Hi again.
A few more microscope videos.
The first shows some navicular (boat shaped) diatoms. These are amazing little creatures that have silica skeletons. They are responsible for the formation of diatomaceous earth (aka Fuller's Earth or kieselguhr) which is used as filtration media for swimming poors and also occasionally as a polishing agent. It consists of the diatom skeletons which are porous and quite abrasive. There are many varieties with different shapes.
The next video shows a single strand of algae. You can see the segments (individial cells). As the focus is changed you see some sgments that contain bacteria. They've entered a damaged section and are chowing down.
The last video shows more paramecium. These are much clearer than the ones in my previous post.
The level of magnification in this last video is x400. These paramecium are around 50 microns in length.
For comparison, human hair ranges from 18 to 180 microns in diameter.
There are some oval shaped bacteria amongst the paramecium but these are huge compared to some types.
The smallest bacteria are around 0.37 micron long so they would be almost invisible without greater magnification.
The sheer variety of microscopic life is amazing and I find it a genuine thrill to look at some of these critters live.
I hope you enjoyed these videos.
Bye for now.
Richard
