Connected on 2007-06-28 13:00:00
from , , USA
- 1:04 pm
- Bugscope TeamReady and waiting
- Bugscope TeamWelcome SG.
- Guestthank you
- Bugscope TeamPlease let us know if you have any questions.
- Guestok, when will we be starting?
- Bugscope TeamWe may not see much movement until Umesh starts driving.
- Guestok
- Bugscope TeamI think he is going to talk for 15 minutes and then start demonstrating the system.
- 1:09 pm
- Bugscope TeamSince we're controlling the microscope live, only one person at atime has control, so right now Umesh is using it during his presentation
- Bugscope TeamSG as a guest you can see the images as they go by, and obviously the chat and the chosen questions/answers on the left (there are none now).
- Bugscope TeamThe person driving the 'scope can see preset thumbnails on the right, and controls for the 'scope on the top right.
- Bugscope TeamWe confer control to one person at a time, so we don't have multiple drivers.
- Bugscope TeamThis, on the screen now, is an ant spiracle, I think. It's a spiracle and I think we were on an ant.
- 1:14 pm
- Guestok
- Bugscope TeamIn the meantime there are a number of us here in Illinois, at the Beckman Institute, on computers at the microscope and in adjacent offices.
- Bugscope TeamWe usually have a real entomologist with us as well, or she logs in from her lab. But she is in California just now, collecting.
- Bugscope Teamshe should collect some for us too :p
- Bugscope TeamWe've been doing this for 8 years plus, now.
- Bugscope TeamYeah something with mites. You know those cerambycids often have mites.
- Bugscope TeamSome cerambycids are dangerous plant (tree) pests.
- Bugscope TeamLike the Emerald Ash Borers, which are causing trouble in Chicago.
- Bugscope Teamamong other places...
- 1:29 pm
- Bugscope TeamIt's a claw.
- 1:38 pm
- TeacherHello Scott, we are in the demo now.
- Bugscope TeamHi Umesh. We're all ready here
- Bugscope TeamYou can see the claw now, and now you're drivin'.
- Bugscope TeamOn to the beetle head now
- Bugscope TeamMouthparts are visible towards the top of the frame
- TeacherAudience Question: What is that cluster?
Bugscope TeamLooks like a chunk of dirt or dust. Not part of the insect itself
- Bugscope TeamNowe we can see some of the leg joints
- 1:44 pm
- TeacherAudience Question: Do you accept specimens that are not just bugs? What about plants?
Bugscope TeamMost of the specimens we get are bugs because they're easiest to prepare and typically look great. On special request we have done plants, rocks, etc
- Bugscope Teamsure we like to look at plants, rocks... salt crystals..
- Bugscope TeamLast week an artist brought in dried snap dragon pods
- Bugscope Teamthey look like little skulls, really cool
- Bugscope Teamand the seeds themselves are really intricate, interesting
- Bugscope Teampollen is cool
- Bugscope Teamsometimes we are surprised at the complexity of things that don't look like much in the macro world
- TeacherAudience Question to Scott: Is there any way we can see the snap dragon pods?
Bugscope TeamI can send you a link.
- Bugscope Teamswitching samples is not possible, we'd have to vent the scope, that'd take 20-30 minutes
- Bugscope TeamSince we didn't put those samples in the scope for the demo it would talk about 10-20 minutes to prepare the new sample, vent the vacuum, and pump down again
- Bugscope Teamthat's why we try to put several bugs on the stage, so we can see a variety of samples
- 1:50 pm
- Bugscope Teamokay you can pull this up on a separate tab if you want, but it does belong to the artist: http://www.itg.uiuc.edu/~sjrobin/KaMir/001.TIF
- Bugscope Teamthat is as low a mag as we can go
- TeacherThanks to Scott from Audience
- Bugscope TeamDid you get to see it?
- Bugscope TeamThat was just the first image she took.
- TeacherAudience Question: How many specimens can teachers send?
Bugscope TeamAs long as they fit on our about 2 inch diameter stage, they can send as many as they want
- Bugscope Teameleven
- Bugscope Teamreally as many very small samples as they want
- Bugscope Teamone cicada would be too many
- Bugscope Teamand 20 mosquitos or fruit flies would be fine
- Bugscope Team80 lice
- Bugscope Teamearwigs are the coolest
- Bugscope Teambecause they otten have mites
- Bugscope Teamso you know I was joking about the eleven, of course -- the stub is 1.75 inches across
- TeacherAudience are now trying. Please note.
- Bugscope Teamthe coolest insects/arthropods are those that are most specialized.
- 1:55 pm
- Bugscope Teamfor example you can imagine that an extreme generalist like a roach is streamlined, actually not very interesting
- Bugscope Teambut a tick is really pretty cool
- Bugscope Teamand mites are a thrill to see
- TeacherScott, the preset 7 did not go to the image
- Bugscope Teamyou could put 106 fleas on the stage no problem
- Bugscope Teamhit refresh
- TeacherRessa: Can you upload a mite?
Bugscope TeamSince these are live images from the running microscope (and we don't have a mite loaded), I'll have to try to find a mite image from a previous session
- Bugscope Teamtry refreshing your page? the preset did work on our end
- Bugscope TeamChas is checking the database and we should be able to give you a link
- Bugscope Teamthis is the antenna -- can you see it now?
- TeacherRessa: What are the hairs for?
Bugscope TeamThe hairs, called setae on insects, have extremely varied function, and are commonly the topic of entire research papers. They can be mechanosensory (touch) or chemosensory (smell), or help increase surface area to offset heat loss
- Bugscope Teamhttp://bugscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/members/database.cgi?Account Name=2002-035&Frame Number=000021
- Bugscope Teamtry that URL for an image of two mites on an Earwig
- TeacherRessa: yes we can see it now?
- Bugscope Teamthe hairs are sensory, often, chemosensory or mechanosensory
- 2:00 pm
- TeacherHi. This is Colleen now.
- Bugscope Teamsome of the small ones (we call them setae or microsetae, or trichae, etc.) are there to add surface area or sometimes create a pattern
- Bugscope Teamhi colleen
- Bugscope TeamHi Colleen
- Bugscope TeamYou can tell which setae are sensory, or likely sensory, by the attachment at the base. Often it is very apparent that they connect through th exoskeleton to nerves beneath.
- TeacherSo do you worry about bugs in your bed now that you have been up close and personal with them?
Bugscope TeamYou become less worried about a lot of them actually, the more you know and see. You come to appreciate how complex they are, something that's easy to take for granted when you can't see it with your own eyes
- Bugscope Teamwe looked at bedbugs earlier this week
- Bugscope Teamwe prefer of course to look at them this way
- Bugscope Teambut it gives you a new outlook. when you see a pesky fly in your office you know you can catch it and put it in the 'scope
- Bugscope Teamlooking at bugs NEVER bothers me, but then i've watched fast food nation while eating a big mac, so i'm a wierd-o
- Bugscope TeamI like it when people send me mosquitos, or lice, or fleas...
- Bugscope Teambecause they are useful to us now, particularly in the wintertime when it is harder to get samples for bugscope
- Bugscope Teamjust one big mac?
- Bugscope TeamPreferrably sent deceased. It's not a lot of fun to receive live spiders, ticks, etc
- 2:06 pm
- Bugscope Teamyeah we got a whole container of big live ants a couple of weeks ago
- Bugscope Teamif they are still alive they tend to stay that way even after freezing
- Bugscope Teamand as Cat says they just woke up after we froze them
- Bugscope TeamSuperSize?
- Bugscope TeamHi Kevin!
- Bugscope Teamhey kevin
- Teacherwhy are roaches so boring?
- Bugscope Teambecause they have so few features
- Bugscope TeamMaybe they are to you :)
- Bugscope Teamthey are so streamlined, there are no specialized parts
- Bugscope TeamOne interesting thing about roaches is that they have these hairs coming out their back sides, laced with nerve endings
- Bugscope Teamthey are ancient so they should have just basic parts
- Teacherhow do they look up close?
- Bugscope Teamit's like looking at a cricket or a grasshopper
- Bugscope Teamsmooth
- Teacherwhat are the nerve endings for?
- Bugscope TeamThe nerves are connected directly to the legs, and can activate the running mechanism before their brain even registers it
- Bugscope Teamyou know there are interesting features
- Teacheris that why we can't squash them?
- Bugscope TeamThe reason being that it saves time not having to have the electrical impulse go all the way up to the brain and then back down to the legs
- Bugscope TeamExactly!
- Teacherdo you ever look at specimens on food?
Bugscope TeamNot that I can remember. Everything has to dry out so it doesn't outgas in the vacuum, so putting in most food items would be a challenge without special preparation
- Bugscope TeamThe hairs are sensitive to the air currents made by your hand coming down on them
- Bugscope TeamWe have looked at mites that eat plants, and then the mites that prey on them
- 2:11 pm
- Bugscope Teamthis was for a company in England, and we used the 'scope in weet mode
- Bugscope Teamwet mode, sorry
- Bugscope Teamand we have looked at Shigella on cilantro, parsley, apples...
- Bugscope Teamlots of E coli
- Teacherawesome
- Bugscope TeamAlso, roaches have been around for millions of years; part of the reason they're so streamlined. Evolution has removed just about everything unecessary. Many people theorize they'd be one of the few living organisms left after an all-out nuclear war
- Bugscope Teamwe have looked at Shigella that were live when we put them in the 'scope
- Bugscope Teamlots of gloves and ethanol to clean the surfaces
- Bugscope TeamHad to wear gloves, lots of disinfectant, and use biohazard disposal bags
- Bugscope Teamstill it was a little scary
- Bugscope TeamYeah, I would get really worried every time I had a stomach cramp or something
- Bugscope Teamwhen we looked at those mites, one of the species names was urticae, which is enough like urticaria (itching) to make us more cautious
- TeacherAll: This is Umesh. Now back to summary of the presentation. Thanks. The audience loved it.
- Bugscope Teamwe had a live Monarch butterfly chrysalis in the 'scope once, coated with gold-palladium, and later on the butterfly hatched
- Bugscope Teamunfortunately we are in a basement, and it was wintertime
- 2:23 pm
- Bugscope TeamHi Pam!
- Bugscope TeamLet us know if you have questions, or if you would like to drive the 'scope, since I think Umesh is done.
- StudentThanks. Just catching up.
- Bugscope TeamYou have control ability now.
- Bugscope TeamYou can drive around, and you cna select presets if you want.
- Bugscope Teamcan
- StudentThanks.
- Bugscope Teamthis is the jaw of an ant, or the jaws, I guess
- Bugscope TeamThis is from a spider body
- Bugscope TeamAnd a beetle claw.
- Bugscope Teamyou can change to a lower mag and look around.
- Bugscope TeamLike here on the fruit fly. Cool!
- Bugscope TeamThese guys have setae in between most of the ommatidia.
- Bugscope Teammost of the eye facets...
- Bugscope Teamthe setae are sensory
- 2:29 pm
- Studentcool thanks.
- Bugscope TeamYou can see part of the antennae there
- Bugscope Teamon the right
- Bugscope Teampam you are it.
- Bugscope TeamBut if you've had enough no problem.
- StudentOk -- I'm done now.
- Bugscope TeamSG are you still there?
- Bugscope TeamWell we can stay on for a little while longer. In case someone else connects.
- 2:34 pm
- Bugscope TeamOkay I am peeling out. Over and out...
