Landscapes of the microworld

A raging cubist sea surges forth during the recrystallisation of sodium thiosulfate, a chemical compound used in the mining and chemicals industries, and as a medicinal drug. This image was produced using analysed polarised light.

A ghostly cityscape emerges on a silicon sample subjected to plasma etching. In this microelectronic experiment, the presence of a contaminant in the material resulted in a manufacturing defect, creating grooves that resemble the floors of skyscrapers.

The relentless war between human macrophages and HIV is observed under a fluorescence microscope. The data thus gathered is used to analyse the strategies deployed by the attackers (in red). In this case, the immune defence forces (blue and green) have also been infected by the agent that causes tuberculosis.

Impossible to capture in situ, this image of a spray of liquid (left) was created with the help of a supercomputer to reproduce the conditions at the nozzle of a diesel fuel injector. In contrast, the solid, static agglomerations of calcium carbonate crystals (right) can be observed directly with a scanning electron microscope. False colours were added to differentiate the crystals.

This profusion of fibrous “drops” comes from the brain of a type of transgenic mouse called a “Brainbow”. Interesting phenomenon: the nerve cells seen here under a multicolour multiphoton microscope themselves produce hundreds of fluorescent molecules of different colours, enabling researchers to study the neural circuits in action.

A jungle of vines grows on microscopic scale. On the left are polyacrylonitrile fibres created in the laboratory to be used in the manufacture of biofuel cell electrodes. The fibres on the right were produced in a spider’s abdomen to hold three pollen grains in place. Since scanning electron microscopes only produce black and white images, the colours have been added.

Under splashes of copper, a bit of iron. We are looking at the surface of a two-centime coin whose composition is being analysed using LIBS (laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy): laser pulses produce a spark on the surface that reveals the chemical profile of the material. The technique is used, for example, to determine the chemical composition of prehistoric paints, hazardous materials and Martian rocks.

This tangle of pop art tubes comes from… a fruit fly’s intestines. The insect’s digestive system has been coloured blue and red and its sex organs (in this case male) in green and yellow. Obtained with a confocal microscope, the image can be used to study the complex and surprising links between the two biological systems, indicating that the difference between the sexes is also (literally) visceral.