Scientists uncover extreme life inside the Arctic ice
news.stanford.edu
news.stanford.edu
Those are the worst kind of worms.
Naturally I introduce these people to the existence of the Giant Palouse Earthworm [0], also in the Pacific Northwest, though these are so rare that it would be of scientific interest if you came across one.
Anyway, if someone hates worms (and doesn't care if they are annelids or nematodes) I suggest to donate to the Guinea Worm eradication campaign. They are pretty close https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eradication_of_dracunculiasis
> They freeze at around −6.8 °C (19.8 °F), and their bodies decompose after continuous exposure to temperatures above 5 °C (41 °F).
Goes to show (perhaps) that adapting to unusual environments is not so much like a superpower but a tradeoff.
Extremophiles are so interesting
In terms of reflected light microscopy, you are going to get very good results with off the shelf ~$100 systems (camera+monocular zoomtube) and LED ring lighting (preferably anti-glare with configurable polarized filters).
You get a solid upgrade switching to transmitted light microscopy. This requires some sort of transparent stage with underside lighting. This can be as simple as placing an unprepared sample on a slide and shining any light (like a phone LED) through it. But it works better if the light is even, the light is collimated, the light is focused, the light is controllable (ie. light source + collimator lens + condenser, at precise relative distances).
At high magnifications the focal plane is very thin. You will need focus stacking for many unprocessed specimens, which can be achieved in software but requires a rigid platform and a steady hand.
Around this level you get some good upgrades from taking thin sections with a razorblade. You can buy mini microtomes but they're basically razorblades. Just buy razorblades. Staining also helps, read for example http://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=11...
If you are serious about your images, you can buy a cheap calibration tool for measurement purposes and synchronize it to software for markup and addition of digital scale purposes.
Beyond these you certainly need a rigid platform. To this point things are quite cheap, depending upon your requirements you could be only $200 in and happy with a range of stains, thin sections, configurable lighting, aperture, precision movable stage, etc.
Once you're in this territory you probably want a better turret and oil objectives. This is expensive.
Motorized stages, focus, filters/polarization, etc. are all options, often hard to retrofit to existing scopes, but of great utility depending upon what you're looking to achieve. I am sort of designing around this area. I am interested in structured light microscopy, which has recently been achieved for 10K EUR by academics in Europe. I may offer something cheaper if I can get it working.
Beyond that the next steps are precision methods like darkfield, phase contrast, DIC, fluorescence, etc. These get expensive quickly, requiring additional matched hardware and dedicated objectives. I know little about these techniques yet.
Have you ever looked at a microscopy stains catalog? The most beautiful images you can't imagine. Just a different world.
At the moment, I'm mostly concerned about a bindweed mite experiment we're conducting locally. They are elusive but we're seeing signs of predation.
Based upon commercial retail product labeling, the target solution strength is 2% in water and this has been certified organic by some authority or other. Based upon my recent research, you can't buy it at full strength as far as I know, but you can buy two precursor chemicals: potassium hydroxide and lauric acid. It's an acid-base reaction. Therefore you need to work on equal molarity not equal weights.
1. Obtain potassium hydroxide and lauric acid
2. Weigh out 20.03g of Lauric acid, dissolve in 200mL water.
3. Weigh out 5.61g of Potassium hydroxide, dissolve in 200mL of water. This will get hot so you will need to wait until it cools down.
4. Mix the two solutions. It will give you 400mL solution containing 23.84g potassium laurate (60g/L).
5. Since a 2% solution is 20g/L, you dilute the solution in the ratio 1 part solution to 2 parts water (ie. add 800mL water). So in total you should have 1.2L of 2% product.