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





You are bubble maker!

At a first glance, I thought it would be difficult to guess what this was because it was just a bundle of blue thread-like structures. However, it is actually a sponge you use to clean your dishes! 

As seen above, the blue structures are really foamed plastic polymers that make up the sponge because it is a material sponge. Some can also be made from wood fibers as well.
While these artificially made sponges have one or two components, sponges one may find underwater consist of spicules which are protein called spongin which act as the skeleton of the organism. They are also filter feeders which means they don't generally move.

money is just ...

When I first took a closer look at the dollar bill, I noticed how it was different from how an ordinary

piece of paper appeared. After doing some research, I realized that the paper was actually created differently from the type we are all very used to writing on. 

Unlike ordinary paper, which is generally made of wood pulp, dollar bill money are actually made of 75% cotton and 25% linen. Special fibers are woven throughout the two materials. In these two pictures, the fibers the weave the materials are clearly shown in a white color.

In order to put the image onto the bills, a process called "intaglio" is conducted in which the images are first engraved onto soft steel plates called "master dies".

Ink is then spread on the printing plates (where the images are transferred to preserve the master dies) and then wiped off. The paper is then pressed onto the plates at 20 tons of pressure. As seen in these pictures, the ink is able to be seen up close including the various marks that were left on it as well.