An amazing image of an ant lifting 100 times its body weight has won first prize in a science photography contest.
Image Copyright Dr. Thomas Endlein 2010
After almost a year of planning, design and revisions, we are getting close to launching our new website. It is designed to help our different types of customer (educational, industrial, scientific, hobbyist etc) navigate the site more efficiently. To that end, you will be able to search fro products by type of product (cameras, microscopes etc) or by Application (industrial, educational etc). Each avenue includes a great deal of ‘instant educational material’ that will help customers quickly, choose the appropriate microscope as they browse the site.
However, it would be helpful to know what you would like to see on the web site? Let us know your thoughts and suggestions, please!
Apologies to all our customers, but snow and wind continue to affect some of our shipments…..and thanks to you all for your patience! Hopefully, next week will see us all back on schedule!
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All OptixCam Cameras are now Windows 7 Compatible!
2 Comments | Posted by Sean in microscopes
We are pleased to announce that all of our OptixCam Summit series cameras are now fully compatible with Microsoft’s new Windows 7 operating system. We have gotten excellent feedback from these cost effective, high quality microscope cameras from our customers! Click here to check them out for yourself…
http://www.microscope.com/microscope-cameras-optixcam-c-31_116.html
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Scientists use microscopes to determine the color of dinosaurs!
0 Comments | Posted by Sean in microscopes
As much as scientists have learned about the dinosaurs through years of study, the color of dinosaurs has always been difficult to determine. A group of scientists have figured out through studying feathers under a microscope, that the colors can be determined by observing the shape differences of melanin containers.
Read more here….http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/28/science/28dino.html
We are now launching the updated version of the OCS View software for our OptixCam USB digital microscope cameras and it is looking good!We have been selling OptixCam cameras for almost exactly one year, now, with strong feedback. Happily, these cameras perform significantly better than the Scopephoto software or Oplenic cameras which account for the majority of cheap microscope cameras on the market – and which we stopped selling last year.
Let us know your views on OptixCam cameras, please!
While we are delighted with our No 1 Gold Award from Top Ten Reviews, we are curious how it affects you – our customers’ decision-making process? Tell us what you think? How important is it to you when deciding to buy a microscope?
Tis the season folks… for good food, gifts, and of course, great company! Last night The Microscope Store had it’s yearly Christmas dinner at Tony Pope’s “Le Bistro” located in the heart of downtown Roanoke. I must say, if you are ever in the bustling metropolis of Roanoke, Virginia and in need of an excellent meal, Le Bistro is a place that shouldn’t be overlooked. As the staff photographer, I was tasked with creating silly portraits of each member of the Microscope.com family and the prints were displayed tableside as a vote was taken to determine which was truly the silliest! Unsurprisingly the winner, by a landslide, was our fearless leader Charles. Poems were read, games were played, and good times were had all around! Thanks to all our loyal customers and our hard-working staff for another successful year in the microscopy business. We have many exciting changes and improvements slated for 2010 so be sure to stay tuned in order to take advantage of special pricing, new products, and of course, our continuing commitment to provide the best customer service experience on the web.
Everyone at the Microscope Store wishes you and yours a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year!
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Mini microscope mounted on mices heads can help study human diseases
0 Comments | Posted by Sean in microscopes
Stanford University researchers have created a microscope that is small enough to be mounted to the head of a freely moving mouse to watch brain cell activity, and whole animal behaviour simultaneously.
The researchers say that their tiny microscope offers a new way to study human diseases using transgenic mice.
Project leader Mark Schnitzer says that the device weighs just 1.1 grams, and thus can be worn by a mouse without significantly impairing its movement.
He has revealed that his team has already used the device to study the circulation of blood through the one-cell-wide capillaries in the brain of active mice.
The researcher says that the microscope is attached to the head of a mouse under anaesthetic, while a marker dye is injected into the brain to label blood plasma, but leave blood cells unaffected.
According to him, the device uses light delivered by a mercury arc lamp through a bundle of optical fibres, which causes the dyed blood plasma to fluoresce, showing up individual blood cells as dark spots.
The image is sent back up the fibre-optic bundle to a camera that records the image, he adds.
Schnitzer says that nearly 100 images can be taken every second, something that makes it possible for the researchers to watch high-speed video of individual blood cells flowing in the brain.
Once the mouse wakes up from the anaesthetic, according to him, it is possible to watch the movement of cells as it behaves normally.
The researchers have revealed that combining the technique with a dye that makes the activity of brain cells visible, they could see how Purkinje neurons, involved in controlling movement, become more active when a mouse is moving than when resting.
Source: Thaindian News
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PICTURES: Best Microscopic-Life Images of 2009 Named
0 Comments | Posted by Sean in microscopes
An image featuring a water flea's "crown of thorns"--the snaking ridge at top left--took top honors in the 2009 BioScapes microscope imaging contest, announced earlier this month. If water flea parents sense that their habitat is shared by their main predators, tadpole shrimp, the flea offspring sport these pointy crowns--which are unappetizing to the shrimp.
National Geographic has announced the 2009 Best Microscopic Life Images winners and they are absolutely stunning.
