Thursday, November 12, 2009

Electron Microscope Photography



 

 15 amazing body shots

 captured using a scanning electron microscope,

Incredible details of 1 to 5nm (nanometer) in size can be detected


1. Red Blood Cells 
They look like little cinnamon candies here, but they're actually the most common type of blood cell

 in the human body - red blood cells (RBCs). These biconcave-shaped cells have the tall task of

 carrying oxygen to our entire body; 

in women there are about 4 to 5 million RBCs per micro liter (cubic millimeter) of blood and

about 5 to 6 million in men.

People who live at higher altitudes have even more RBCs because of the low oxygen levels in their environment.  



2. Split End of Human Hair 
Regular trimmings to your hair and good conditioner should help to prevent this

unsightly picture of a split end of a human hair.  



3. Purkinje Neurons 
Of the 100 billion neurons in your brain. Purkinje (pronounced purr-kin-jee) neurons are

some of the largest. Among other things, these cells are the masters of motor coordination

in the cerebellar cortex. Toxic exposure such as alcohol and lithium, autoimmune diseases, 

genetic mutations including autism and neurodegenerative diseases can negatively affect

human Purkinje cells.  



4. Hair Cell in the Ear 
Here's what it looks like to see a close-up of human hair cell stereo cilia inside the ear.

These detect mechanical movement in response to sound vibrations.


5. Blood Vessels Emerging from the Optic Nerve 
In this image, stained retinal blood vessels are shown to emerge from the

black-colored optic disc. The optic disc is a blind spot because no light

receptor cells are present in this area of the retina where the optic nerve

and retinal blood vessels leave the back of the eye.


6. Tongue with Taste Bud 
This colour-enhanced image depicts a taste bud on the tongue.

The human tongue has about 10,000 taste budsthat are involved with detecting salty,

sour, bitter, sweet and savory taste perceptions. 

Thai people have very few -- most killed by eating spicy food. 



7. Tooth Plaque 
Brush your teeth often because this is what the surface of a tooth with a form of  plaque looks like.


8. Blood Clot 
Remember that picture of the nice, uniform shapes of red blood cells you just looked at?

Well, here's what it looks like when those same cells get caught up in the sticky web of

a blood clot. The cell in the middle is a white blood cell.


9. Alveoli in the Lung 
This is what a colour-enhanced image of the inner surface of your lung looks like.

The hollow cavities are alveoli; this is where gas exchange occurs with the blood.


10. Lung Cancer Cells 
This image of warped lung cancer cells is in stark contrast to the healthy lung in the previous picture.



11. Villi of Small Intestine 
Villi in the small intestine increase the surface area of the gut, which helps in the 

absorption of food. Look closely and you will see some food stuck in one of the crevices.


12. Human Egg with Coronal Cells 
This image is of a purple, colour-enhanced human egg sitting on a pin.

The egg is coated with the zona pellicuda, a glycoprotein that protects the egg but also

helps to trap and bind sperm. Two coronal cells are attached to the zona pellicuda.



13. Sperm on the Surface of a Human Egg 
Here's a close-up of a number of sperm trying to fertilize an egg.


14. Human Embryo and Sperm 
It looks like the world at war, but it is actually five days after the fertilisation of an egg,

with some remaining sperm cells still sticking around. This fluorescent image was captured

using a confocal microscope. The embryo and sperm cell nuclei are stained purple while

sperm tails are green. The blue areas are gap junctions, which form connections between the cells.



15. Colored Image of a 6 day old Human Embryo Implanting itself onto the wall of the womb

 

 

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