- Ask a Microscopist! -
Microscopy is a field of investigation which is
used to study objects which are too small to be easily
viewed by the human eye. Viewing and studying objects that
range in size from millimeters (1 mm ~ 0.04" = 4 hundredths
of an inch) to nanometers (1 nm ~ 0.00000004" = 40
billionths of an inch) intrigues everyone and is currently
applied to every field of science and technology in use
today. Microscopes, devices which magnify, come in a wide
range of forms and use a multitude of illumination sources (
light, electrons, ions, x-rays and and mechanical probes)
and signals to produce an image. A microscope can be as
simple as a hand held magnifying glass or as complex as a
multi-million dollar research instrument. Using these tools,
a microscopist explores the relationship of structure and
properties of a wide variety materials in order to more
fully understand the reasons why a particuliar item behaves
the way it does. It is a fascinating disicipline which is
applied to all fields from biology and chemistry to physics
and engineering.
 
 
 
Ask a Microscopist is a project which allows
students and educators at any school level to ask questions
about microscopy or microanalysis to scientists. In addition,
at prearranged times individuals can login to a real
laboratory and visit and talk to scientists on-line as well
as view microscope operations in near real time.
 
 
Images of a Sewing Needle at different Magnifications.
Ask a Microscopist is intended to bring the
excitement of microscopy into the classroom in a
state-of-the-art manner, using the interactivity of the Web.
There are two methods which we use. First, students and
educators can enter questions using the electronic
form below. These messages are forwarded
to volunteers who then send back answers by Email in a few
days. Secondly, they may login to a microscope room and view
work in progress using TelePresence Microscopy
(connect here for technical details) an advanced concept
in interactive use of scientific instrumentation over high
speed networks. The former method is quick and simple, yet
allows an individual to directly contact research scientist(s)
who have volunteered to answer questions. The later is abit
more dynamic and more visually oriented but is generally
only applicable those who have higher speed connections to
the Net. A third method, which bridges the gap employs a Web
Camera, which takes periodic images of experiments in
progress and puts them up on the Web for viewing by anyone.
Ask A Microscopist
On-Line using TelePresence Microscopy (TPM) from
Argonne National Laboratory. You can visit a laboratory and
if a video conference is on-line you can ask a scientist
questions in real time using the Internet! If no conference
is running you can "peek" into a state-of-the-art laboratory
and see what is happening by viewing a WebCam which grabs
periodic images of experiments in progress. To participate
in a TeleConference you will need a copy of
Cu-SeeMe a
teleconferencing software package developed by Cornell
University. This is available for downloading from the
TPM site or from the
Cornell development
team.
Experimental and Demonstration Area
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