#cochineal beetle husk | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sparkofthetelling · 10 months

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This came to mind, so I'm back to sharing some photos I and a friend took using a scanning electron microscope, this time it's cochineal beetle husks! I think some of these photos really highlight how scanning electron microscopy is so similar to both standard photography and what I view as the opposite end of the spectrum of astrophotography. SEM -> Electrons are essentially shot at an object to 'scan' it, and then the way they scatter off the surface in a very precise manner is used to reconstruct the image. (I'm certain it's more complicated than this, but that's all you need to know for the basics) This is why they're kept in vacuum, so that interfering air particles aren't likely to mess with the electron scattering. Plus, with organic materials like these beetle husks and anything else I share photos of (at least at present), they don't actually have enough conductivity intrinsically to properly deflect electrons! So, they have to be coated with an incredibly thin layer (so as to preserve the actual image still, it's on the order of nanometers thin) of gold and palladium through a process called sputtering to allow for conductivity. If a region is too "conductive" (It's been a minute, so I don't remember the exact terminology) under the settings with which you're trying to take a photo, the electrons can actually "stick" to the surface in a region, whiting it out and creating what's referred to as 'charging' effects. That's what causes some of the really sharp whites in some of these images! (It can also just be good clarity) Additionally, with some of the photos (I think 7 and 8 really exemplify this the best with how it sort of looks like a cliff in the image going deeper into the husk), you can see how this can't reconstruct a perfectly in focus image at all 'heights'. The stuff that is put into an SEM if the vacuum doesn't have to be repulled is super tiny and very flat, but even then that very minor amount of height difference is clearly huge. I just think it's not only really cool to see what stuff like this looks like, but also how similar it can be to standard photography!

#scanning electron microscope #cochineal beetle husk #photography #my photos #fiber chemistry

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sparkofthetelling · 10 months

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Tagged by @mirastudiesphysics I'm physically exhausted and idk why, so I'm answering this to make myself feel better, and I'll try to get back around to it to maintain the spirit of community. Relationship status: Single (I label as aroace, but it's eternally complicated) Favorite color (right now): Carmine/#960018

(The physical dye color I believe is made from cochineal beetle husks!) Song stuck in my head: Free - Live from MSG by Florence + TM Last song I listened to: Nueva York Train Chase (from the Across the Spiderverse Score) Last thing I googled: significance of cloth color for headpieces in Sikhi/Sikh culture Dream trip: Either like, a cross-country train trip or drive with my mother (Canada, US, Ireland, Norway/Sweden/Finland, doesn't really matter) or to go spend like a month at Gran Sasso doing research without being worked to the brink because of cost Anything I want right now: another no contrast cardiac fMRI and my omnibuses I ordered to arrive. Other people: Later

#need to rb with cochineal beetle husk photos #stuff about me #I want to write a SFF novel with a well respected diverse cast and that's the bare minimum of character design to take y'know #hickman ff my beloved I can't wait to have you in physical

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