Laser + drop of water = microbial movie theatre

Science Technology
Laser + drop of water = microbial movie theatre
micro1.jpg

According to the hacker-proprietor of Teravolt.org, shining a 250 mW green laser through a hanging drop of scummy plant water produces a kind of “laser microscope” that will project shadows of all the little microflora on the wall so you can watch them flitter about with the naked eye. The embedded video is nothing short of amazing. I felt just like that cat.

Anybody out there ever tried this with a blue or violet laser? Is the resolution any better?

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I am descended from 5,000 generations of tool-using primates. Also, I went to college and stuff. I am a long-time contributor to MAKE magazine and makezine.com. My work has also appeared in ReadyMade, c't – Magazin für Computertechnik, and The Wall Street Journal.

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