Igor Siwanowicz Captures Tiny Insects With a Scanning Microscope

The Universe is breathtaking for sure, just one look on the images of galaxies which are far away leaves us speechless, even a look at the starry night sky is a fascinating view. It’s beauty is undeniable. However, there is also a hidden beauty, which is not so far away from us, but still invisible to the human eye – a beauty of a Micro Universe. Ever wondered how a beetle can swim under water than just comfortable resting on a leave, it’s because the legs are far more complicated than yours.

Neurobiologist Igor Siwanowicz at Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Farm Research Campus, managed to reveal this beauty to us by using laser-scanning microscopes. In the photos in the gallery below you can see marvelous images that are captured in this way and represent incredible details of the insect world unseen to our naked eyes. The images are colored after they’re been taken also by Siwanowicz in order to show the tree-like structures. The results of that process you can see in the gallery in a form of amazing vibrant pictures which one must admire.

“I first laid hands on my microscope only three years ago, when I changed fields,” Siwanowicz told Wired. “I used to work as a biochemist, but I decided that neurobiology was more in tune with my naturalist approach. Plus they have these cool toys.“

Acilius diving beetle male front tarsus

Barnacle

Midge Pupa

Paraphyses & Sporangia

Front leg of whirligig beetle

brine shrimp legs

isopod appendage

jumping spider

moth antenna

desmids trapped by bladderwort

moth antenna

male diving beetle’s front leg

Incredible photo of an insect

It’s incredible to see how things and beings on our world look so different when you look at them under a microscope. Please share this with your friends so they can also see some awesome stuff

More info: igor siwanowicz | facebook (h/t: colossal)