Ugg, you are genuine

When wearing a pair of expensive yet comfortable ugg boots in the winter,
have you ever wondered why the wool gives such warmth?

ugg boots sheep wool 40X

Turns out, Ugg uses a combination of wool and leather to form their clothing. I posted several descriptions on insulation and how wool or duck down efficiently conserve heat (the inner parts are empty, allowing heat to stay rather than be released). The pictures shown are the coiled wool from sheepskin taken from ugg boots.

ugg boots sheep wool 100X

Seen here, the inner part consists of empty spaces where heat tends to become trapped in. The reason why a T-shirt made of thread isn't recommended in the winter is because threads don't have empty pockets inside of them to conserve the heat meaning it would simply diffuse out of them (T-shirts are also not recommended because they are short sleeved).

ugg boots sheep wool 400X

Yes! I'm real

Have you ever wondered how birds are able to maintain a steady temperature and maintain the heat despite the outside environment changes?

real down 40X

It turns out, the loose feathers that cover the bird's chest region is what allows heat insulation and buoyancy in water for certain bird species. As explained in previous posts, the feathers consist of open air sacks in the center that allows heat to be stored.

real down 40X

One interesting fact is birds tend to use their down feathers to insulate their eggs as well: by pulling their own feathers off, female birds are able to keep eggs warm by surrounding their nests with down feathers and emitting their heat onto the insulators.

real down 100X

real down 100X

from veggi VS from anni

*If you haven't seen my post about insulation from feathers and furs, I advise you also check that one out as well!*

cotton thread and real down 40X
After looking at how insulation takes place in duck down feathers and angora rabbit furs, I decided to investigate and find out why cotton clothing failed to preserve much heat.

cotton thread and real down 40X

When viewed close up, I noticed there was one significant difference allowing heat to pass through: the thread was thin and had no pockets of air to store the emitted body heat. As seen in the picture, the thread is merely a cluster of fibers as compared to the feathers and furs which consisted of empty bubbles in the center.

cotton thread and real down 40X

Endless worlds in a world

Ever thought twice on how each grain of sand was formed and shaped differently?

When I went to the beach the past summer, I decided to take a couple grains back home for memories and to observe under the microscope. Turns out, the grains seem to almost be glass as they are almost transparent under the lighting (some of them).

What I thought was most unique was how these grains, once in forms of rocks, transformed into these differently shaped structures, as if there are different worlds inside this single world.

One interesting fact: Sand's real name is silicon dioxide because it is actually a form of quartz which is finer than gravel but coarser than silt. Sand is also one of few minerals very resistant to weather impacts.

angora...warm enough!

Ever wonder why during the winter it is preferred to wear jackets and clothing made of fur?

angora rabbit hair 100X

While in the first picture the single strand of rabbit hair may seem to be merely a piece of thread having no significance to why people tend to wear it for warmth, it is in truth a very hollow piece of fur.

angora rabbit hair 400X
 As seen in these pictures, the fur actually has large pockets of empty space inside. The reason for so many air pockets is because the heat that is emitted by the organism would be stored in the pockets, further insulating/preserving heat. This is shown in duck down and other types of fur animals.

angora rabbit hair 400X

angora rabbit hair 400X

A thousand of Grains of treasure

Try guessing what this is!

If you've tried guessing it, see if you're correct: the picture was sand paper! Each fragment gives off a reflection when under light and makes it seem as if it is some sort of jewel.These are really coated abrasives which are essential in some industries such as furniture and automotive.

It's not a cute insect

It's a plant! No, it's a toy! No . . . It's a Mantis!!!!

his wing 40X

A few months prior, a mantis decided to hop into the house which was very surprising because this was around the start of winter, meaning the insects would have likely died before then. Sure enough, the mantis died after lacking mobility for a day. I decided to use that to my advantage and check out its wings.

his wing 40X
 It turns out that while the wings seem somewhat detached from the body except for what is connecting it, there is a thin line of a blood vessel that flows through the wings. While the blood doesn't seem to have the purpose of transferring oxygen filled blood to the wings, it might be there in order to generate heat for the insect when it draws it out as it is shown in some animals such as bats.

A fun fact: The pigments in the mantis's eyes gather depending on the lighting of the environment in order to improve eyesight when hunting.

unexpected beauty

bark of the tree-sponge type

I never expected a sponge and a bark to fuse together..

sponge type tree bark illuminator 40X

This bark seen the pictures truly fascinated me because of how it was formatted to protect the tree. While the outer layer was smoothly rough, the internal features were very sponge-like as seen on the pictures. The sponge-like features are shown to be like multiple cushions softening the inner layer to almost a pillow.

sponge type tree bark 100X zoom in illuminator

sponge type tree bark smooth side 100X

As seen on these pictures, there are multiple layers on the tree bark, the soft side covering the rest of the internal cells and acting as a different protective layer from the rough external surface of the bark.

sponge type tree bark tough side 100X

cooked brown rice and its facts

cooked brown rice iodine solution 40X

Like the previous post on the starch in apples, I also decided to test it on brown rice as well. 

cooked brown rice iodine solution 100X

As seen, there are numerous amounts of dark and blue spots across the brown rice (which I had ground) which is the color starch emits when iodine touches it.

cooked brown rice iodine solution 400X

Since you now know that brown rice is also covered in starch (which creates glucose to further energize your tissues and organs), that's one more food to add to the breakfast!

red again

I know I had once done a post on a comparison between poinsettias and roses. However, an interesting discovery prompted me to post about these bright flowers once again.

poinsettia 2016 100X

One thing I thought was fascinating was that while a poinsettia's cell looks quite flat and red when viewed through an ordinary microscope, it showed a 3D image of clear cells when I shone an illuminator onto the slide! As seen below, each cell looked as if they were clear marbles instead of red cells!

poinsettia red leaf 40Xilluminator

Another interesting discovery was when I saw that while the poinsettia petal's original color was bright red, it began to change to a pinkish color after a few hours. An assumption I made was that the petal began losing its color after I took it off the original plant to examine it.

poinsettia red leaf 1st picture 40X



poinsettia red leaf 1st picture 400X

 

poinsettia red leaf 1st picture 100X

An interesting find is that while the poinsettia's petal changed color to an unusual pink, it turns out the plants require complete darkness (not even a nightlight should be on!) for around 14 hours a night in order to keep the red color on them. 

poinsettia red leaf with illuminator 1hour after 100X
 These are the illuminated cells zoomed in. In my opinion they seemed like pink blobs of gel as well!

poinsettia red leaf 1hour after 40X

full of starch

Yes, this is the exact reason why you should eat apples during breakfast!

apple iodine solution 40X

When I first saw this, an immediate thought I had in mind was how similar it looked to some of the marble flooring one would see in buildings! What it really is is an apple with iodine solution added to it.

apple iodine solution 100X
 As seen in these pictures, the dark and blue colors are all starch that are in an apple. Starch is what actually gets converted into glucose (blood sugar) by your digestive system. The sugar is what energizes your organs and tissues! So be sure to add this fruit to your list to eat in the morning (PS: It won't make you fat!

apple iodine solution 400X

tree's outfits

When I see a tree, what immediately catches my attention is the bark that covers the tree, one because it is what the external layer of the tree is covered by and two because of the various structures the bark creates (rough and bumpy appearances).

tree bark 40X

There are two layers to a bark but what I took a look at was the external layer. The layer consists of dead tissues and is a protective layer against the environment while preventing moisture on the inside from drying.

tree bark 100X

As seen in these two pictures, the bark actually consists of dead tissues (cells are noticeable because of the nucleus inside of them) compactly aligned with one another. 

tree bark 400X

white radish

white radish iodine solution 40X

While looking under the microscope, I noticed that there weren't a lot of starch in the radish after adding a few drops of iodine to it (if it had turned dark blue or so, that would mean there would be starch teeming the white radish. However, as seen above, there aren't many spots where there are any blue stains).

white radish iodine solution 100x
 Another thing I noticed was how thick the cell walls seemed compared to the other plants I observed in the past. An assumption I made was that the radish was perhaps turgid because of the expanded structures of the cell walls as shown on the pictures.

white radish iodine solution 400X

As the twig is bent, so grows the tree (tomato's cotyledon)

*If you want to grow some tomatoes, just keep the seeds that are inside the ones you eat and plant them!*

tomato's cotyledon 40X

When I planted a tomato seed and saw it growing, I decided to take a look at the cotyledon which is the first leaf to sprout out of a germinating seed (there may be multiple). Due to the lighting, the green color on the leaf is not shown as bright as it is supposed to. However, when I looked at it, I saw certain parts that seemed to be developing into a leaf. This is what first enables the germinating seed to start photosynthesis.

tomato's cotyledon 100X

Below, the development of chloroplasts (area where photosynthesis takes place) is shown where they eventually cluster a cell, turning the leaf bright green.

tomato's cotyledon 400X