Polarized Explorations Part 3!! Copepods and Ciliates

Applause IconMay 31, 2018 • 12:07 PM UTC
Location IconUnknown Location
Applause Icon140x Magnification
Applause IconMicroorganisms

Learn about the author...

30posts
93comments
4locations
Hello everyone!
Thanks to iGEM I’ve had absolutely no time for foldscoping lately 🙁 but I’m determined to exploit this mini vacation in Ratngiri to its fullest 😀
Till now I’ve observed some pure chemicals and fruits in cross polars but this time I’ve tried doing something that I’ve been dying to try my hands on and that is imaging live samples in polarization!
While observing this water sample I remembered that When I observed recrystallization through crosspolars I noticed that compounds in melted form do not show birefringence..only the crystal forms do…That’s when I started to wonder, would ciliates show birefringence at all?
Even if they do posses any optically active compounds in them they wouldnt be in crystal form…I had no hopes from ciliates
Location from where I collected the water…Can you spot the shoal of fishes in there?
And the cute turtle? There were 2 such turtles in there 😀 sadly one went inside the pond while I tried to click. So here are our ciliates!
I thought if not ciliates let’s see wether atleast the Pediastrum shows birefringence and Voila!!
What I observed was just the opposite of what I expected!! A ciliate showing birefringence!! How??? Did it engulf particles of mud that showed birefringence?? What could the reason be??
Here are some pictures of the beautiful Pediastrums
The next thing in the sample that caught my attention were copepods!
Copepods are planktons found ubiquitously in fresh and sea water. They have a mineralized chitin containing exoskeleton. Would that account for some action in cross polars?The thought of a copepod showing birefringence excited me !!
I thought, let’s try and see!!
And then began the chase…
Copepods swim irritatingly fast!! I spent hours trying to catch them with my tiny dropper and finally got hold of these devils
So here is our beautiful copepod with 2 egg sacs
And here it is!!! In cross polars!!
Beautiful! Aren’t they? I have seen copepods numerous times but never thought they’d look this glorious just by playing around with some light!!
Hope you all enjoy the findings!
Oh and here’s the moon rise in Ratnagiri 😀
Have fun foldscoping~
Mitali Patil
Third Year Undergrad,
Ramnarain Ruia Autonomous College.
This post is open to read and review on The Winnower.

Sign in to commentNobody has commented yet... Share your thoughts with the author and start the discussion!

More Posts from Mitali

Foldscope 2.0 !!!
0 Applause0 Comments
1y
An Illuminating Update
0 Applause0 Comments
1y
What's in my fishbowl? (Part 1) Snail eggs!
0 Applause0 Comments
1y
Trichome Spree #1
0 Applause0 Comments
5y
One baby hatched!!
0 Applause0 Comments
5y
Hatching Drosophila Babies (Trial 1)
0 Applause0 Comments
5y
What makes tomatoes red?
0 Applause0 Comments
5y
Polarized Gnat larva!
0 Applause0 Comments
6y
लहान शास्त्रज्ञांना मिळाली फोल्डस्कोपची माहिती
0 Applause0 Comments
6y
Polarized Fire Ant! 🐜
0 Applause0 Comments
6y
Polarized Pseudoscorpion!!
0 Applause0 Comments
6y
Polarized explorations part 2
0 Applause0 Comments
7y
Cross Polarized Foldscopy!
0 Applause0 Comments
7y
Recrystallization And A Question
0 Applause0 Comments
7y
Help me identify these protozoa!
0 Applause0 Comments
7y
Mystery of the moth scales!
0 Applause0 Comments
7y
ciliates, polychaetes and my experience with the workshops :)
0 Applause0 Comments
7y
Testing my new foldscope!
0 Applause0 Comments
7y
Harpaticoda and some mysterious things
0 Applause0 Comments
7y
Gliding Filament Showing Fragmentation
0 Applause0 Comments
8y