RMS | infocus Library

infocus is the Royal Microscopical Society’s Magazine for members. It provides a common forum for scientists & technologists who use any form of microscope and includes all branches of microscopy

You can browse our infocus archive below.

Anyone can view articles in the online library once they are over one year old. RMS Members who are logged into the website can view all the latest articles as well as receive the latest printed issues of infocus, and a number of additional benefits.

6 March 2021 March 2021

Designing a microCT instrument for planetary exploration

Planetary ice is a multiphase material consisting of solid ice, particulates, gas inclusions, and in some cases liquid and precipitates. The size, shape and arrangement of particulates and the size and connectivity of voids can reveal something about depositional history and past climate.
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6 December 2020 December 2020

Exploring Nvidia’s Jetson Xavier NX

This research was carried out to demonstrate the ability of a tiny computer (a Jetson Xavier NX) to view and then capture images seen using a 3D printed microscope and a Raspberry Pi camera. The 3D printed microscope was previously printed in the lab using the OpenFlexure project, and all the materials were sent to me so that I was able to construct the microscope myself and safely work from home.
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6 December 2020 December 2020

The Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp

Throughout its history, the RMS has seen its fair share of colourful and multi-faceted characters - perhaps none more so than Sir Francis Crisp, the lawyer and amateur microscopist who went on to inspire a Beatle.
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6 December 2020 December 2020

Studying the dynamics of platelet actin nodules using TIRF microscopy and image analysis

The aim of this project was to study the dynamics of platelet actin nodules using TIRF microscopy and image analysis, in order to investigate the effects of different inhibitors on nodule dynamics.
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6 December 2020 December 2020

Using Machine Learning Techniques to Denoise NDR Images

Noise in images is the random grainy effect seen on the picture. This is produced by the random distribution of light (photons) falling on the camera detector and the electronics in the detector. Noise can be produced by the movement of electrons during the process of reading the detector’s pixels, from the heat in the detector, or a fixed pattern of noise across the detector due to variations in the pixels.
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6 December 2020 December 2020

Microscopic Analysis of Historic Textile Fibres Pre- and Post-Cleaning

Bleaching is a last-resort method used by textile conservators to preserve historic textiles. The process removes stains but can give rise to structural damage on the fibre level.
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6 December 2020 December 2020

The Microscopists: Have you checked out the ‘Godfather’ of all podcasts?

With a raft of ground-breaking discoveries, publications and high-profile conference appearances, today’s leading scientific figures might be familiar faces across the microscopy community. But what makes these great minds tick? What pearls of wisdom might they be able to offer the rest of us? And – perhaps most revealingly - what do these characters get up to in their spare time?
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6 September 2020 September 2020

H2O For Life

Winston Ingram uses fluorescence to examine Water
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6 September 2020 September 2020

Optogenetic Control of Biological Forces

The boom of optogenetics, the art of making biological processes “light sensitive”, is influencing many different fields in biology
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6 September 2020 September 2020

SRRF-Stream+ Super-Resolution Microscopy Accessible to All Fast, reliable & live-cell compatible Super-Resolution

Science has limits imposed by the laws of physics that constrain discoveries and the advance of knowledge. In microscopy, up until the beginning of the 21st century, the diffraction limit of light was an unbreakable barrier.
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