Electron microscope

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An electron microscope is a type of microscope that uses a particle beam of electrons to illuminate a specimen and create a highly-magnified image. Electron microscopes have much greater resolving power than light microscopes that use electromagnetic radiation and can obtain much higher magnifications of up to 2 million times, while the best light microscopes are limited to magnifications of 2000 times. Both electron and light microscopes have resolution limitations, imposed by the wavelength of the radiation they use. The greater resolution and magnification of the electron microscope is because the wavelength of an electron; its de Broglie wavelength is much smaller than that of a photon of visible light.

The electron microscope uses electrostatic and electromagnetic lenses in forming the image by controlling the electron beam to focus it at a specific plane relative to the specimen. This manner is similar to how a light microscope uses glass lenses to focus light on or through a specimen to form an image.

For more information about Electron microscope, read the full article at Wikipedia.
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News tagged with electron microscopy

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Computational microscope peers into the working ribosome

Computational microscope peers into the working ribosome (w/ Video)

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (9) | comments 2

Two new studies reveal in unprecedented detail how the ribosome interacts with other molecules to assemble new proteins and guide them toward their destination in biological cells. The studies used molecular ...


Small nanoparticles bring big improvement to medical imaging

Small nanoparticles bring big improvement to medical imaging

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

If you're watching the complex processes in a living cell, it is easy to miss something important—especially if you are watching changes that take a long time to unfold and require high-spatial-resolution ...


Understanding mechanical properties of silicon nanowires paves way for nanodevices

Understanding mechanical properties of silicon nanowires paves way for nanodevices

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Nov 11, 2009 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Silicon nanowires are attracting significant attention from the electronics industry due to the drive for ever-smaller electronic devices, from cell phones to computers. The operation of these future devices, ...


Imaging a catalyst one atom at a time

Imaging a catalyst one atom at a time

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- The catalytic processes that facilitate the production of many chemicals and fuels could become much more environmentally friendly thanks to a breakthrough achieved by researchers from Lehigh ...


Gene mutation may reveal clues for treating lung diseases

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Oct 15, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A genetic mutation found in four children born with multiple abnormalities may provide insight into potential treatments for newborn lung distress and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).


Silence of the genes

Silence of the genes

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Oct 13, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 2

The molecular architecture of a protein complex that helps determine the fate of human cells has been imaged for the first time by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National ...


To peer inside a living cell

To peer inside a living cell

Physics / General Physics

created Oct 06, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (11) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- Quantum mechanics could help build ultra-high-resolution electron microscopes that won't destroy living cells, according to MIT electrical engineers.


Caltech scientists get detailed glimpse of chemoreceptor architecture in bacterial cells

Scientists get detailed glimpse of chemoreceptor architecture in bacterial cells

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Sep 24, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Using state-of-the-art electron microscopy techniques, a team led by researchers from Caltech has for the first time visualized and described the precise arrangement of chemoreceptors—the receptors that sense ...


Neurons found to be similar to Electoral College

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Sep 14, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 0

A tiny neuron is a very complicated structure. Its complex network of dendrites, axons and synapses is constantly dealing with information, deciding whether or not to send a nerve impulse, to drive a certain action.


Study shows how disruption of spectrin-actin network causes lens cells in the eye to lose shape

Study shows how disruption of spectrin-actin network causes lens cells in the eye to lose shape

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Sep 14, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A network of proteins underlying the plasma membrane keeps epithelial cells in shape and maintains their orderly hexagonal packing in the mouse lens, say Nowak et al. The study will appear in the September ...


Extremophile Yields a Key Cog in Life's Protein Factory

Extremophile Yields a Key Cog in Life's Protein Factory

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Sep 10, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Peering at single molecules within an organism that makes its home near thermal vents, Yale University scientists have discovered the structure of a key player in the creation of protein-making ...


ibm pentacene

Scientists Image the 'Anatomy' of a Molecule (w/ Video)

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Aug 28, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (43) | comments 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, IBM researchers in Zurich, Switzerland, have taken a 3D image of an individual molecule. Using an atomic force microscope, the researchers constructed a "force map" of ...


A safe approach to nanotechnology: Boiling up zinc oxide nanorods without toxic solvents

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Aug 19, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

A non-toxic and environmentally friendly way to make tiny nanorods of zinc oxide has been developed for the first time by researchers in Saudi Arabia. The approach, described in the current issue of the International Journal of ...


Growth spurts

Researchers Record First Real-Time Direct Observations of Nanocrystal Growth in Solution (w/ Video)

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Aug 07, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- The veil is being lifted from the once unseen world of molecular activity. Not so long ago only the final products were visible and scientists were forced to gauge the processes behind those ...


Novel mechanism revealed for increasing recombinant protein yield in tobacco

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Aug 06, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) cause plants to store GM proteins in special 'protein bodies', insulating them from normal cellular degradation processes and increasing the overall protein yield. Researchers writing in the ...