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All the images used were submitted to our annual calendar image competition, congratulations to those selected. You can download the 2023 images here:
January
Pine stem
Transverse section of a Pine stem showing resin duct. Equipment Used: Brightfield image using a 5megapixel digital eyepiece camera on a Wild M20 Research microscope
Michael R. Gibson, Northamptonshire Natural History Society & Royal Microscopical Society. Image Credit: Prepared Biosil slide by the late John Wells
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February
Fungi in spider web
Colourized SEM image of a fungi colony found in a spider web. A special collection method was applied to preserve the tension and the shape of a spider web as well as to allow for sample manipulation and imaging on both sides. The sample was coated with 7nm of platinum on both sides. Image processed and colourized with use of Mountains Map software. Equipment Used: Quorum Q150V S Plus coater, Tescan Amber FIB-SEM.
Anna Walkiewicz, Quorum Technologies
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March
MgSO4 crystals (recrystallized from Epsom Salt)
Viewed under a total magnification of 100X using diascopic C-Pol with variable compensation. Equipment Used: Leica DM4000M microscope with Xiaomi Mi A3 camera
Shiraz S/O Kaderuppan
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April
Hydroxyapatite Chrysanthemum
A multilayered polycrystalline hydroxyapatite hemisphere grown in a diffusion-mediated mode. Equipment Used: Hitachi S-3400N SEM, stacking of three images (BSE-3D, SE)
Vladimir Shilovskikh, St. Petersburg State University
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May
Jumping Spider
Side view of a jumping spider. Equipment Used: Dead, dried black spider was prepared for light sheet microscopy. Data acquisition based on autofluorescence alone using UltraMicroscope Blaze™. Rendering was done using Imaris
Simon F. Merz, LaVision BioTec, a Miltenyi Biotec company. Image Credit: Lea Bornemann, Tobias Jarzemski, Simon F. Merz
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June
Still life of cerebral cortex
Dendrite of a pyramidal nerve cell from cerebral cortex surrounded by a glial network. On numerous drumstick-like dendritic spines, red-marked synaptic contacts are visible. Synapses are sites of electrochemical transmission of information signals and together with dendritic spines represent important structures for learning and memory formation. The image is a 3D reconstruction resulted from serial electron microscopy. Scale cube = 0.1 µm per side. Equipment Used: computer-aided serial electron microscopy.
Josef Spacek, emertus professor of pathology, Charles University Hospital, Hradec Kralove, Czechi
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July
Chemical Flower
A chemical cocktail smeared on a glass slide self-assembles into a large number of convective cells. Within each cell there is a point called a nucleation site from which crystallization occurs via self assembly. This is a close up of one of the cells. The crystalline film itself is colourless and translucent to the unaided eye, however, when viewed through polarised light and using a retarder, an exquisite floral-like formation is revealed. The cocktail consists primarily of ammonium iron sulphate. Equipment Used: Olympus BX51.
Karl Gaff, Art of Science Photograph
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August
Mountain Valleys
3D model of surface topography with an overlay of chemical composition on a Cobaltite sample generated with MountainsSpectral® software. Equipment Used: JEOL SEM IT700HR and JEOL EDS system + SMILE VIEW™ Map software powered by Mountains®.
Digital Surf in collaboration with JEOL (France). Sample courtesy of Emmanuel Guilmeau (CRISMAT) and Jean-Claude Ménard JEOL (France)
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September
Head of cranefly
Antique slide, gifted to the Royal Microscopical Society in 2022. Imaged under a folding, Swift microscope, which dates back to the early 20th Century
John Hutchison
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October
Avocado dream
A metastasis cancer cell topography in 3D. Studying the morphology and mechanical properties of the cells can help find effective ways of targeting for precise drug delivery. The height of the surface was colour-coded in shades of green, with the topmost part being cut off by brown. All colours were sampled from a picture of a yummy avocado. Equipment Used: LiteScope AFM-in-SEM
Radek Dao, NenoVision. Image Credit: Marco Cassani, St. Ann’s University Hospital Brno, Czech Republic
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November
NMC811 battery electrode precursor powder
SEM-EDS chemical analysis of battery electrode precursor powder. Equipment Used: Gemini 460 and Oxford Instruments Ultim Extreme windowless EDS detector
Dr Lucia Spasevski. Image Credit: Lucia Spasevski and Alexandra Stavropoulou
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December
An Enchanted Forest
Soy sauce crystals in incandescent light, magnified 25x. Equipment Used: TriTech dissecting stereo-microscope with Lumix DMC-ZS60 camera
Revital Katznelson, Environmental Scientist
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