Site of the Week
Dennis Kunkel’s Microscopy http://www.pbrc.hawaii.edu/~kunkel/index.shtml
Humans are pretty big animals, and it can be easy for us to overlook the smaller Earthlings from way up here. But just try ignoring the contents of Dennis Kunkel’s microscopy site - full to the brim with images of the world from a whole new angle.
You’ll find more than just the usual subjects lined up for close scrutiny. As well as flies, bees, spiders, fleas, aquatic crustaceans, headlice and houseflies, you can take a closer than average look at pollen grains, fungi, viruses (ever wondered what ‘flu looks like?) blood cells, bacteria, and even sugar, salt and caffeine crystals.
You can follow links to learn about microscopy, but there isn’t much background on the images themselves, which is a shame. One area does have some details about what you’re looking at - the Most Wanted Bugs section is a more kid friendly (but not bug friendly) part of the site, with mugshots and criminal style info on some of the creatures’ lifestyles.
The pictures are largely false-colour electron micrographs, which means that they have been taken with an electron microscope, and then a computer has altered the colour of some areas to make them stand out. The design of the gallery is great - the pictures menu appears on the same page as the pictures themselves, handy because you don’t have to spend ages flipping between pages. If you want to know what the images are like, you’ll have to see them for yourself. Prepare to be amazed.
Richard Northover
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