Familiar (sort of) view:
Unfamiliar view:
Stereo pair:
I scanned a clove (a type of spice.) Donna mounted the round head (bud) of the clove; the ‘familiar’ image shows it protruding from the slide it was mounted upon. I didn’t expect it to have a bumpy structure, like a dehydrated brain. Even at the ‘familiar’ scale, it looked very alien! Does this structure serve a purpose for the living clove, or did it arise when the clove was harvested and dried out?
At the SEM, I learnt about what kind of objects are best suited for scanning. I submitted spices and seeds, which aren’t ideal because they are so oily. Donna said the most interesting things she has looked at are insect mouths and faces, but I think if I went back, I’d want to look at fermented food (a project she is currently working on,) or some pollen to see the unique shapes. I also learnt the difference between a SEM and a transmission electron microscope, and the pros and cons of the two.
