Almost all of the following images were captured using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), a type of electron microscope that uses a beam of high-energy electrons to scan surfaces of images. The electron beam of the SEM interacts with atoms near or at the surface of the sample to be viewed, resulting in a very high-resolution, 3D-image. Magnification levels range from x 25 (about the same as a hand lens) to about x 250,000. Incredible details of 1 to 5 nm in size can be detected.
Max Knoll was the first person to create an SEM image of silicone steel in 1935; over the next 30 years, a number of scientists worked to further develop the instrument, and in 1965 the first SEM was delivered to DuPont by the Cambridge Instrument Company as the “Stereoscan.”
Here you’ll experience the power of SEM in a journey of self-discovery that starts in your head, travels down through the chest and ends in the bowels of the abdomen. Along the way, you’ll see what’s normal, what happens when cells are twisted by cancer and what it looks like when an egg meets sperm for the first time. You’ll never see yourself the same way again.
Coloured image of a 6 day old human embryo implanting
Image: Yorgos Nikas, Wellcome Images
And the cycle of life begins again: this 6 day old human embryo is beginning to implant into the endometrium, the lining of the uterus.
Sperm on the surface of a human egg
Image: Yorgos Nikas, Wellcome Images
Here’s a close-up of a number of sperm trying to fertilise an egg.
Human egg with coronal cells
Image: Yorgos Nikas, Wellcome Images
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.
Villi of small intestine
Image: Professor Alan Boyde, Wellcome Images
Villi in the small intestine increase the surface area of the gut, which helps in the absorption of food. Look closely and you’ll see some food stuck in one of the crevices.
Lung cancer cells
Image: Anne Weston, Wellcome Images
This image of warped lung cancer cells is in stark contrast to the healthy lung in the previous picture.
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 microliter (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.
Split end of human hair
Image: Liz Hirst, Wellcome Images
Regular trimmings to your hair and good conditioner should help to prevent this unsightly picture of a split end of a human hair.
Tongue with taste bud
Image: David Gregory & Debbie Marshall, Wellcome Images
This colour-enhanced image depicts a taste bud on the tongue. The human tongue has about 10,000 taste buds that are involved with detecting salty, sour, bitter, sweet and savoury taste perceptions.
Tooth plaque
Image: David Gregory & Debbie Marshall, Wellcome Images
Brush your teeth often because this is what the surface of a tooth with a form of “corn-on-the-cob” plaque looks like.
Alveoli in the lung
Image: David Gregory & Debbie Marshall, Wellcome Images
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.
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3 comments:
Cool.. I didn't imagine my poor hair to be like that. Tsk Tsk. :P
Cool.. I didn't imagine my poor hair to be like that. Tsk Tsk. :P
Wow these are amazing microscopic images..and could only seen with the help of a microscope..
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