Posted on March 10, 2022
This is an update of my post published on March 10, 2010:
Born on this date in 1628, Marcello Malpighi was an Italian doctor and biologist who was one of the first scientists to use a microscope to study living things.
He confirmed the existence of capillaries, which are tiny, thin-skinned blood vessels that allow blood to move out of the circulatory system and into tissues, as well of course as the other direction, from the tissues back into the circulatory system. (Biologist William Harvey had inferred that there must be such things as capillaries but hadn’t been able to see them.)
Malpighi made many discoveries, including taste buds and the small holes that insects breathe through, and he contributed to the science of embryology (the science of how creatures develop inside eggs or wombs).
Plus a lot more!
Use a virtual microscope.
The Power of Ten takes you from outside the Milky Way Galaxy all the way to teeny-tiny quarks—but along the way, you will see some pretty good microscopic views of an oak leaf.
Here is video showing microscopic views of ordinary objects. Try to guess what each picture is before the item is revealed!
(Note that many microphotographs have false color enhancement to help our eye pick out different structures.)
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| Above: What do you suppose this is? Answer is found down below these other great pics! |
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| Insect head |
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Algae |
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| Pollen from a variety of plants |
Answer to the “What do you suppose this is?” question, above: Velcro
Also on this date:
Mario Day
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Anniversary of the patent of the “Strowger switch” – which made human telephone operators obsolete
Harriet Tubman Day
Plan ahead:
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March holidays
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March birthdays
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Historical anniversaries in March
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April holidays
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April birthdays
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Historical anniversaries in April