Ever wondered how a diving beetle can swim through water or rest on the surface? Partly by its foot being much more complicated than your own. And those complex details have now been made visible.
Science meets art in these incredibly-detailed images taken by neurobiologist Igor Siwanowicz using a confocal laser-scanning microscope. With the hi-tech device, he uncovers a world of small creatures such as moths, barnacles and beetles that is otherwise unseen to our naked eyes – even using a traditional lens-based microscope.
“I first laid hands on my microscope only three years ago, when I changed fields,” Siwanowicz told Earthly Mission. “I used to work as a biochemist, but I decided that neurobiology was more in tune with my naturalist approach. Plus they have these cool toys.”
Indeed, we love the amazingly detailed results of him playing with this special microscope. Siwanowicz uses it as a creative escape from his stressful work at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Farm Research Campus. “You need creative outlets,”
In fact, it is very therapeutic for us too.
Front foot of male Acilius diving beetle
Barnacle
Midge Pupa
Front leg of male diving beetle
Paraphyses & Sporangia
Male diving beetle leg – fragment
Oak Lacebug
Isopod appendage
Front leg of whirligig beetle
Moth antennae
Moth antennae, detail
Sources: 1, 2, 3
