9 December 2010

Animated laminae

Posted by Callan Bentley

More of the new scientific medium* I showed you on Wednesday: animated GIFs of super-small stuff, to give a sense of depth. This time, I included a 1 mm scale bar:

These are laminations of silt and clay in the rhythmites of the lower Konnarock Formation.

If the above image moves too fast for your eye to keep up with, here’s another version of it, which is set to a slower tempo:

The diagonal brown stripe is a tension gash of sorts — more details on that in the days to come.

I think this could be really useful technology for conveying a sense of focal depth via the Internet. What about doing something similar for thin section petrography, to convey the relief of different mineral species?

I find it interesting that the field of view changes slightly when the focus is adjusted — does this imply my microscope is somehow off-kilter or mis-aligned? If you’re more into microscopy than I am, I’d love to hear your assessment.

* Okay, it’s not really “new.” But why isn’t this medium used more for science? Why are animated GIFs more typically associated with slapstick cat videos?