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Microscopy With A Film Scanner
NickFitz writes "If you've got a film scanner lying around, this site shows you how to use it as a microscope. "Your monitor displays images at about 70-90 dpi, so taking the example of my Mac monitor at about 75 dpi, we get a magnification of 4000/75 which is about x53. It's not a lot and isn't going to show the likes of blood cells, but it should give an interesting view of small transparent objects." Did you know that bees wings are hairy?"
"I can't give you a brain, so I'll give you a diploma" - The Great Oz (blatently stolen sig)
Thanks a bunch. I now have a vaguely disturbing mental image of a naked bee.
does this mean I can now see Darl McBride's heart without an expensive microscope! Wheeee!
The wings are not the hairiest thing on a bee.
True, but have you ever tried to spread those little legs?
Trolling is a art,
Good point. If every school in the country bought an old film scanner cheap, that would, uh... drive up the price of second hand film scanners. The problem is that "know[ing] the right people". Every school has to know an independent right person.
It's like the regular Slashdot article on "How to build a reusable orbital launch vehicle for $12.75" based on parts bought on eBay. Sure, that's how you did it. Now that the cat's out of the bag, I'll be bidding against every excitable teen 1337 h4x0r with mommy's credit card.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
I hate it when she leaves it to me to wash the scanner glass though!
Throw it in the dishwasher. Either it will work, or she will never ask you to clean anything ever again.
It's only a matter of time before someone sits on the scanner with their pants down.
"Honey, does this make my ass look big?"
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts...for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang
Don't know what's worse. Whether you've got the images hosted on your website, or I felt compelled to take a look for myself.
:)
Ewww. Neato, but Ewww.
So, sure it's all big and clever to use a scanner as a microscope, but is it really that big and clever to pull the wing off a bee?
I'm shocked! This sort of behaviour should not be promoted on Slashdot!!!!
Please read my Canon EOS tech blog at http://www.everyothershot.com
but it's been a long time since anyone asked me....Thanks for visiting the 9th Grade Biology Trivia (tm) store....
Twin or more? ITA
Apache/Spring/La
Did you know that bees wings are hairy?
So are female German shot putters. And let me tell you I didn't have to wrestle one on to my scanner to find that out.
Cynicism is the natural defence of the romantic.
Did you know that 12-year-old Brianna LaHara was going to scan bees wings on her film scanner for her science project, but she had to sell it to cover her RIAA tab.
... Don't forget to stop by Noodle Kidoodle to get all the nation's nine year olds to sign your amnesty agreements.
Way to go RIAA
So I was at this red light in a van with a bunch of friends. There was a yuppie-looking cool dude in front of us, on a motorcycle. He had a booth tan and spiky hair, and a booth-tanned halter-topped girlfriend sitting on the back.
Hey, that's ok. That's great for him, in fact! Motorcycles are good, they're fun! But his license plate said:
"IAMFLY"
as in "I'm fly, baby", "I'm phat", "look at me, I am the stuff".
On a motorcycle license plate??? I mean, you're so incredibly at the mercy of other motorists when you're on a motorcycle, you'd think he'd try to be a little less cocky, maybe with a license plate like "HITHERE" or "NICECAR" or "PLZ!RUNOVERME".
So I rolled down the window, leaned out, and screamed at the top of my voice -- from a Ford Windstar minivan, at a crowded intersection, wearing a suit -- "I AM WINDSHIELD!!!!"
He looked back, all confused -- and then the light turned green, and his girlfriend poked him, and he turned around and sped off.
Anyways, the scanner glass and your story made me think of bugs and windshields and stuff.
Allow me to recommend an article from Annals of Improbable Research, most easily available in one of their "Best Of" collections:
This wonderful article describes how to image down to the level of single atoms or even subatomic particles, using nothing more than an ordinary photocopier!Too bad the film-scanner folks missed this: could have saved themselves a lot of work.
Here's a cheaper way to get similar results. 1) Take a bee wing 2) Put it really close to your eye