Microscope camera!

The exciting news for me this week is that I bought a field microscope, a Skybasic Wifi model, and that I started taking pictures with it. This is a pretty difficult process: centipedes don't really like staying still long enough to have their picture taken with a microscope. It is physically very exhausting to try to get these pictures: I am usually contorting my body into a shape where I can find a specimen, and then trying to keep my hand still enough to get the specimen in the center of the picture. The picture is actually taken in an app on my phone, which means using both hands. Most pictures don't turn out good, but the ones that do have shown me things I have never seen before. A spider that was barely noticeable to my unaided eye resolves into something where I can see its eyes...and its front legs, lifted up into what looks to be a defensive posture. Animals that I would have dismissed as "bugs" now show themselves to be discernible in detail. It has opened a new world for me!

Because it is a delicate instrument, I will probably use it close to where I am. But, of course, when a single shrub can show once-invisible species, it is not needed to take it out to larger parks.

And, in other news, the days are going to start getting longer tomorrow, and I am looking forward to getting out more.

Julkaistu joulukuu 21, 2020 06:28 AP. käyttäjältä mnharris