Connected on 2012-11-28 08:00:00
from Will, Illinois, United States
- 7:20 am
- Bugscope Teamsample is in 'scope and pumping down
- 7:30 am
- Bugscope Teamgood morning, Fencer!
- Bugscope Teamgood morning, Teacher!
- Bugscope Teamwelcome to Bugscope!
- Bugscope Teamwe're making the presets for your session
- 7:36 am
- 7:42 am
- Bugscope Teamlet us know if you can read this
- Teacheri can..just getting set up for class..students arriving in a couple minutes
- Bugscope Teamtotally cool
- Bugscope TeamThank You
- 7:48 am
- 7:53 am
- Bugscope Teambe right back...
- Bugscope Teamalright back
- 7:59 am
- Teacherwe are ready when you are
- Bugscope Teamgreat! you have control of the microscope
- Bugscope Teamyou can click on any of the presets, to the left; and you can also change the mag, focus, contrast/brightness
- Bugscope Teamclicking on a preset makes the 'scope move to that position on the sample stub
- Bugscope Teamplease, also, let us know when you have questions
- 8:04 am
- Bugscope TeamI just clicked on the preset for the earwig's head
- Bugscope Teamyou can see its mouthparts and its compound eyes
- Bugscope Teamthe earwig is a female -- we can tell from the shape of its cercopods
- Bugscope Teamand also -- it has mites
- Bugscope Teamyou can see some of the mites right now
- Bugscope Teamplease let us know if the controls are not working for you
- Bugscope Teamwe can also set it up so any student, one at a time, can drive the microscope
- Bugscope Teamis anyone there?
- Studentyeah sorry listenting to instructions
Bugscope TeamAce!
- Bugscope Teamtotally cool
- Bugscope Teamnow we're looking at a few palpi -- the palps, or accessory mouthparts
- Teachersorry student computers dont have access to controls
Bugscope Teamthat is correct. you have control, and we can give control to one student at a time
- StudentHi
Bugscope TeamHi Pistachios!
- Bugscope Teamyou can see the compound eye to the lower middle
- StudentWhat bug is this?
Bugscope Teamthis is an earwig
- 8:09 am
- Studentwhat is an earwig?
- StudentHello :) what do you study??
Bugscope Teamwe work with all disciplines of mostly grad students and postdocs -- we teach them how to use the 'scopes to perform their research
- StudentWhat is the earwig sitting on?
- StudentWhat is the backround
- StudentWhat is an earwig?
Bugscope Teamit's an insect that is known as a plant pest
- Studentwhat is the earwig sitting on?
Bugscope Teamit's on a carbon doublestick tape background
- Studentwhat kind of bug is the earwig? (fly, spider, beetle)
Bugscope Teamit is perhaps most closely related to beetles
- Studentdoes the microscope show the color?
Bugscope Teamno. we are using electrons to collect the images, and electrons are much smaller than the wavelengths of visible light that show color
- Studenthow does the microscope work?
Bugscope Teamthe sample is coated with gold-palladium -- a very fine coat, and we beam electrons at it in a vacuum chamber
- Teacherthe scientist would like to control the microscope
Bugscope Teamgot it!
- Studentdid you kill the bugs in order to test them?
Bugscope Teamthey need to be dead so we can do this; if they were alive they would be quite unhappy in such a high vacuum
- Studentis anyone there?
Bugscope Teamyes
- StudentWhat is the earwig sitting on?
Bugscope Teamcarbon tape we use to hold the specimens down, plus some silver paint to help ground them
- Studentwhere's the head and body?
Bugscope Teamthis is the head, and the body is to the south
- Studentwhat is this
- Studentwhat are the hair like looking things on the earwig
- StudentHI
- StudentHow are the specimens prepared to be viewed under the microscope?
Bugscope Teamthey are dried, and they are coated with about 20 nm of gold-palladium to make them conductive
- 8:14 am
- StudentIs the earwig missing an arm?
Bugscope Teamyes, but you cannot see the thorax yet to tell
- StudentWhy is missing an arm?
Bugscope Teamthey are very fragile after they die
- Studentoh
- Studentwhy do they need to be conductive?
Bugscope Teamwe are beaming electrons at the samples and getting what are then called secondary electrons back; if the samples we not conductive the electrons would stay in the specimens and charge them up
- Teachergoogly eyes would like to control the microscope
Bugscope Teamgot it!
- StudentWhat is a thorax?
Bugscope Teamthat is the central portion of the body, like on people what is called the trunk; usually all six arms or legs are attached to it
- Studentdo you work with anything bigger or smaller than bugs?
Bugscope Teamyes we do
Bugscope Teamwe work with all kinds of materials and biological samples
- StudentHow many arms or legs does it have then?
Bugscope Teamall insects have six legs, a thorax, an abdomen, two antennae, and a head
- Studentare the dent looking things on the carbon tape the resin?
- StudentWhat is the smallest thing you have ever looked at?
Bugscope Teamwith the transmission electron microscope we can see carbon fringes that are 3.4 angstroms apart
- StudentWhen you look at the bugs are they always dead?
- Studentangstoms?
- Studentso like bacterias?
Bugscope Teambacteria are usually -- the rod-shaped ones -- about 2 micrometers (microns) long, so no problem seeing them
- Studentwhy isnt there any color?
Bugscope Teambecause we are using electrons, and the images come to us as signal, as grey scale
- Studentwho has the controls?
Bugscope Teamgoogly
- StudentWhat is the largest thing that you can view under this microscope?
- StudentHave you ever looked at an atom before?
- 8:19 am
- StudentWhat type of microscope did you use to look at the earwig?
Bugscope Teamyou are using the microscope right now -- a $600,000 scanning electron microscope
- Studenthow small is an angstrom?
Bugscope Teama tenth of a nanometer
- Studentwhat is a hello bug?
Bugscope Teamthat is a mite; I just typed hello because it is peeking out from under the earwig's neck
- StudentIs the hello bug an insect
Bugscope Teamno it is a mite
- StudentWhere is the head?
Bugscope Teamthe head is hardly recognizable as a head; it is to the right
- Studenthow big is the hello big?
Bugscope Teamyou can see from the micron bar that it is likely about 100 microns long
- Studentis the hello bug the type of mite that you find in matressess and carpets?
Bugscope Teamno those are dustmites; these are mites that infest insects
- Studenthow big is the hello bug?
Bugscope Teamabout 100 to 150 micrometers (microns) long
- StudentDoes it have little hairs on its legs/arms
Bugscope Teamyes it does -- those are sensory
- StudentIs it upside down?
Bugscope Teamyes it is!
- Bugscope Teamnow you have a better perspective
- Studentso its like a parasite?
Bugscope Teamyes it is!
- StudentWhat are all of the pointy things?
Bugscope Teamthose are sensory setae on the earwig -- they help it feel, smell, taste its environment
- StudentWhere is the hello bug?
Bugscope Teamit is on the 'neck' of the earwig
- StudentWhat is at the top and bottom of the image?
Bugscope Teamthat is the exoskeleton of the earwig
- StudentWhat can you find out by observing these creatures?
Bugscope Teamwe see how they attach, and we try to get an idea of how they feed
- StudentWhat is the bug hang
Bugscope Teamit is attached to a female earwig
- Teacherlivma would like to control the scope when possible
Bugscope TeamLivma is the supreme ruler now
- 8:24 am
- StudentWhat other specimens does it feed on?
Bugscope Teammany idfferent kinds of insects, but we often find them on earwigs
- Studentlive
- Studentso its a mite on an insect
Bugscope Teamyes it is!
- StudentWhat kind of climate does it lik=ve in
Bugscope Teamall temperate climates, not in Antartica as far as I know
- Studentwhat is that?
Bugscope Teamthis is the tongue of a housefly
- Studentwhat is above the insect?
- Studentdo you look at live creatures under the microscope?
Bugscope Teamwe can, but usually not with the scanning electron microscope
- StudentWhy does the tongue look like a brain?...
- Studentwhere is the head
Bugscope Teamthis is the head, but we are so close it is hard to tell
- Studentwhy would you want to!!
- StudentWhat's that white stuff?
Bugscope Teamthat is where the specimen is charging up with electrons from the electron beam that is hitting it
- StudentHow did you get the tongue out of the housefly?
Bugscope Teamit is still there, and it is external, so it is always sticking out
- Studentcan we zoom in more?
Bugscope Teamyes you can, whoever is driving
- Studentexternal tounge? that sounds nasty
- Studentwhat are the white parts
- StudentHow does the microscope work?
Bugscope Teamthe samples are in a vacuum chamber, and we beam electrons at them in lines that add up to the images we see now
- StudentIs the surrounding of the insect its body or is it another specimen
Bugscope Teamnot sure what you mean
- Studenthow big is the tongue?
Bugscope Teamyou can use the scalebar to the lower left to estimate the size of the tongue
- StudentWhy are there a bunch of little lines on the tongue? It looks dried out
Bugscope Teamit is exactly as you said -- dried out
- 8:30 am
- StudentWhy does the tongue look like a brain?...
Bugscope Teamit is a sponging mouthpart, and it has saliva on it, usually
- StudentHow many electrons go through the creature?
Bugscope Teammillions hit it, but none go all the way through
- StudentWhat is surrounding the tongue?
Bugscope Teamthere are setae, or insect hairs, all around it. They help tell the insect when it is touching something
- Studentwhat are the spines around the tongue area?
Bugscope Teamsome of those, in the background are actually on the antennae, and some are sensory setae near the mouth
- Teacheremily would like control of the scope
Bugscope Teamshe has control
- Studentwhy did you decide to study the tongue?
Bugscope Teamwe just made it into a preset because you rarely see it like that
- Studentthe tongue looks like an ameba
- StudentOr is it just sensory?
- Studentdo they ever lick anything with their tongue? or is it just there?
Bugscope Teamthe tongue can kind of lap up the liquid food they eat. They also do spit a little on their food to help break it down into a more liquid state. Our saliva kind of does the same thing
- Studentdoes the insect ever burn when they are charged with electrons?
Bugscope Teamnot usually, but I have seen other things in the microscope actually bubble like it is boiling
- StudentHow does it eat?
Bugscope Teamit sponges up its food and sucks it in as a liquid
- StudentAre the hairs some sort of protection?
Bugscope Teambecause insects have an exoskeleton, they do not have skin with nerve endings in it; they need to have sensory setae that project through the exoskeleton -- the shell, or like a suit or armor -- in order to sense their environment
- StudentWhat is underneath the fly?
- Studentlike what?
- StudentIs it on a nest?
Bugscope Teamno it is on carbon doublestick tape; is that what you meant?
- StudentWhat does it eat?
Bugscope Teamusually sweet liquids; things it has dissolved with its saliva
- StudentWhy is the tongue on the outside?
Bugscope Teamit is really a proboscis, like an elephant's trunk, so it is most useful on the outside
- Studentcan the fly taste things?
Bugscope Teami think it can. They prefer sugary foods.
- Studentwhy cant we see the almost scaly eyes on this fly?
Bugscope Teamyou can if you drive and take the mag up
- StudentWhat is a setae?
Bugscope Teamthey are the hairs we see on insects. You pronounce it see-tee. One hair is a seta (see-tah)
- Studentoh
- 8:35 am
- StudentDo you look at all specimens on top of carbon double stick tape?
Bugscope Teamsometimes we use superglue or just silver paint to hold them down
- StudentWhat are those lines on top of the speciman?
Bugscope Teamsorry not sure
- Studentwhy silver paint?
- StudentWhy are the eyes so much bigger than its tongue?
Bugscope Teamthey heavily rely on their eyes to survive. They are flying insects and they also need to be able to evade their predators, like humans
- StudentWhat is the bird shaped thing on the top of the screen?
Bugscope Teamthat was one of the bases of the antenna
- Bugscope Teamyou can see scales from another insect all over the fly
- Studentwhat do flies use antennas for?
- Bugscope Teamthat is because the fly was collected with other insects like moths and butterflies
- StudentIs it hair or fur?
Bugscope Teamwhat looks like hair in insects is called setae
- StudentDo you put the specimens on slides to observe them?
- Studentwhat part is that?
- StudentWhat is coming out of the legs?
Bugscope Teamat the tips of the legs are four or five tarsi, and at the end are the claws
- Teacherria would like to try using the scope
Bugscope Teamria has control
- StudentDoes it have claws?
Bugscope Teamyes it does
- Studentwhat is that?
Bugscope Teamthis is the moth, and it is charging up badly with electrons
- StudentAre the hairlike things on the right also setae?
Bugscope Teamyes they are
- Studentis it a male or female?
- StudentWhat does the setae do for the fly?
Bugscope Teamthey can help the fly sense what is going on around it. Depending on the type of setae, they can be used for sense of touch, taste/smell, navigating the wind currents, temperature changes, etc. Their exoskeleton isn't sensitive like our skin, so they need those hairs to help them
- StudentWhat does the speciman use the claws for?
Bugscope Teamto hold onto things. They are like hands to us
- StudentWhy is it hairy?
- StudentHow small is this bug?
- Bugscope Teamscales, which you find on moths, butterflies, silverfish, mosquitoes, and few other insects, are modified setae, and one thing they do is help the insect escape from spiderwebs
- StudentWhy is there so many setae on this insect?
- StudentHow strong is it?
- 8:40 am
- StudentYou said you get secondary electrons back what are those?
Bugscope Teamthose are the electrons that the primary electrons (the electron beam that is impinging on the sample) knock loose from the surface of the sample
- StudentWhat type of insect are we looking at?
Bugscope Teamthis is part of a moth
- StudentHow do the secondary electrons pro
- Studentwhy did you start looking at bugs under the microscope?
- Studentject an image
- Studentdo you only look at bugs and insects?
Bugscope Teamno we look at all kinds of things, from geological samples to food to silicon structures
- StudentWhen did you first get interested in bugs? why are you interested in them?
- StudentHow strong is the moth? and what typs of thing does it hold?
- Studentwhat type of bugs do you study the most?
Bugscope Teami think we see beetles and flies the most
- StudentHow do secondary electrons project an image?
Bugscope Teamthey are collected by a secondary electron detector as a certain magnitude of signal at a specific time and location on the sample
- Studentare bugs your favorite?
Bugscope Teamwe like them because they are so interesting
- Teacherace would like control
Bugscope Teamace is the supreme ruler
- StudentSo if an image appears lighter than others that means it has absorbed more electrons?
Bugscope Teamthat is exactly right
- StudentHave you ever looked at an atom before?
Bugscope Teamwe see them using the atomic force microscope, not with this 'scope
- StudentWhat bug is your favorite bug to study?
Bugscope Teami like bees. They have stingers and sometimes you can find pollen on them
- Studentoh yeah guys, i rule :)
- StudentHow powerful is your scope?
Bugscope Teamthis can get 2 nanometer resolution
- Studentwhat is the pointy thing?
Bugscope Teamthat is a bee stinger
- 8:45 am
- StudentWhat is 2 nanometer resolution?
- StudentHow big is the microscope? What does it look like?
- StudentWhat's that pointy thing? Is it a stinger?
Bugscope Teamyes it is!
- Studentwhat is their hair used for?
Bugscope Teamthe hair is multisensory: hot/cold, smell, touch, proprioception
- StudentDoes studying insects help with our daily life?
- Studenthas the stinger ever stung anyone or anything?
Bugscope Teamit looks like it has -- it is even broken a bit, at the tip
- StudentA housefly has stingers?
Bugscope Teamno this is a honeybee
- StudentWhat insect are we looking at now?
Bugscope Teamthis is a honeybee
- StudentWhat college major did you take to get into microscopic biology?
- StudentWhat is the meaning of proprioception?
Bugscope Teamit is self sensing; insects have setae or bristles that help them feel when their limbs are overextended, for example
- Studentis stinging instinctual for a bee or is it a conscious choice?
- Studentis this your most powerful microscope?
- Studenthow did you kill the bugs?
Bugscope Teamprobably most died naturally, but otherwise we usually freeze them
- StudentWhat is 2 nanometer resolution?
Bugscope Teamvisible light is between 380-740 nm
- StudentHow powerful is this microscope compared to other similar ones?
- TeacherDMK would like to try using the scope
Bugscope TeamDMK has control!
- StudentWhat is the part of the honeybee behind and above the stinger?
Bugscope Teamthat is hard to see, but it is the rest of the body -- the thorax, and the head is above
- StudentDo you study butterflies?
Bugscope Teamwe don't really study insects, ourselves, but we help people who do study them
- Studentdo you ever look at spiders?
Bugscope Teamyes we do
- StudentIt looks like the stinger is cracking...can that fall off without stinging someone?
Bugscope Teamit could break off; it actually has sliding portions adjacent to each other
- Studentwhat kind of spiders?
- Studentwha are the dents on the right?
Bugscope Teamthose are part of the carbon tape the insects are sitting on
- StudentWhat does the microscope look like? Is it really big?
Bugscope Teamit is like a large desk with a tall column at one end; there is a photo on the Bugscope website
- StudentWhat is the smallest bug you've studied?
Bugscope Teamprobably a mite
- 8:51 am
- StudentCan you freeze a spider and bring it back to life in the future?
- StudentHow much electricity does it take to power this microscope?
Bugscope Teamit uses 220-V power, and that is transformed to as much as 30 kV -- 30,000 volts
- StudentWhat are the layers at the bottom of the stinger?
Bugscope Teamthose are part of the abdomen. Without the layers it wouldn't be able to bend
- Studentwhy couldnt you just temporarily put the specimens to sleep instead of killing them like they do with humans during surgery?
- StudentHow big is the average mite?
Bugscope Teamprobably 150 microns
- Studentis this your most powerful microscope?
Bugscope Teamno we have others
- StudentIs stinging an instinct or a conscious choice?
Bugscope Teamit is conscious
- StudentThank you so much for answering our questions! It was really interesting!
- Studentbye guys, this was really cool!
- Studentgoodbye. that was very interesting :) have a nice day
- StudentCan you freeze a spider while it is alive?
Bugscope Teamyes. that is often the best way to freeze an insect as well
Bugscope Teamkill, not freeze I mean
- StudentThanks for answring our questions about these specimens Bye!
- StudentThanks for talking to us and introducing us to this. Bye!
- StudentThanks for everything! This was really cool and fun!
- Studentwhat is inside the layers, right before the stinger?
Bugscope Teamthat is where the venom gland is, for one thing; the whole thing is the abdomen, like a stomach
- Studentace says thanks!
Bugscope TeamThank you, Ace, and Livma
- Studentthanks for allowing us to use the microscope and answer all of our questions! Bye!
- Bugscope TeamThank You, Everyone!
- Bugscope Teamthank you!
- Bugscope Teamhttps://bugscope.beckman.illinois.edu/members/2012-061
- Bugscope Teamthis below is your member page for today's session
- StudentBye! Thanks, this was really interesting!
Bugscope TeamBye! Thank you!
- StudentOkay, alright this was really cool. Thanks so much for answering out questions!
Bugscope TeamThank You, Ria!
- Teacherthank you! they really enjoyed this experience
- 8:56 am
- Bugscope Teamhoneybees and other bees are exceptional insects in that they have these branched setae
- Studentwhat are the circle dents
Bugscope Teamthose are crayters in the doublestick carbon tape
- Bugscope Teamhaha 'craters'
- Studentgoodbye thank you!!
Bugscope TeamThank You, DMK!
- StudentThanks so much! This was cool what are the dents though?
Bugscope TeamThank You, Power Rangers
- Studentis this still the bee?
Bugscope Teamthis is at the edge of the bee -- we can still see some of the setae, to the left and above, and below
- Bugscope Teamwe are shutting down unless someone is still there working...