Read more about the article Making hollow wax fibrils…….
Hollow wax fibres made by hydrangea scale insects.

Making hollow wax fibrils…….

To make these hollow, hexagonal fibres would be a good challenge for nano engineers, please react! Good for them to know that the cottony hydrangea scale insects (hortensia woldopluis in dutch) already have the method in perfection. These tough, hollow fibrils protect the young scale insects from being eaten by other bugs. Magnify your own product at Consistence.

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Read more about the article Seed germination
Time lapse imaging of germination of garden cress seed (Lepidium sativum).

Seed germination

Yes, good to share that material research at Consistence is the seed to your business success, but this outburst of life, from dry seeds taken out of an aluminium sachet, makes me humbled after all...... Thanks Paul for imaging garden cress (Lepidium sativum) seed germination in our lab.

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Read more about the article IKEA pencil
In 4 steps to 50k magnification

IKEA pencil

IKEA pencil magnified 50k times in four steps. High magnifications of materials and products seem disconnected from the real world. But here I would like to prove that only 4 steps are needed to magnify the graphene platelets in a pencil at a magnification of 50,000x (fifty thousand times) in just four steps, where each further zoomed image still can…

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Read more about the article Mitic Humans
Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) image of two mites.

Mitic Humans

Fashion, Passion, Sports, and Defence: it's all present in the microworld ...... or just a projection of human behaviour on tiny creatures ;) The imaged mites originate from hydrangea leaves. Their weight is less than a millionth of a gram. Lowest image is a surface detail. Method: cryo-SEM. Photographed by Frank Nijsse at Consistence.

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Read more about the article Grapevine gall mite in situ
Cryo-SEM image of Grapevine gall mite (Colomerus vitis).

Grapevine gall mite in situ

Owners of grapevines would recognise the protrusions on the imaged leaf as blisters created by the gall mite. The mites live underneath the leaves, where they have induced outgrowths of grape leave skin cells, creating a fine curly home for themselves ;). But who has ever seen the gall mite? Not so easy….. First, their size is about 0.1mm, which…

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Open day

11th May Open Day at Consistence: great to see young people fascinated by science. Growing salt and sugar crystals here +imaging with polarised light.

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Read more about the article Worn Jeans
Confocal Microscopy image of worn jeans textile.

Worn Jeans

CSLM autofluorescence image of magnified worn jeans This is a confocal microscopy 3D image of denim, as an example of the amazing effect of rather low magifications of daily stuff. The image shows woven threads that are composed of individual cotton fibres. The here imaged jeans have been worn as can be concluded from the many loose cotton fibres. The…

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Read more about the article Apple sauce, Appelmoes, Apfelmus, Compote de pommes
Confocal Microscopy image of Apple Sauce, consisting of loose, collapsed cells

Apple sauce, Appelmoes, Apfelmus, Compote de pommes

The microstructure of apple sauce. The microstructure of this beloved product is made up of loose cooked apple cells. Earlier in life, in the fresh apple, the cells were voluminous. Here they have collapsed, but they are stiff enough to hold the liquid in place and to provide the typical shear-thinning texture. The video shows a stack of confocal laser…

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Phone screen magnification

This post is about the amazing beauty of the rainbow, white light, mobile phone screens, ... and 'regular' stereo light microscopy. To start with the last: a Stereo Microscope (or macroscope) is a sophisticated magnifiying glass. It allows to visualise details of objects that are below the visibility threshold of the naked eye. Now the phone screen: If viewed under the stereo microscope,…

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