Australian Science Illustrated – Issue 51 2017

64 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED

Fascinating insects, entangled cells, and

sparkling minerals. When scientists

activate their microscopes, blowing up the

tiniest elements of nature, it is suddenly

difficult to recognise the enlarged details.

It's a new view of some very familiar things.

Amazing

Technicolour

Dream World

Mineral formation

looks like paprika

Agate is made up of thin layers of a particular

type of quartz known as chalcedony. The layers

can be all the colours of the spectrum, but

yellow and orange are the most predominant.

The colours emerge when chlorite and hematite

are captured inside the quartz. Agate, which can

have a diameter of up to 50 cm, is produced

when cavities in different types of rock are filled

with mineral deposits in either lava or flowing

water on a river bed.

Enlarged: 90 TIMES

DOUGLAS L. MOORE/NIKON SMALL WORLD & SHUTTERSTOCK

NATURE MICROSCOPY