Never seen the death of a ciliate like this-- usually it's too much pressure from the coverslip or too much osmotic pressure. But this gradual posterior-to-anterior "unzipping" effect amazed me !

Motic BA310e - 40x Objective - sped up 2X
#microscopy #Paramecium #Iteachbiology #edusky

Had a blast last week at the @nabtbio.bsky.social national conference & got to present to several dozen Bio teachers about the #Microsafaris you have seen here over time. Even did a live demo & captured this elegant Stentor showing off for those awesome teachers! #iteachbiology #microscopy #Edusky

Excited to head to St. Louis & the @nabtbio.bsky.social Conference tomorrow & get to see many old friends and make new ones! Also excited to present (for the first time!) my MICROSAFARI project on Saturday at 9:00. I hope to see some of you there! #NABT #NABT2025 #NABTStLouis #iteachbiology #edsky

From a desktop "mini pond" I maintain just for kicks --- Love the internal detail of the Aeolosoma as it wanders around. Also notice some blue microplastic and a stentor.
Motic BA310e 10X objective via LabCam Ultra & iPhone 15
#microscope #microscopy #nature #biology #edusky #Iteachbiology

From a Texas pond - I love seeing Urocentrum turbo doing its thing here. Amazed they have enough energy to keep on spinning without obviously feeding like other species of ciliates. ENJOY!
Motic BA310e - 4X Objective with Labcam Ultra / iPhone Pro 15

#microscope #iteachbiology #edusky #biology

It's always nice when you see a nauplius that isn't hell-bent on zooming everywhere. LOL

*For my non-bio friends, a nauplius is a larval form of a crustacean. I suspect this one belongs to the genus Cyclops - a copepod.

#microscopy #nature #biology #edusky #iteachbiology #science

From a local park pond, a nice cluster of Vorticella - I am always puzzled by how they manage to feed when it seems they are constantly retracting in response to stimuli.
Motic BA 310e - 4X objective - LabCam Ultra & iPhone 15 pro

#edusky #microscopy #Biology #nature #microcosmos

Just saw this recently deceased copepod with a hefty load of peritrich epibionts (I think Vorticella). Excited to see the egg sac with eggs that already have eyes developing. It's my first time observing this!
#microscope #edusky #nature #biology #iteachbiology #science

Yesterday I collected some samples from a local Texas pond and was happy to see a bunch of Nauptili. I thought y'all might appreciate this video of one of them -- apologies for a messy condenser --- that gets cleaned this weekend!

#microscope #Iteachbiology #edusky #nature #microscopy #Science

I am working to develop thought exercises for my students that cannot be solved by a simple Google or Chat GPT query.
I'll show them this short video & challenge them to figure out what I have filmed here.

Do any of you know what I have filmed?
#iteachbiology #educhat #ai #scied #edsky

It's fun to let students in their free time create "Mix slides" from different pond samples & then see what appears.... this "mix" has at least 4 species. Aeolosoma, Paramecium, Rotifers, and Stentor
Can you spot any species I missed?

#microscope #naturephotography #biology #iteachbiology #edusky