So...weve now got the Scanning Electron Microscope serviced and working at work, and Ive been "trained". I had a small window yesterday to have a play with some old coins

Probably the highlight of the week, which until I actually sat down and got that first image, Id been dreading, after being told repeatedly how expensive different bits were (10s of thousands of £ for different components) and how easy it is to break some of them!

Im loving the detail even at low power, theres something just so cool about the images, I mean, x35 mag isnt much, you can get higher power magnifying glasses for less than a tenner, but its just the detail on them and how the images are made which is so cool. Theres also the fact that next week Im hoping on getting images at, I dunno, maybe x1000 magnification, or maybe even x2000

Coin 1, x200

Coin SEM tests by Chris_Moody, on Flickr

Coin 1, x35

SEM Coin Test 35x Magnification by Chris_Moody, on Flickr

Coin 2, x200

Coin SEM tests by Chris_Moody, on Flickr

Coin 2, x35

Coin SEM tests by Chris_Moody, on Flickr

Those darker rectangles on the x35 mag images are actually electron beam contamination from where I was scanning the coin at the higher magnifications. So cool...

More microscopic goodness. This time I was testing out some camera adapters on the different microscopes at uni.


Microscope camera attachment test - coin 10x mag by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Microscope camera attachment test - coin 20x mag by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Microscope camera attachment test - coin 30x mag by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Microscope camera attachment test - coin 40x mag by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Wren feather 40x magnification by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Wren feather 100x magnification by Chris_Moody, on Flickr


Wren feather 400x magnification by Chris_Moody, on Flickr

that
is
so
cool

The entomologist at uni said about doing some false colour ones and making a calendar...which has got me thinking that it might actually be a cool little project to see about putting together a School calendar for next year (not 2011 as theyre already out, but either 2012 or the 2011-2012 academic year)

Certainly I think its looking like I might be able to get some images that are useable from the SEM, but I think a calendar would be best with a mix of things from the different departments. Will probably mention it tomorrow or at the xmas lunch on Wed

I really want to do an ant now though, but finding one at this time of the year is going to be tricky...