Start here · Essential guide
What Everyday Things Look Like Under a Microscope
What salt, paper, phone screens, hair, pollen, insects and pond water look like under a microscope, plus what magnification and mounting each one needs.
Slides and Specimens
Specimens and Slides
Wet mounts, stains, blood smears and permanent slides, plus everyday objects, protozoa and tardigrades to observe.
Can I turn my phone into a microscope?
Yes, with an add-on lens or an existing microscope. Compare clip-on lenses, DIY lenses and eyepiece adapters, and see what a phone microscope can really show.
How does coronavirus look under a microscope?
Coronaviruses appear as tiny round particles fringed with spikes in electron microscope images. Here's why light microscopes can't see them and what the colours mean.
How to Find Tardigrades (Water Bears) in Moss and Lichen
How to find tardigrades at home: which moss and lichen to collect, how to soak and search it, and how to tell water bears from rotifers, mites and nematodes.
How to Make a Blood Smear Slide at Home
Make a blood smear slide at home: a safe finger prick, the wedge spreading technique, drying, fixing and staining, and what red and white blood cells look like.
How to Make a Hay Infusion to Culture Protozoa
Make a hay infusion at home to grow Paramecium and other protozoa: recipe, variations, what appears week by week, where to sample, and safe disposal.
How to Make a Wet Mount Slide Without Air Bubbles
Step-by-step wet mount slide technique that avoids air bubbles, plus how to spot bubbles, rescue a bad mount, stain under the coverslip and stop drying out.
How to Make Permanent Microscope Slides: Mounting Media and Sealing
How to make permanent microscope slides: choosing dry, aqueous or resin mounting media, dehydrating and clearing, curing, sealing the coverslip, and storage.
How to Prepare and Stain an Onion Cell Slide With Iodine
Make an iodine-stained onion cell slide step by step: peel the epidermis, mount, stain under the coverslip, and see the cell wall, nucleus and cytoplasm.
Methylene Blue Staining for Microscope Slides
How methylene blue stains nuclei and bacteria blue, how to dilute it, and step-by-step methods for cheek cells, bacterial smears and live protozoa.
Microscopic Study of Tissues: Histology for Beginners
A beginner's guide to histology: the four tissue types, how tissue slides are fixed, sectioned and H&E stained, and how to read prepared slides at home.
Microscopy Artifacts: What They Are and How to Avoid Them
How to recognise and prevent common microscopy artifacts: air bubbles, dust, stain crystals, section folds, optical halos, Brownian motion and digital glitches.
Observing Planaria Under a Microscope
How to find, keep and observe planaria flatworms under a microscope: eyespots, gliding, the pharynx and gut, regeneration, and prepared slide sections.
Sponge Spicules Under the Microscope
What sponge spicules are, how to tell silica from calcite, how to clean them out of sponge tissue with bleach, and how to view and mount them.
Viewing Microorganisms Under a Microscope
Which microscope and magnification you need to see protozoa, algae and bacteria, where to find them, how to prepare live samples, and how to stay safe.
What are the 7 types of epithelial tissue?
The seven types of epithelial tissue explained: what each looks like on a slide, where it is found and what it does, plus tips for identifying them yourself.
What can kids look at under a microscope?
Safe, free things for kids to look at under a microscope, from salt and onion skin to pond life, with ideas by age, easy slide prep and safety tips.
What does "artefact" mean in the context of science?
In science, an artefact is a feature produced by the method of observation rather than the thing studied. Examples from microscopy, imaging and data analysis.
What does methylene blue actually do to your body?
How methylene blue acts in the body, its approved medical uses, what the evidence says about wellness claims, side effects, and who should avoid it.