at Birmingham in Birmingham, Alabama. This picture was taken with the technique of Focus Stacking, and with a magnification of 200x. Focus stacking is a photography technique used to increase depth of field in a picture. After looking at this picture’s vibrant colors I was curious as to what a vertebra section was. After researching, I discovered that a vertebra section is a section of the spine that is made up of nerves that allow you to move your fingers and toes. I thought it was interesting to read about the spine and how every move you make comes from the brain and is transmitted through your spine to allow something to move. (http://biocanvas.net/post/72024826588/a-section-through-a-mouse-vertebra-at-200x http://digital-photography-school.com/an-introduction-to-focus-stacking)

Are Mermaids Actually Real?

This is a picture of an actual mermaid. The existence of mermaids were scientifically proven, and this photo is a picture from a video that was tested by experts to see that it was not altered in anyway. The video was taken by two kids, and they went up to see and when they poked the beached mermaid, it screeched and put its hand on the boy. The video was taken at the Israeli coast line at the town Kiryat Yarn. The rest of the video is of the kids instantly running way.Scientists have even found a carcass of a mermaid inside of a great white shark. Scientists say that the human species evolved into a water creature. They have seen that the mermaids all have very similar features to humans. They have a fin that replaced legs and a recessed skull that makes them have superior audio abilities. This exact creature has been in the culture for millions of years, so they aren't surprised that it rooted from something that was actually true. They seem to have bigger eyes then humans, but they have arms, head, and an upper body very similar to humans. They even found out that they use spears to catch their fish, much like humans used to do. There was a documentary that I watched on this topic, and they said they even have webbed fingers which unlike other primates. this is still controversial, but there is a strong case that is supported by science, but leads to more imagination about the topic. From what I have researched, I do believe that a long time ago, a new species called mermaids branched off in the evolution tree.


here is the picture: http://www.salem-news.com/stimg/may272013/mermaid-3.jpg

Sheet Weaver Spider at 5x

This is a picture of a Sheet Weaver Spider at 5x magnification using reflected light and focus stacking. It was taken by Geir Grange of Norway and depicts some sort of larva on the abdomen of this spider. It Immediately interested me because they somehow were able to make the spider look almost transparent and I've aways been very interested in what it looks like inside of certain creatures. I also never really see pictures of spiders this close up and I find it very interesting. This photo does raise some questions however, like why is there a larva on the spider's abdomen? Also I wonder how they made this Spider look transparent in the picture above, can they make the larva look transparent as well?. After doing some research I found out that the reason why this parasitic wasp larva is on the spider is because it is a parasitoid and will spend much of it's life on this spider. This Parasitoid will eventually kill or sterilize this spider. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasitoid_wasp and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasitoid).

Red Seaweed Martensia-Kathleen Conaton

Above is a detailed photograph of the Red Seaweed Martensia specimen at a 40x magnification. The photo was taken by Dr. John Huisman of Murdoch University, in Western Australia. The technique used in taking the picture is called bright-field and after researching what that was I discovered the popular microscopy technique is used to transmit white light and the contrast is caused by the absorbance of light in dense areas. The arrangement of cells in the specimen is very organized. It makes me wonder, are all samples as organized as something like this? What is this seaweed specimen composed of?

Above is a photo of a sagittal section of rat's brain. It was taken with a Nikon Eclipse 80i microscope. The photo was first taken in a grayscale filter with a digital camera, and then pseudo-colored, giving it it's vibrant and interesting colors. After looking at this photo and reading it's description, I wondered what a "sagittal section of a rat's brain" even was, as well as why we needed a picture of it. After some research i was able to find that "sagittal" relates to a section at the top of a brain/skull. I also found that many of the things we know about the human brain originated with research on rats' brains. This is why it is so important that these pictures are taken. 

This is an image of a thin section of a dinosaur bone preserved in clear agate. This photo was taken by Mr. Ted Kinsman from sciencephotography.com, Rochester, New York, USA. The magnification is 10x and the technique used is focus stacking. Reading the technique as focus stacking made me wonder what is focus stacking? After some research I found out it combines multiple photos taken at different focus distances that then shows a greater depth of field than an individual photo. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_stacking) Some other questions I had was, did we find anything from this dinosaur? How old is the dinosaur? Can this help us expand in research?

This is a microscopic image of a neuron receiving excitatory contacts in the nervous system. It was taken by Dr. Kieran Boyle from the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom. The magnification is 63x and the technique is fluorescence and confocal. The picture as labeled as a “hippocampal neuron”, which immediately raised the question of: what is a hippocampal neuron? In general, I found that it is a major component in the brains of vertebrates. It is important for short-term and long-term memory. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocampus) Other questions that arose included: what kind of contact is it receiving? Why does this happen anyway? What does this have to do with us as humans?