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The RMS would like to thank everyone who attended elmi2024 in Liverpool (4 – 7 June), for making it such a special event for the Light Microscopy community.

How is it one comes to know of life? For over 350 years, the microscope has been a companion on this journey.

in Authenticating Works of Art

applied to traditional paintings

Scientific dating of paintings is used by a wide range of related fields to provide independent means of verification. This paper outlines the principle approaches that are used, some problems with current methodology, and a potential solution through the application of simple mathematical modelling to the occurrences of materials and techniques in paintings.

Kesseler explains and demonstrates how art has become a universal language for understanding and sharing science, especially at a microscopic level.

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is one of the best suited out of a variety of procedures to visualise the external appearance of bacteria. Bacteria live in various environments and their preparation for SEM thus takes their nature into consideration. The basic principles of isolation, fixation, dehydration, drying, mounting, and photographing have many variations, some of which are discussed in this article.

Despite centuries of scientific effort, the origin of desert varnish is still shrouded in controversy. Most investigators have looked to biological causes where microbes create varnish and preferentially concentrate manganese relative to the local soils and rocks. Finally, microscopy appears to be solving the riddle of desert varnish.

Tomographic modeling of vascular corrosion casts provides accurate, quantifiable three dimensional information regarding blood vessel systems and hold great promise for understanding the blood supply to normal and diseased tissues. Wagner and Hossler explains how these casts can be achieved.

Basic research and potential applications

Brian J Ford proposes that the problem-solving propensity, sometimes referred to as intelligence, is evident even in single cells.

The journey from outer space to electron microscope.

Microscope studies on the microbiology of the stratosphere

CARDIO - ACTIVE explores the relationship between the human heart and the foxglove, through images, words and objects. It is a collaborative project researched and developed by visual artist Pauline Aitken and writer Judith Palmer, in association with the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge.