Slashdot Mirror

Friday I was looking into getting a microscope. Some of the video ones at Edmund Scientific cost over US$500. This is a bargain!

Thanks, Slashdot!!

A few friends and I bought a large bottle of the stuff, it's pretty neat to play with along with some magnets, but you need some SERIOUS power to get any real decent results, initially we were messing around with some discarded large speaker magnets and voice coils (fixed magnetic power). We went so far as to have ordered some higher power electromagnets and some extra hardware to control their strength. Unfortunately due to the recent events in our neighborhood (NYC) we haven't had a chance to experiment much more lately.

Oh and its more like liquid than goo, so dont get your hopes of creating a giant black goo monster up too high.

Anyway, if you want to pick some up for yourself try these places:

Edmund Scientific
(also has magnets, electromagnets)

Teacher Source
(this is where we got our large 1000ml bottle)

and more listed at the official ferroftec web site:
ferrofluidics

-nA

I never saw the page, but a Fresnel lens is an insanely huge magnifying lens, packaged in a conveniently flat and lightweight form :) You can get 'em just about any place that sells educational scientific gadgets... Edmund Scientific, for example.

By the way, I'm very curious to know if anyone out there has tried removing the clear plastic protective film that is mounted on the surface of the GBA (about 1/4" in front of the screen) to see how that reduces or eliminates glare. If you're worried about permanently altering your GBA, you could instead just find a way to take the unit apart and then try powering it up without the front half of the case attached to see what it looks like.

I strongly suspect that if you peel or cut off that plastic film, you'll reduce glare significantly. The only trick then is to find a better substitute material to protect the screen.

If you check out this Edmund Scientific 17 x 19.5" Gray Light Polarizer, it appears to be a thin polarized plastic film you could cut to the right size and use as a substitute. I'm thinking of calling them to verify that the "Gray Light Polarizer" is what I think it is, since the product description is a little vague and there is no photo.

Grab a charger at TechCenter Labs, then wander over to Edmund Scientific for a solar battery charger. Reverse the leads & connect the two together and you have a solar powered charger for your Palm V/Vx. If you have another Palm, you could just charge NiCads I suppose.

--
If your map and the terrain differ,
trust the terrain.

Big versions of this are cool, but they're inherently big. The geometry of the thing requires a much bigger mirror than the size of the image projected.

This has been discussed before on Slashdot. Editors, you've got to research your own backfiles more. Just because Wired doesn't know anything about technology doesn't mean Slashdot shouldn't.

How about something from Edmund Scientifics?

They have robot kits, Magic Rocks and other crystal-growing kits, night-vision goggles, lasers, and all sorts of great tools and toys.

How about something from Edmund Scientifics?

They have robot kits, Magic Rocks and other crystal-growing kits, night-vision goggles, lasers, and all sorts of great tools and toys.

How about something from Edmund Scientifics?

They have robot kits, Magic Rocks and other crystal-growing kits, night-vision goggles, lasers, and all sorts of great tools and toys.

Santa - I'm trying real hard to be good this year so this list doesn't seem too unreasonable. What I'd like to have is 1) a Night Vision Monocular, a Pinball Machine and a house in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Oh, and maybe a Swiss bank account with maybe 5 million in it for upkeep of the house would be a good 'stocking stuffer'. Ok?

One drawback of a video camera as opposed to looking through optics is the relatively low resolution available. The human eye has a far better resolution then the average CCD and this can make a difference, depending on the application.

As other posters pointed out, a video camera mounted to your microscope optics is going to lessen your neck strain and might make you more productive (again, depends on what you are looking at). Just like with a computer, your posture and seat height are also important. And if your job is forcing you to look through one of those cheap or old vertical microscopes, they need to at least get you proper tools to do your job. Binocular microscopes with an angled head are inexpensive nowdays.

To get an idea of what you'd get for an off-the-shelf system, check Edmund Scientific. Dig through their slow CFML catalog for microscopes and video microscopes for a selection of what is avaialable. Others have pointed out that you can put something together for well under their prices.

As far as microscopes in general, there are generally two types, low power binocular scopes and higher powered microscopes for slides (I forget the 'real' name for them).

Binocular Scopes - Usually 10x to 40x magnification, these are great for looking at 'real world' objects. Circuit boards, bugs, that expensive engagement ring you bought and that gash on the end of your finger are all amazing to look at with only 10x or 20x magnification. If you're thinking of buying something for your child to spark their interest in biology or the sciences in general, this is it. They will be able to relate better to the things they look at and you'll find yourself using it as well. These are used professionally by geologists and to inspect circuit boards (among other uses).

'Slide type' microscopes - These are the ones you remember from biology class for looking at pond water or single celled organisims (like that dude in the other comment who is trying to count his own sperm}. Typically having 3 or 4 set magnifications (10x, 40x, 100x, 400x and maybe 1000x combining the eyepiece and objective magnifications) and used with translucent specimens that are illuminated from beneath. These have an entirely different role, typically in biology. These are also fun for kids but they take a little more preparation because of the slides and such.

OK, so there is a start. Hopefully, you'll be able to convince your boss that a decent CCD camera along with a video capture card for your computer to archive and enhance the images is necessary for increased productivity and workplace ergonomics.

I also have one... It's called a sippy bird.

darren

Edmund Scientific has Moon Blob Gel which looks just as cool as these squirt guns. And don't forget, they also have fresnel lenses so you can melt concrete!

Edmund Scientific has Moon Blob Gel which looks just as cool as these squirt guns. And don't forget, they also have fresnel lenses so you can melt concrete!

for those that need to fix something in their iMac this might prove to be useful

Edmund Scientifics is the ultimate geek toy store as far as my family is concerned... I can't even be specific about which items because they have SO MUCH cool stuff. Knock yourselves out.