Can you guess what this is? It's very, very small.Byline: EXHIBIT By Lewis Taylor The Register-Guard There's a tiny, tiny world out there - where seaweed looks like designer luggage, where fruit fly larvae Larvae, in Roman religion Larvae: see lemures. resemble human X-rays. "What is that?" you might ask, looking at what appears to be blue coral. The answer is a mouse colon, magnified a frightening 740 times. Yikes yikes interj. Used to express mild fear or surprise. [Origin unknown.] . You probably learned in junior high that things look different through a microscope, but those old science-class slides simply don't compare with the square pupil of a freshwater shrimp. Or the the wing scales of a sunset moth. These arresting images and more can be seen at the Nikon Small World photo exhibit, at the Science Factory through March 19. The show offers a glimpse into a world few people see, says Lee Shuett, Nikon's executive vice president. Begun in 1974 to recognize excellence in microphotography mi·cro·pho·to·graph n. 1. A photograph requiring magnification for viewing. 2. A photograph on microfilm. 3. See photomicrograph. , the Nikon show has gone from niche competition to a mainstream attraction. More than 1,500 images were submitted to the most recent contest. The winners are on display in this traveling exhibit, which will hit two dozen venues nationwide. For those unable to see the exhibit in person, Nikon posts the images at www.microscopyu .com. The winner of last year's competition, the aforementioned mouse colon, isn't the only image most people won't be able to identify without looking at the title. A shot of carrot seeds magnified two times (honorable mention) could easily be the pattern on a silk necktie. The photo of a transgenic Nicotiana benthamiana Nicotiana benthamiana is a close relative of tobacco and species of Nicotiana indigenous to Australia. Benthamiana is considered by some to be a model organism for performing plant research. plant, a relative of tobacco, magnified 10 times (fifth place) looks like an Atari video game from the 1980s. Still, many of the microscopic images look just like their real world counterparts. A photo of an annelid annelid Any member of a phylum (Annelida) of invertebrate animals that possess a body cavity (coelom), movable bristles (setae), and a body divided into segments by crosswise rings. worm embryo (12th place) looks, well, just like a worm. And looking at a shot of water on a petri dish pe·tri dish n. A shallow circular dish with a loose-fitting cover, used to culture bacteria or other microorganisms. Petri dish a shallow, circular, glass or disposable plastic dish used to grow bacteria on solid media such as agar. magnified 20 times (honorable mention), you might not be able to identify what's holding all those hydrogen and oxygen molecules in suspension, but those round droplets couldn't be anything but H2O. While the images will be fun for just about anyone to look at, there's a serious side to the photographs. Many of the "photomicrographs" have been featured in scientific and industrial journals and, organizers say, a micro-photo is ``a technical document that can be of great significance to science or industry.'' SMALL WORLD GALLERY What: Nikon's traveling microscope An instrument for measuring length with a resolution of about 0.05 -0.1 mm. It is composed of a microscope mounted on two rails fixed to a supporting structure. The position of the microscope can be varied coarsely by sliding along the rails, or finely by turning a screw. photography exhibit Where: The Science Factory, 2300 Leo Harris Leo A. Harris (August 6 1904 – April 22 1990) was an American college football player and coach, and the first athletic director for the University of Oregon. Playing and coaching career Parkway When: Through March 19; open noon to 4 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday How much: $4 for nonmembers |
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