Twinkling colored lights of ? (magnetic viewing film)

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Sun Dec 25, 2011 4:37 pm

Merry Christmas! Thought I'd contribute a bit of puzzle here.

The image is animated, 6 different frames, but I saw very much the same thing in real time.

Here's a closer view, short focus stack of 7 frames at 20X on sensor, 10 micron step.

Any guesses about what this is?

--Rik

Edit: title

Franz Neidl · Post by **Franz Neidl** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 6:47 am

I try to guess: This are plant cells in polarized light. Maybe the outer skin from an onion?

Franz

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 9:59 am

This are plant cells in polarized light. Maybe the outer skin from an onion?

I will have to try that. It sounds interesting!

But the guess is not correct -- no polarized light was used in making this picture.

--Rik

DQE · Post by **DQE** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 6:53 pm

Definitely aliens and UFOs involved! I figure that the skin of the alien does this sort of thing, but I'm surprised it let you photograph it under a microscope!!

The Pacific Northwest must have a lot of aliens, etc...

(insert friendly grins here)

----------------
I read somewhere that a significant fraction of the US population believes that they have been abducted by aliens at some time in their lives. Here is a Wikipedia entry on the subject:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_abduction_claimants

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:03 pm

Definitely aliens and UFOs involved! I figure that the skin of the alien does this sort of thing, but I'm surprised it let you photograph it under a microscope!!

The Pacific Northwest must have a lot of aliens, etc...

Indeed the Pacific Northwest has many aliens --- and I have photographed several kinds under microscopes! (Noctua pronuba and Taraxacum officinale come to mind.

)

But this is not an alien.

More clues...

The festive appearance comes from colored lights. In ordinary white illumination, the subject appears in various shades of green, like this:

I'm sure the idea of moving lights will come to mind. But to stave off that one, I'll also volunteer that the lights were fixed in place and brightness, and the subject was firmly clamped to the microscope stage, which likewise did not move.

How can this be??

--Rik

Cactusdave · Post by **Cactusdave** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 12:55 am

This second shot looks like lichen or a mixed lichen/algae community on tree bark. Not sure how that correlates with the high power image though. I seem to see small refractile globules suspended at different levels in some kind of matrix there.

Mitch640 · Post by **Mitch640** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 5:51 am

Some kind of christmas cookie?

ChrisR · Post by **ChrisR** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 7:12 am

Bubbles in your festive Crème de Menthe?

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 11:01 am

The subject is a manufactured product, distinctly not edible.

There is a liquid involved, but you'd never notice it except under the microscope!

--Rik

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 3:04 pm

Really lost on this one (and the one Pau put up earlier).

Some sort of supple vinyl material?

gpmatthews · Post by **gpmatthews** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 4:10 pm

It suggests to me that the liquid may be a liquid crystal...

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 8:51 pm

E-ink?

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Tue Dec 27, 2011 8:56 pm

The material is somewhat flexible, but certainly not supple.

There are no liquid crystals or electronic ink involved here.

However, like some liquid crystals and e-ink, this material does change its appearance based on sensing its environment. This feature has applications in science, engineering, and entertainment.

As seen by the naked eye, the material often displays one or another distinctive pattern of blotches or stripes. Here are some common examples:

Here is a slightly closer view, such as you might see with a magnifying glass.

Prompting any ideas yet?

--Rik

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Wed Dec 28, 2011 7:28 pm

Hhmm, I wasn't expecting this puzzle to be quite so daunting!

So here's another clue. I hope this one is really strong.

Shown here is the environment, the subject material as it responds to that environment, and a Photoshop overlay of the two.

Anything now?

--Rik

Pau · Post by **Pau** » Thu Dec 29, 2011 1:01 pm

A magnetic fluid?
There is some kind of magnetic fluid used in scientific toys, I thin it's opaque, but never saw it so close