Researchers Lei Li and Allen Yi at Ohio State University have developed a stand-alone stationary lens capable of capturing 3D microscopic images. The custom acrylic glass lens was cut using a diamond blade, and looks sort of like a faceted gemstone when viewed up close. These asymmetrical facets each capture a part of an image from a different angle, and a computer program stitches them back together into 3D. It’s hard to tell from the image below, but what you’re looking at is the lens as it captures an image of a tiny drill bit imaged from multiple angles.

At this point, the technology is only planned for use in computer vision applications like the manufacture of microscopic components, but it’s possible that someday the same lens could be created for more traditional photographic uses.

[via PopSCI via PetaPixel]

By taking a single strand of Poliakoff’s hair (and a mighty head of hair he has) and subjecting it to a nano-etching technology, they managed to etch the entire periodic table onto a single strand of the hair. The entire thing is just 100 microns wide and 50 microns high. By irradiating the hair with ions of Gallium, tiny bits of the hair are flaked off, producing the microscopic table of elements.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I don’t know about you, but I’m going to need my reading glasses to see that for sure.

[via io9 via The Daily What]

Developed by Japanes design professor Kotoro “dotimpact” Tanaka, the microscopic Pac-Man[JP] uses a small video projector, combined with the original Pac-Man arcade hardware to allow play of the game through the optics of a microscope.

The tiny rig reflects its image through a mirror to produce a 1cm square image at a resolution of 1439-ppi (way denser than Apple’s retina display!) Once magnified through the eyepiece of the microscope, it’s just like playing the full-size game. Dotimpact also encourages visitors to try playing with the zoom and focus controls on the microscope for some fun effects.

Blogger Francesco Fondi came across this special version of Pac-Man while he was at the 30th anniversary Pac-Man exhibition[JP] in the Akihabara district of Tokyo, which ends on October 11th. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to figure out a way to photograph what you actually see through the microscope, but if you happen to be in Tokyo, you should go check it out for yourself.

[Thanks for the tip, Francesco!]

iMicroscope is a new app that helps you take precision pics of microscopic stuff. Unfortunately, you’ll need a microscope in order for it to work, but if you’re a lab geek you probably have one or two of those lying around. The software is designed to help optimize photos taken through the viewfinder of any desktop microscope. According to its creator, the iMicroscope “Works with any optical microscope which is compatible with human eyes,” which begs the question: what other sort of eyes would your microscope be designed for? Dogs? Cats? Chipmunks? Maybe laboratory produced zombies.

Below are a couple of extremely magnified pics taken with the app. Here’s a picture of fleas playing a game of tic-tac-toe, a 200 nanometer slice of a 70 nanometer epoxy bullet under a copper grid – I think.

It’s a little tricky to set up the camera lens in the exact location where your eye would normally go, but the results are pretty damned impressive once get the hang of it. All you need to know is the lens settings of your microscope in order for the app to optimize your images.

Here’s a little demo showing off how the app works, in case you really need more explanation. But if you’re smart enough to work in a lab with microscopes, epoxy bullets and copper grids, I’m pretty sure you can skip right to the download and install part.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Cool, no? If you want to take pictures of the teensy, tiny world of microscopic things, then head on over to the iTunes App Store now. iMicroscope sells for $2.99 (USD) – microscope not included.

Thanko’s USB Microscope Camera features a high-detail digital camera attached to the end of a long LED illuminated tube. Stick the camera on you skin, in your mouth or in your ear and witness everything you’ve never wanted to know about yourself.

While it can only capture 1-megapixel images, that’s more than enough when you’re zooming in on your body parts at 30x magnification. If you’re really interested in examining your skin pores and receding gumline in gory detail, you can pick one up for ¥12,800 (appx. $104 bucks for us here in the U.S.)

The ProScope HR is a USB-connected handheld microscope that can capture images and video at a magnification level of up to 400x depending on the lense selected. Still images can be captured at up to QVGA (1280×1024) resolution, while 30fps video can be captured at SXGA (320×240) resolution. If you’re willing to capture fewer frames per second, you can capture moving images at higher resolutions too. You can even capture time lapse videos using the included software.

Software controls allow you to adjust brightness, contrast, hue, saturation and sharpness of your images. Complete systems range from $499 to $1199 USD depending on the lenses and accessories you want.

If that’s too rich for your blood, you might want to check out the $99 ProScopeTV, which features a fixed 200x lens, and lets you feed the signal directly to your video device.

[via Everything USB]