A sponge a phoenix?

All sponges possess a remarkable ability to regenerate lost parts. A piece cut from the body of a sponge is capable of growing into a complete sponge. This power of regeneration helps the sponges to repair the damage caused in the harsh environment.

Transition of lava on Mount Etna

Limonite is a mineral consisting of various iron oxides. Limonite is yellow, ochre, brown or blackish colored by iron oxide.

Volcanic rock of Mount Etna can be transformed into Limonite, which is called like that because of its yellow brownish color. The Limonite is mainly produced by the oxidation of iron containing lava rocks by weathering, facilitated by splitting and pulverizing of the rock because of the penetration of the roots of vegetation enabling oxygen and humidity to enter.

Algae with an eye

Euglena species are often abundant in calm waters, where they can be present in such numbers, that the surface of ponds and ditches can have a green or red color.

Euglena is commonly studied in biology classes because it has both plant (it has chloroplasts and so can photosynthesize) and animal (it moves and can eat) characteristics. Depending on conditions, photosynthesis or eating can predominate. It is a single celled creature with a large flagellum (not visible in this video, see below) that lives in fresh water. It is generally elongate but can change its shape quite dramatically during so-called euglenoid movement. It swims using its flagellum and can orientate itself with respect to gravity and light.

Wood Collectors?

Wood Collectors primarily collect samples of plants from the group of seed plants, Spermatophytes. This can be either softwood (Gymnosperms) and hardwood (Angiosperms)

Wood however, is composed of various types of tissue, which wood collectors should be able to recognize and name in order to assign a particular species. Tissue which occurs abundantly in one species and is an important feature, can be completely absent in a different species. To see the right features, to name and describe them, is the most important for determination. The recognition of wood types can be done, among others, by the study of micro preparations.

Micro preparations of wood are thin slices of wood of 10-15 microns thick, cut into 3 planes:

a) In the transverse plane for example, the vessels, the distribution of vessels, the type and the distribution of the parenchyma (ground tissue), the number of rays per mm and the thickness of the fiber wall can be seen.

From North America to anywhere else

Ceratophyllum demersum is a native of North America. It now has a worldwide distribution, at least in part due to the aquarium and pond trade. It is a submerged aquatic plant which is capable of forming dense monospecific beds, excluding other plant species, causing problems to recreational activities on waterways and in some cases causing blockages at hydroelectric power stations. C. demersum can spread rapidly, and grows in a large range of aquatic habitats.

Synura, spring is in the air!

Synura sp. Chrysophytes or Golden Algae, are common in freshwater habitats especially in spring. These motile spherical colonies have yellow brown plastids, two flagella of different length and are covered with siliceous scales. 

What’s in a weld?

Investigation of welded materials for various applications in industry is of paramount importance. There are various test methods available to test the quality of welds such as destructive methods and methods whereby the material remains undamaged such as the use of images created by Rontgen rays.

Basics of Light Microscopy 5 - About Plan Apos

For sure, a genuine rendition of color is a basic demand on any light microscope. Using white light as the inspection tool for microscopic samples causes a high challenge on the microscope optics. Different wavelengths set different focal points, and this Chromatic Aberration (greek: χρωμα chroma = color and latin: aberrare = deviation) has to be compensated by combining lenses of different shape and different glass types.

In this sense, the Plan Apochromatic lens correction represents the highest level of color reproduction. Here the focal point for several wavelengths has been brought together by a clever combination of different lenses, resulting in a lack of colored fringes around phenomenon borders. 

Chromatic Aberration

Malaria

Malaria has been recognized since the Greek and Roman civilizations over 2,000 years ago, with different patterns of fever described by the early Greeks. Malaria is the most important tropical disease known to man. It remains a significant problem in many tropical areas, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria is spreading as a result of environmental changes, including global warming, civil disturbances, increasing travel and drug resistance. There are approximately 100 million cases of malaria worldwide with about 1 million of these proving fatal.

Gooseberries under attack

Powdery mildew (Sphaerotheca mors-uvae) severely infects young shoots, stems and fruits of gooseberry (Ribes uva-crispa). Environmental friendly and biological control measures are being sought throughout the world. Especially in organic currant growing, effective control measures are needed, because powdery mildew infections may result in a total loss of the crop. In organic currant growing the number of adequate control methods is very limited.