• Question: What is the smallest thing you have seen down the microscope?

    Asked by djkaye to Andrew, Lizzie, Nick, Sonia on 19 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Andrew Phillips

      Andrew Phillips answered on 19 Jun 2015:

      I don’t use a microscope that much in my research, but people I work with have used the diamond synchrotron [http://www.diamond.ac.uk/] to see almost down to individual atoms.

    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 19 Jun 2015:

      Regularly see the stapedius muscle which is the smallest muscle the human body which is about 6mm in length. It it’s function is similar to a very bright light shining into you eye and you pupil contact to reduce the amount of light reaching the retina. In a similar way when the sound is too loud the stapedius muscle contract reducing the level of sound reaching the cochlear.
      Viewing cochlear hair cells under a scanning electron microscope around 5 micrometers in length

    • Photo: Elizabeth Kapasa

      Elizabeth Kapasa answered on 22 Jun 2015:

      I’ve seen nanoparticles and nanofibres I made using SEM and TEM. so pretty small!

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