Ben Caven

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 <img alt="IMG_4259" class="wp-image-125025 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="125025" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"2.2","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 6s","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1549641206","copyright":"","focal_length":"4.15","iso":"25","shutter_speed":"0.0023041474654378","title":"","orientation":"6"}' data-image-title="IMG_4259" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_125024/IMG_4259.jpg"/>
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 Tip of the spine
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 <img alt="IMG_4262" class="wp-image-125026 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="125026" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"2.2","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 6s","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1549641367","copyright":"","focal_length":"4.15","iso":"25","shutter_speed":"0.0038610038610039","title":"","orientation":"6"}' data-image-title="IMG_4262" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_125024/IMG_4262.jpg"/>
 <figcaption>
 Base of the spine, just past where I broke it off of the cactus.
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 One of my friends in the dorm has a cactus plant on his shelf, and given that I had been stabbed twice throughout the year by it, I decided to examine one of the spines to see what it looked like. I discovered that the structure looked remarkably similar to a human hair to me, with the exception that the interior of the spine reminded me of wood grains rather than the fractured look of a hair. Wanting to learn more about cactus spines in general, I did some research and discovered that my friend’s cactus was one with smooth spines, as opposed to the barbed spines that are also commonly found on various cacti species. In contrast to barbed spines, which have the primary purpose of being ripped out along with some of the cactus plant to be dropped and thus grow another cactus, smooth-spined cacti utilize their spines in an almost purely defensive manner, with secondary functions to draw water from the air or maintain the temperature of the plant.

Cactus Spine Bio60_2019

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 <img alt="IMG_4297" class="wp-image-130551 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="130551" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"2.2","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 6s","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1551025548","copyright":"","focal_length":"4.15","iso":"32","shutter_speed":"0.016666666666667","title":"","orientation":"6"}' data-image-title="IMG_4297" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_130550/IMG_4297.jpg"/>
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 <img alt="IMG_4302" class="wp-image-130552 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="130552" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"2.2","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 6s","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1551025697","copyright":"","focal_length":"4.15","iso":"25","shutter_speed":"0.025","title":"","orientation":"6"}' data-image-title="IMG_4302" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_130550/IMG_4302-1.jpg"/>
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 I decided to take a look at the pollen of a flower that I found in my dorm’s flowerbed. Having religiously avoided pollen growing up due to an allergy to Cedar when I was younger, I was curious to see what had had me so watery-eyed in the winters in Austin. While my camera’s refusal to quit shaking hurt the image quality, I was still happy to get a closer look at one of my hometown’s most common allergens, and was also able to learn a lot about various pollens by looking at descriptions alongside other microscopic images that I found posted online.

Ben Caven

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Cactus Spine Bio60_2019

Pollen; Bio60_2019

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Foldscope Lens Magnification