Rotifers, Nematodes and Tardigrades Stock Microscopic Photography

 Rotifers (Philodina sp.), Light Micrograph

The bdelloid rotifer, found in freshwater habitats all over the world, is able to withstand extreme cold. According to a recent discovery in northeastern Siberia, these multicellular organisms can be frozen for up to 24,000 years and live to tell the tale!

The average life span of us humans, 78 years, is not much compared to other creatures. Some birds live up to 100 years, eels have been recorded at 106, tortoises 150, and Koi fish over 200. The slow moving Greenland shark has been recorded at 512 years.

Still these are just flashes in the pan compared to rotifers. Scientists recently restored rotifers that had been frozen in the Siberian permafrost for over 24,000 years, meaning these creatures were alive during the Late Pleistocene Era - when Wooly Mammoths roamed the earth.

Stock Images and Video of Rotifers and Other Long-lived Animals

A rotifer is part of a group of seemingly invincible creatures, such as nematodes and tardigrades. Tardigrades have even been sent to outer space and survived.

Rotifers are a type of microscopic animal that is often found in zooplankton in either freshwater or saltwater. Rev. John Harris, in 1696, was the first to mention these creatures. They are commonly referred to as wheel animals due to the motion of the cilia surrounding their mouths, which looks like a spinning wheel.

Rotifers are filter feeders that eat dead bacteria and other decaying organic matter. When they move around, they compress their bodies into round shapes and extend out into a long thin shape. In terms of size they can range from 50 micrometers to over 2 millimeters.

Microscope Photography (SEMS) Make Unique Gifts for the Science Minded

Woman uses a Scanning Electron Microscope (left) ,

a cell heavily infected withARS-CoV-2 virus particles (right).

 The entire world has become more familiar with micrographs in the past 18 months, although you may not have realized it. During the pandemic, detailed photographs of the coronavirus appeared in newspapers, television, and everywhere online.  They were taken by a particular device called a scanning electron microscope. The images are often referred to as SEMs for short.

As the name implies, the microscope uses a particle beam to detect electrons off the surface of specimens, which is then placed in a vacuum to create sharp images. Magnification ranges from 20x to 30,000x, spatial resolution of 50 -100nm.

Micrographs allow us to see critical details that may be useful in curing diseases, and they shows us the hidden beauty of everyday objects.

A gallery of microscope photographs available as fine art prints in our Fine Art America shop.

A fine art print, a fun t-shirt, mug, or jigsaw puzzle of a micrograph will make a bold impression on anyone. Resembling abstract art, they’re great for people in the sciences, medicine, research, or just someone who enjoys nature. Discover what micrograph gifts you can make!

Peruse these fascinating images at our Fine Art America shop to start creating amazing micrograph gifts!

Wall art of a seed form the Colombian rainforest SEM photo.

The Real Pocahontas

 

Pocahontas has been a legend of American culture for generations – the subject of romantic novels, documentaries, and Disney films. After so much fanfare, it can be difficult to separate the myth from the historic figure. Here, we’ll try to do that.

First of all, her name was not Pocahontas. Born in 1596, her real name was Amonute and sometimes Matoaka. Pocahontas was a nickname, which in Algonquin means “playful one” or “misbehaving child.”

Legend says Pocahontas fell in love with John Smith, an English settler at Jonestown who was captured by chief Powhatan her father. The two shared a secret love affair that they had to keep hidden from the Algonquins.

In actuality, there was probably little romance between the two. Pocahontas was twelve when she met John Smith and their only recorded interaction was a time when she helped Smith learn portions of the Algonquin language during his captivity.

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After his imprisonment, John Smith was sentenced to death. As the tribesmen placed his head on a stone for execution, Pocahontas intervened, pleading with her father to let her lover go.

In all likelihood, John Smith did not face execution that day. Algonquins often placed people’s heads on stones for religious rituals. It is not unlikely that John Smith was being anointed before his planned release later that day.

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Powhatan dispatched of John Smith and Pocahontas saw mournfully to her lovers’ departure – a bittersweet romance that gave her a new appreciation of how two peoples can live in harmony.

Records show that Pocahontas’ true love was actually John Rolfe, a man she married in 1614 after her own captivity among European colonists following the First Anglo-Powhatan War. Pocahontas converted to Christianity and was baptized with the name “Rebecca.” She lived among Europeans until her death on a ship bound for Virginia in 1617.

Science Source is a great source of Historic images that illuminate both the facts and legends of the past. Explore more of our images in the links above and for great history prints, mugs, and t-shirts check out our storefront below.

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Blackbeard and Swashbuckling Pirates

 

Piracy is criminal activity, such as robbery, violence, or kidnapping, on the high seas. Yet, we love pirates.

We dress-up like them, make kid's movies about them, and enjoy cartoons about them.

The history of piracy goes back to 1500 BC from the Phoenicians to the present time.

Early Pirates also include the Vikings who raided many coastal towns and cities.

When most people are talking about pirates, they refer to the golden age of swashbuckling pirates.

In the Caribbean, in the early 17th century, the English took over Tortuga. They invited pirates to attack their enemies, and they did.

Stock Pictures of Pirates

Well known pirates, also known as privateers, include Edward Teach aka Blackbeard, Barth Roberts, Captain Kidd, Calico Jack Rackham, Captain Samuel Bellamy, Hanry Morgan, and Anne Bonnie.

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Many people are not aware that the U.S. Constitution has a provision for the United States to hire privateers.

Vikings raided cities all along the coastlines for hundreds of years but the most popular and well-known pirates are from about 300 years ago. Think Pirates of the Caribbean.

The Spanish encouraged pirates to attack their enemies. These buccaneers grew so rich they took over the island of Tortuga.

This is the time and place that is heralded in motion pictures and children's books. There was a camaraderie or brotherhood amongst pirates.

By the mid 18th century, this had changed, and many pirate ships ran by enslaving their crews.

To this day, pirates ply the ocean around the world. The romance is gone, though. High powered assault rifles have replaced swords. But, the hunt for treasure and kidnapping remains.

Super Earths and Exoplanets

 

we explore further afield from our home planet, we learn there are not only other systems, but many other planets in these systems. There are people who look to these for another earth and for alien life.

Planets outside of our solar system are called exoplanets.

Gallery of Stock Pictures of Super-Earths and Exoplanets

Just as our solar system has planets of different sizes and types, planets in other systems are varied in size and composition.

To date, we have found 3,242 systems with planets, many with multiple planets, bringing the number of exoplanets we know of to 4,395.

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Planets are categorized by their mass. Any planet with a mass larger than earth without being 14 times higher in mass is considered a super-earth. 

The designation doesn't speak to its composition or whether it would be a friendly place for us humans to live. It only tells us the comparative mass of an exoplanet.

Recently, NASA discovered a new super-planet naming it TOI-561b.

TOI-561b travels around its sun twice as fast as we travel around ours. So it experiences two days in the time we experience one.

Life is unlikely to exist there as the temperature on it is 3,140 degrees Fahrenheit.

Yet, it is exciting to keep discovering more and more systems and planets. Perhaps, one day, we'll find one more compatible with life on our earth,

The Importance of Protein Folding

 

human body uses protein in innumerable ways. They are the building blocks of your body, and it's many functions. Your cells are continually manufacturing proteins; while you sleep, walk or even now as you read this blog.

Proteins make up cellular channels, are structural, act as enzymes, and are part of your immune system. These proteins are formed as strings and can be very long. Folding proteins - just as folding laundry - give them organization, condenses their size, but unlike you laundry it also provides function.

Gallery of Human Proteins and Protein Folding

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The human body is made up of cells, and inside these cells are millions of tiny machines made up of folded proteins. These are found in every single living thing.

These proteins are folded into a specific shape to allow them to function.

If you unfold one, you'll find a string of amino acids - like beads on a necklace. These long strings of amino acids only function once they have folded into a specific shape. If the shape is slightly off, the protein will not function.

Once scientists understand how proteins fold, they will be able to develop methods to cure and prevent innumerable diseases.

Types of Vaccines: Whole Pathogen, Subunit and Nucleic Acid (mRNA & DNA)

This past year of the pandemic has brought with it much suffering, but it has also brought an amazing advancement in medical science. It will be the first vaccine that uses a form of nucleic acid, in this case, mRNA (messenger RNA).

Not only will this vaccine bring the world out of the shadow of COVID-19, but it will also open the door to a myriad of other healthcare developments.

Stock Images of mRNA

First, an overview of how vaccines work. Your body is naturally good at defending itself against intruders such as bacterias and viruses. In fact, you are exposed to thousands each day. If any make it through your first line of defense, your immune system takes action.

A virus is called an antigen. It alerts your immune system to create antibodies, which kill the virus or render it ineffective. Depending on the virus, these antibodies, once triggered, stay effective for months, years, and often a lifetime.

A vaccine works by tricking the body into creating these protective antibodies, without the body needing to get sick.

Traditional or classic vaccines use a method referred to as Whole Pathogen. They use the entire virus, either inactivated (dead) or attenuated (weakened) form.

Another type of vaccine is called Subunit. It uses only part of the virus.

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The newest form of vaccine and the type used for COVID-19 is a Nucleic Acid vaccine, which uses either DNA or mRNA (messenger RNA). This genetic material tells the cells to manufacture the virus or a portion of it. The COVID-19 vaccine uses mRNA that creates just the spike protein that is found on the coronavirus. Our immune system will create antibodies that then attack the coronavirus since it is covered in these spike proteins.

It is the first nucleic acid vaccine ever approved and in use. It is certainly laying the groundwork for many other vaccines to help rid humanity of other diseases.

Without this worldwide health crisis bringing focus and a global collaborative effort, it may have taken many years or even decades for Medicine to have advanced to this point.