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HOW THESE IMAGES WERE CREATED To prepare objects for investigation in a traditional scanning electron microscope like Lamont's, small specimens are mounted onto half-inch metal stubs and then coated with a thin film of gold-palladium metal to make them electrically conductive. (In the case of biological tissue samples, this coating is usually done after an earlier critical-point drying process that preserves microstructures in their original hydrated form.) The prepared samples are placed under vacuum in the SEM, where a monochromatic image of its surface can be viewed as the sample is moved for exploration in horizontal, vertical, tilted and rotated directions at any magnification from about 8 to 300,000 times actual size. (A thumbnail magnified 300,000 times would be as wide as Manhattan Island!) Chosen images are recorded on Polaroid film and printed in the darkroom; they may be colorized later by hand or after being scanned into a computer. Color is used both to differentiate structures and for aesthetic punch, and can be chosen either to evoke the specimen's original coloration or to create a more exotic effect. The magnifications given with the images here are approximate, since they vary according to degree of enlargement or reduction. SOURCE CREDITS The following generous researchers and friends contributed the samples in this collection: MICROPLANKTON radiolarian: R. Mortlock, coccoliths: R. Sambrotto, foraminifer: T. Saito, diatoms, UL, LL: J. Martin, UR: A. McIntyre, UR: C. Sancetta; EARTH IMAGES Black Sea pyrite: W. Ryan and W. Pitman, coral: R. Fairbanks, multiphase micromineral: H. Yeates, serpentine: E. Bonatti, volcanic ash: J. Saltzman; chrysotile: C. Gryte, deep sea sediment: W. Broecker and G. Bond, microtektite: C. McHugh; BIOLOGICAL IMAGES millipede and mosquito wing: B. Faber, iguana skin: M. Jones, worm tubes: N. Huard, fungal smut: M. Hood, petrified wood: B. and R. Covacevich; MEDICAL IMAGES walking macrophage: M. Wolffe, blood clot: J. Castronuovo, thyroid hormone: P. LoGerfo; FAMILIAR OBJECTS industrial filter: C. Gryte |
NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT The micrographs shown here were created by Dee Breger of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University in Palisades, New York USA, using a Cambridge 250 scanning electron microscope (SEM). These images (seen here in low resolution format with superimposed notice of copyright) are protected by copyright laws and may not be used in any form for any reason except by written permission from Breger.
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Dee
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