American Science and Surplus has a nice collection of used microscopes (and lots of other very cool stuff) at very low prices. Their inventory changes frequently.
Celestron makes a $50 webcam-like (USB) eyepiece camera for telescopes, but it works nicely with microscopes as well. Celestron also sells inexpensive mechanical microscopes.
For thin specimens or slices, you want a compound microscope. For stereo images, you need a stereomicroscope (a.k.a. dissecting microscope). The two have very different designs. The stereomicroscope has two identical objective lenses next to each other, like the two lenses in a stereo digital camera. Unless you need very high magnifications, you can do pretty well with any of the "toy" USB devices that has a built-in webcam and a single magnifier lens (e.g. RadioShack zOrb for ca. $40).
Finally, you can make a Leeuwenhoek microscope (the original microscope design, from the 1600s) with a single spherical lens of 2-3mm diameter and some ordindary household materials. You can make the lens if you have a torch or Bunsen burner, or get one from Edmund Optics (edmundoptics.com). Lots of how-to sites on the web, e.g. http://bizarrelabs.com/micro.htm (one design on this site uses a drop of water as the lens).
About the only computerized function that I would welcome in my car: continuous, real-time display of mileage as I drive. Hybrids already have these, but that's preaching to the converted. Studies (reported elsewhere on/.) have shown that eliminating "aggressive" driving could reduce our gasoline consumption by 20%, overnight and with no new technology. Of course, we ignore the other gauge we already have (the speedometer)...
Haven't the last few years demonstrated that digital information is inherently insecure? A stolen laptop coughs up the SSNs of two million U.S. veterans, the NSA scans all e-mails for, um, 'interesting' keywords, any song or movie can be copied and shared worldwide, and all of it can be modified without a trace by simply switching a few 0s and 1s. Not that non-electronic voting methods are inherently secure (viz. Gore's "loss" in Florida in the 2000 U.S. presidential election), but skewing a national paper-based election would be a lot harder to organize and to conceal. Of course, the populace would have to be paying attention...
Does either of these Bills even do any of these things (e.g. music download) while driving a car? Do they even drive their own cars? Given that just about any distraction (talking on a cell phone, being drunk, being a teen-ager, etc.) increases accident rates by 400%, are they prepared to take responsibility for the increased body count? Or, at the very least, for having given people greater opportunities to do serious harm with a machine originally intended for transportation? The car as entertainment center. The car as office. Sheesh.
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American Science and Surplus has a nice collection of used microscopes (and lots of other very cool stuff) at very low prices. Their inventory changes frequently.
Celestron makes a $50 webcam-like (USB) eyepiece camera for telescopes, but it works nicely with microscopes as well. Celestron also sells inexpensive mechanical microscopes.
For thin specimens or slices, you want a compound microscope. For stereo images, you need a stereomicroscope (a.k.a. dissecting microscope). The two have very different designs. The stereomicroscope has two identical objective lenses next to each other, like the two lenses in a stereo digital camera. Unless you need very high magnifications, you can do pretty well with any of the "toy" USB devices that has a built-in webcam and a single magnifier lens (e.g. RadioShack zOrb for ca. $40).
You can build your own compound microscope, which might make a great project for a 7-year-old: http://www.funsci.com/fun3_en/ucomp1/ucomp1.htm
Finally, you can make a Leeuwenhoek microscope (the original microscope design, from the 1600s) with a single spherical lens of 2-3mm diameter and some ordindary household materials. You can make the lens if you have a torch or Bunsen burner, or get one from Edmund Optics (edmundoptics.com). Lots of how-to sites on the web, e.g. http://bizarrelabs.com/micro.htm (one design on this site uses a drop of water as the lens).
Sounds like a fun project.
About the only computerized function that I would welcome in my car: continuous, real-time display of mileage as I drive. Hybrids already have these, but that's preaching to the converted. Studies (reported elsewhere on /.) have shown that eliminating "aggressive" driving could reduce our gasoline consumption by 20%, overnight and with no new technology. Of course, we ignore the other gauge we already have (the speedometer)...
Haven't the last few years demonstrated that digital information is inherently insecure? A stolen laptop coughs up the SSNs of two million U.S. veterans, the NSA scans all e-mails for, um, 'interesting' keywords, any song or movie can be copied and shared worldwide, and all of it can be modified without a trace by simply switching a few 0s and 1s. Not that non-electronic voting methods are inherently secure (viz. Gore's "loss" in Florida in the 2000 U.S. presidential election), but skewing a national paper-based election would be a lot harder to organize and to conceal. Of course, the populace would have to be paying attention...
if
soma=TV
then
"Brave New World"==true
Does either of these Bills even do any of these things (e.g. music download) while driving a car? Do they even drive their own cars? Given that just about any distraction (talking on a cell phone, being drunk, being a teen-ager, etc.) increases accident rates by 400%, are they prepared to take responsibility for the increased body count? Or, at the very least, for having given people greater opportunities to do serious harm with a machine originally intended for transportation? The car as entertainment center. The car as office. Sheesh.