The Microscope - Volume 60, Third Quarter 2012

IN THIS ISSUE:

On the cover: This image by Martin Kocanda of Northern Illinois University shows water-based paint droplets on glass, viewed with light microscopy under crossed polars at 300x magnification. See Inter/Micro 2012 Photomicrography Competition Winners.

Editorial | A Microscopy Conference for Microscopists

Gary J. Laughlin
The Microscope 60 (3), p ii
Excerpt: This issue of The Microscope, like many third-quarter issues preceding it, is largely dedicated to the Inter/Micro conference that will mark its 65th anniversary next year. Beginning on the next page, you will find a recap of Inter/Micro 2012 highlights followed by the conference program and all the abstracts and selected images from speaker presentations. Full article (PDF)

Inter/Micro 2012

Gary J. Laughlin
The Microscope 60 (3), pp 99 – 121
Excerpt: McCrone Research Institute held the 64th annual Inter/Micro microscopy conference on July 9 – 13 in its lecture rooms and laboratories in Chicago, drawing more than 100 attendees from around the world. Participants heard in-depth research presentations by leading microscopists, who covered advancements in instrumentation, techniques and applications in various fields of microscopy and microanalysis. Presentations focused on PLM, SEM, EDS, Raman, hot stage, and infrared microspectroscopy; microchemistry; forensic trace evidence and criminalistics; pharmaceutical sciences; materials analysis; art authentication; environmental health; and food and air quality. Full article (PDF)

Critical Focus | Aquatic Dinosaurs Under the Lens

Brian J. Ford
The Microscope 60 (3), pp 123 – 131
Excerpt: Paleontologists get dinosaurs wrong. They look at them as gigantic terrestrial monsters, but there are other ways of contemplating them. I prefer to envisage them as communities of microscopic cells. This understanding of life at the cellular level leads me to one great truth: Dinosaurs must have developed in water and not on land. I am not simply suggesting that they retreated to swamps to rest; in my view, dinosaurs evolved under the constraints of an existence in shallow water and everything about them points to an aquatic habitat. They were certainly not the terrestrial monsters we see in the films and books, perpetually pounding across desert dunes with the force of a truck and the speed of a tank. Full article (PDF)

Transmission Electron Microscopy Study of Gunshot-Residue Nanoparticles Collected in Air Samples

Whitney B. Hill
The Microscope 60 (3), pp 133 – 137
Abstract: Traditional gunshot residue (GSR) is usually defined as opaque, individual particles having a characteristic spheroidal shape and composed of the elements lead (Pb), barium (Ba) and antimony (Sb). Routine GSR analysis is performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and concentrates on particles that are 0.5 µm or larger with diameters less than 5 µm. The purpose of this study was to determine if GSR particles with diameters in the nanometer-size range (10 nm – 100 nm) are released into the atmosphere during the discharge of a firearm, and whether transmission electron microscopy (TEM) coupled with EDS is suitable for the detection and analysis of GSR nanoparticles in air samples. Full article (PDF)

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