styrofoam, known as Polystyrene

If you have seen my post on popcorn, then you will probably be a bit familiar with what I will be talking about for this post!

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So another word you may hear when talking about styrofoam is "polystyrene". The word comes from the fact that it is created from combining styrene which is not only used when creating products, but also exists naturally in many foods (such as strawberries and meat).

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When viewing this under the microscope, I was fascinated at how these bubblewrap-like materials are actually formed through threads and threads of monomers. It also interested me how popcorn also resembled this polymer, perhaps meaning popcorn also contains countless amounts of the monomer styrene!

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https://www.chemicalsafetyfacts.org/polystyrene-post/

https://inhabitat.com/shocking-caribbean-photos-reveal-a-sea-of-plastic-and-styrofoam/

rotten white radish!

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At first glance, these pictures may only seem to be an artist's work. However, this is something you must avoid when seen on radish!

Various diseases occurring in radishes can cause the vegetable to rot, which is what happened to this plant here.

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Here, I thought pathogens invaded the white radish and caused areas to create irregular black blotches. After researching, the best assumption I could make is blight because this occurs in radishes by turning the roots black, also known as black root rot. This is also dangerous to have when farming radishes because, as of now, they are said to be incurable! Hopefully, a solution will be made in the future for this disease due to the threat it places on radishes if even one plant becomes infected.

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A layer of defense and colors.

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Now I know what you're thinking: "what is this? How is anything about this a "defense"? It looks more like a cloudy foam covering or millions of grains!".

Now, they're guesses but are ultimately incorrect ones. This is actually a seashell seen through its interior side.

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Now what fascinates me is how mollusks create their shells through only calcium carbonate and protein. As seen in the pictures, the shell is shown having a large area, implying the mollusk wasn't young because the exoskeleton grows with its mollusk.

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Even though the shell was already split (likely because a lucky octopus, starfish, or... human (me) happened to find the unlucky clam), I found it quite interesting how the sand from the ocean still stuck to the shell rather than eventually falling off of it.

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One other fact I found about these shells is that the layers/structures the mollusks make are intentional! For instance, when there is fierce predation where the mollusk lives, the shells may be formed with ridges or may just have a greater layer of exoskeleton than those in areas where less predation exists.

Sponge? Styrofoam?

Now I know what you're probably thinking: it's white styrofoam taken up close!
Though it is a good guess, it is an incorrect answer.
This is actually...

Popcorn!

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When popcorn is microwaved into a delicious snack, it turns out the outer white layer is quite similar in structure to the polystyrene foam we see in many places throughout our lives!

Popcorn actually has a small amount of water inside the hull. When it is microwaved, the water evaporates, causing pressure to rise and ultimately exploding the popcorn - thus creating the famous food for movies. 

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Good news!

Good news! A little while ago, I was on the school newspaper as the president of the Irvine Microscope Club (they were taking pictures the day I was showcasing what lipstick really contained)!

 

mucus with bacteria

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Some time ago, I took a look under one of my dad's coughed up mucus (disgusting but a curiosity I wanted to find out about) and realized there were a few bits of bacteria along with other unknown particles.

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Mucus is the liquid-like substance along the respiratory tract. It protects your body from anything you inhale such as dusts, viruses, and bacteria. It has antibiotics and enzymes to defend against what was inhaled.

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I also took a look at my mom's mucus. What fascinated me was how the particles in each of the mucus were different: my father's having dotted and curled particles/bacteria while my mother's displayed different types of particles and possible living organisms.

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Nylon or mattress springs?

When you see this, what do you think it is? The spring of a mattress? Chains? Threads?
Well.. they're all good guesses but are all incorrect!

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It turns out, these are nylon polymers connected to create stockings!!!

Believe it or not, nylon comes from petroleum, just like how asphalt also comes from it. It is not only sturdy but also flexible! 

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The "chain" like nylon polymers are actually extremely flexible despite its appearance! When I stretched it, I observed the polymers bending to oval-like shapes!

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A little background history: The nylon stockings were created in 1939 and were also used in World War II for manufacturing tents and parachutes! The stockings were also big in popularity during the mid-twentieth century.
The Polyamide is actually very thermal and chemical resistant.

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Personally, I wonder whether this polymer could return to benefit the world when it returns back into the environment, rather than further harming it because of its incapability of decomposing for a long time. I also find this quite ironic because this polymer comes from petroleum, a NATURAL resource, yet harms nature when it is returned.

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portable microscope

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12 years old tulip flower petal

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When I opened a book some time ago, I found a tulip petal that was apparently in the book for 12 years! I decided to look at it and noticed something fascinating! 

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Though the plant cells were obviously long gone, there were red, silk-like objects resting on the petal. I realized this is exactly like the spirogyra I stained and looked at some time ago!!

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The likely reason why the petal was able to still maintain its petal form even after 12 years is likely because the spirogyra never broke down and thus still maintained the petal in the position it was in years ago!

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"Beauty and the Beast"

 

Hello everyone! On our last meeting, we were able to view lipstick under the microscope and find a numerous amount of heavy metal existing such as lead, beryllium, and more! It allowed me to realize how this can be deadly, especially if someone put on lipstick multiple times a day! The club is going to create a petition to the companies regarding a change in the ingredients a lipstick is made up! Come join!

sweet potato- full of starches

So like the apple, I decided to add iodine when viewing a sweet potato. The results shown below explain why the food is beneficial for our body!

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The dark and blue colors shown are all starch contained inside a sweet potato. However, these starches are actually called resistant starches because they aren't fully broken down. 

The intestinal bacteria in our body actually change this into short-chain fatty acids, which can lead to less blood fats, less release of insulin, better digestion, and much more!

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Expired milk seen under the microscope! By: Kyu Been Lee

"WHAT IS THAT??? IS IT LIVING??" are some questions you may be asking yourself when watching this video.
However, don't panic! These aren't living organisms inhabiting the milk. Rather, they're a movement of particles also known as the Brownian motion.
True, it looks realistic. When I saw it too, I began worrying as well. However, it is just a random movement of particles because of molecules of another medium (outside particles) pushing the inner particles that are in the fluid.

Gentle tear drops

concord grape juice 6months(1000X)

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Mono Lake water

kombucha jell

invisible mushroom spores

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I didn't expect to see an army of spores stuck on the mushrooms when I first observed the fungi under the microscope. Surprisingly, they looked similar to poppy seeds.

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Generally, mushrooms are only created to release its spores (reproduction). A larger branch of fungi underground grows mushrooms when the conditions are right. The sight of mushrooms also means that there are likely a large amount of organic matter near it as well since that's how fungi are able to grow (by breaking down the organic matter).

Mono Lake water and Tufa Towers

Over the summer, I took a trip to Mammoth lake and encountered something I've never seen before:  a salty lake!!!

The lake was called Mono Lake and the reason for its saltiness is because there is no place for water to leave the lake: mountains flow water down to the lake but since the only way for the water to leave is by evaporation, it is saline.

Some fun facts: The lake is covered in brine shrimp, attracting A LOT of bird to the shore line! The lake was also nicknamed as the lake that is "saltier than the sea"!

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If you've seen my posts about drying lubricant tear drops and baking sodas, then this must seem a bit familiar to you. I also dried some of the mono lake water I collected and sure enough, they showed the similar image as the other two substances I tested with! The likely reason for this is because water is alkaline and has a pH level of around 10. The other reason is, like stated earlier, the water is extremely salty.

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The water also creates pillars around the lake called tufa towers. Below is a deeper description of how the towers are formed by the calcium and carbonates 

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My June bug is...

BEFORE YOU READ THE POST:

I didn't observe the June bug under the microscope because it meant I had to dissect the bug because of its large mass and I felt too sorry to do this.

The pictures you will see are macro photos.

But I hope you all still enjoy this post!

 I think we've all seen these bugs throughout the summer: with very loud wings and the tendency to chase you around at times.

 But I think you may also know that they only live for a short time . . . except one particular bug.. 

At around August, I found a June bug on the sidewalk nearly dead (it was nonmoving) and I decided to try and revive it.

I gave the bug a piece of peach and . . . it sprang to life!!!
Eventually it became strong enough the hang onto the leaf stems and move its wings around!

The June bug survived for three more months before dying but what I realized from this was that maybe June bugs were dying early because there was a lack of food.

Regardless, it was a great experience observing the bug because I was able to learn various facts such as the June bug being picky and not eating the same types of fruit I gave it multiple times. I also realized the shiny green coat the bug has doesn't go away after it dies but stays on, which slightly surprised me.