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Science Blog ZINC PROJECTS

Microworld artistry

Date: 18-Jan-08
Author: University of Washington

Albert Folch is a scientist who also happens to appreciate art. And many of the photos he's taken through his microscope would look equally at home on the walls of a modern-art gallery. Crimson geometric shapes twist around on a white background. Colored pyramids surround a central rainbow. An eerie reddish landscape is known as "Microstructures on Mars," while a spiraling pattern earned the caption "Van Gogh's Cells."

The University of Washington associate professor of bioengineering posted hundreds of these images in an online gallery and on his lab's Web page. He began creating the free online gallery last year.

An image of a speck of dust on a piece of rubber, taken with a scanning electron microscope. The rubber was molded to form a half-pipe trench and coated with a delicate layer of metal that cracked accidentally, creating the thin wavy lines.
Courtesy: Albert Folch, University of Washington
(Click on image for larger version)

Folch works in microfluidics, the study of liquids at scales smaller than a millimeter. His techniques may someday be used to build pocket-sized diagnostic tools -- gadgets that could become the iPhones of the medical world, bringing emergency-room technology to patients. But accomplishing this is not easy. Scientists must figure out how to manipulate not just electrons but also liquids at the microscopic scale.

Full story: Small is beautiful: Gallery celebrates the art of microfluids research