This month we began the new year, but some of our preferred specimens to image under the microscope continue to be old favorites. From Daphnia and tardigrades to plant cross-sections, traditional samples continue to impress with stunning new images. 

Pictured here are two Daphnia sp. looking deep in conversation. The translucent carapace (upper exoskeleton) lets us view the insides of these microscopic plankton in incredible detail. 

Image courtesy of Marek Miś. Captured using an Olympus BH2 microscope in polarized light and darkfield at 100X magnification. 

Although this may look like a beautiful flower arrangement, it is an image of cross-sectioned crypts with goblet cells from the colon/large intestine stained with Alcian blue. In contrast to the small intestine, the large intestine has no villi. The surface of the organ is enlarged through crypts. While we know what this specimen is, we loved your comments on what it looks like―wallpaper, a crocheted blanket, or Suzani textiles! 

Image captured using a 20X X Line objective.

We always love a good tardigrade post! This one looks like it’s saying hello! Luigi Bozzano collected this specimen from moss on an exterior wall of his home in Italy, where he then prepared a slide and viewed it on his microscope. 

Image courtesy of Luigi Bozzano. Captured using an Olympus BHB microscope.

An acoustic mode, known in physics as a phonon, can be thought of as quantized sound waves, much like photons are quantized light waves. Here, Karl Gaff experimented with acoustic modes confined within a virus-shaped cavity to capture the beautiful patterns created by sound.

Image courtesy of Karl Gaff. Captured using an Olympus BX51 microscope.

Captured by Jan Martinek, this cross-section of a horsetail plant shines bright. Jan explains, “This cross-section of horsetail (Equisetum sp.) reminds me of the fake flowers of poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima). I tweaked the white balance and an HSL slider in Lightroom to highlight this similarity, but otherwise, it's just autofluorescence of plant tissues in UV excitation light.”

Image and caption courtesy of Jan Martinek. Captured using an Olympus AX70 microscope.

Fun fact: Jan Martinek was our 2021 Global Image of the Year winner! Check out his winning image and read his interview here. And don’t forget to enter our Global Image of the Year contest for 2022. Visit our IOTY page to submit your entry before the deadline.