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Cool microscopic stuff to see at 150x?

dogjones

Graduate Poster
Joined
Oct 3, 2005
Messages
1,303
So,

I was given a wee USB microscope for my berfday. Hurray! Highest mag is 150x though so I don't think I'll be able to see my own sperm. Shame - I've always wondered how they are doing.

So, anyone have any suggestions about what is cool to look at between 10 and 150x? (I would go through the other microscope thread but there's talk of of eyepieces and objectives in that, which I don't have.)

Thanks yall!

Dog
 
Blood is pretty neat. So are most pieces of you, but apart from the liquids, you won't really see anything without proper cutting, adhesion and staining.
 
So, anyone have any suggestions about what is cool to look at between 10 and 150x? (I would go through the other microscope thread but there's talk of of eyepieces and objectives in that, which I don't have.)


I assume you're referring to this thread?

Where I say that I used my 10× objective and 15× eyepiece (which is the most common combination, especially in my earlier images) that's a total magnification of 150×. Whatever I saw and photographed at that setting, you should be able to see with your microscope.

That's a good range for pond water. Most algae, protozoans, and rotifers are of about the right size to be viewed at that magnification.
 
150X is actually quite a bit.
It is a bit shy to visualize bacteria, especially without staining, but histology is fair game... And most protozoans should also be well within your capacity...

*Think for a minute*
You are in Bermuda, I'd be wary of sending some histological samples overseas, law enforcement can be paranoid... but I know that some are on sale here and there.
 
Rotifers rock, for sure.

150 might even get you a nice look at paramecium and euglenas.
 
What's your resolution on that thing? Magnification may not be the only issue.

This was my thought as well. Depending on the optics used to make it, and whether it has a clamp/mount so that it can be held still (as opposed to a solely handheld cam) you may be looking at a microscope that has more like 20-50x as a maximum useful magnification. Even then there are lots of cool things to look at.

Find the nastiest mud puddle you know of (swampy, algae filled water) and scoop up a bit. Put a small amount in a shallow dish and enjoy. Try a black background and a white background, each with good lighting, and see what you see. There's some incredible stuff in pond water.

At lower magnifications (10x-25x) bugs and flowers are very interesting to examine, just to see all of the fine structure that you normally cannot.
 
Thanks all! It is a Celestron 44302. The reviews seem mostly positive although I haven't managed to install it yet as I have an old computer with no internet at home and the plug and play didn't work last night. Have downloaded the drivers for it today (thank you work!) so hopefully will be up and running tonight.

The model is very simple in that you just plonk it on something and focus it. It does have a pretty solid clamp mount which is useful. Lighting provided by LEDs around the lens. It says you can use slides but it certainly doesn't seem to be designed for them. I'll get hold of some anyway though - the protozoans/rotifers are definitely of interest to me and I would guess one needs to use slides for that sort of thing?

Um, I know this sounds... well, how's about stool samples? Would bacteria be too small at 150x?
 
Thanks all! It is a Celestron 44302. The reviews seem mostly positive although I haven't managed to install it yet as I have an old computer with no internet at home and the plug and play didn't work last night. Have downloaded the drivers for it today (thank you work!) so hopefully will be up and running tonight.

The model is very simple in that you just plonk it on something and focus it. It does have a pretty solid clamp mount which is useful. Lighting provided by LEDs around the lens. It says you can use slides but it certainly doesn't seem to be designed for them. I'll get hold of some anyway though - the protozoans/rotifers are definitely of interest to me and I would guess one needs to use slides for that sort of thing?

Um, I know this sounds... well, how's about stool samples? Would bacteria be too small at 150x?

You're not going to see bacteria by just smearing stool on a glass. They're not too small, precisely, but to actually see them, you'd have to cultivate them, attach some to a glass and gram-dye them. Also, there can't be any air between the lens and the glass; you have to use an oil designed for that and have the lens be inside the bubble. If you can do it, it's really interesting, but it does take a lot of equipment.
 
Thanks. Also according to this site the oil immersion essentially works at 1000x mag. Looks like I may be stuck with protozoans/rotifers for now (moan moan moan!)
 
Thanks. Also according to this site the oil immersion essentially works at 1000x mag. Looks like I may be stuck with protozoans/rotifers for now (moan moan moan!)

Yep, you're right; I forgot that we actually used oil immersion objectives, not just oil. So it looks like you won't be viewing streptococci. Still, there are plenty of interesting eukaryotes to look at. :)
 
If a new puppy comes into the neighborhood, before it is treated for roundworms (or there is a vet clinic nearby) ,you could obtain a fresh stool sample. Most puppies are loaded with roundworm eggs.

Most vets use a commercial fecal flotation solution, but you can easily make one yourself.

Roundworms, hookworms, pollen, and grain mites from commercial pet foods would all be readily visible with your scope. No stain is needed.

An old prescription vial would suffice for the container in the link. A slide and a coverslip (glass is better than plastic) is best.
 
Um, I know this sounds... well, how's about stool samples? Would bacteria be too small at 150x?

You're not going to see bacteria by just smearing stool on a glass. They're not too small, precisely, but to actually see them, you'd have to cultivate them, attach some to a glass and gram-dye them. Also, there can't be any air between the lens and the glass; you have to use an oil designed for that and have the lens be inside the bubble. If you can do it, it's really interesting, but it does take a lot of equipment.


Some of this is misleading, potentially harmfully so.

Don't use oil with an objective that isn't meant to be used in oil. If you do, you may ruin it. The description of how oil is used is horribly inaccurate, and not useful in this instance anyway, since I assume that the device in question is not made to be used in oil.

Bacteria probably are too small to be seen usefully with the device under discussion.

But if you have a sample of something that is rich in bacteria, then yes, smearing it on a slide is sufficient; no need to cultivate it. Gram staining is helpful, of course, to make them more visible.
 
Some of this is misleading, potentially harmfully so.

Don't use oil with an objective that isn't meant to be used in oil. If you do, you may ruin it. The description of how oil is used is horribly inaccurate, and not useful in this instance anyway, since I assume that the device in question is not made to be used in oil.

Bacteria probably are too small to be seen usefully with the device under discussion.

But if you have a sample of something that is rich in bacteria, then yes, smearing it on a slide is sufficient; no need to cultivate it. Gram staining is helpful, of course, to make them more visible.

Correct. To my shame, I did indeed forget the need for an objective designed for oil immersion.
 
From what I can see of your microscope, it has 10x-40x optical magnification, then uses digital magnification (zooming in and interpolating?) to get to 150x. That doesn't mean that it's not going to look nice, but you're never going to see individual bacteria with this.

Red blood cells and sperm are also probably out, though at 40x it's at least theoretically possible for you to distinguish a single one of either as a tiny tiny tiny dot (approximately 0.2mm across in apparent size.) The digital zoom might be helpful with that. If you're intent on examining cells as opposed to larger structures, I'd go with cheek scrapings and pond water. Buy a box of slides and a box of cover glasses (a few bucks on eBay) and make your own. Cheek cells are plenty big enough to be viewed through this setup, and the vast majority of eukaryotes swimming around in pond water are as well. Some of the paramecia are large enough to easily be seen with the naked eye (though most aren't, of course.) You'll also find lots of daphnia, copepods, and cyclops, any one of which is extremely interesting, and often covered with other little critters like vorticella (in the same way that ships are covered with barnacles.) You'll also find rotifers and nematodes in abundance.
 

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