Science Pic of the Day: Fluorescent, Microscopic Tissue

I loved this picture today. It is also picture of the day for January 31, 2012, on UK Wikipedia.


Photo courtesy: Richard Wheeler and Wikimedia Commons

I loved this picture today. It also turned up as picture of the day for the January 31, 2012 edition of Wikipedia.


Photo courtesy: Richard Wheeler and Wikimedia Commons

A light microscope image of tissue paper. The tissue was illuminated with ultraviolet light making it glow blue due to natural autofluorescence, the same effect which makes paper glow with a black light. The tangled network of fibres are cellulose fibres which are derived from wood and make up all types of paper and cardboard. It is a combination of the properties of cellulose and additional optical brighteningagents which makes the tissue glow.Photo: Richard Wheeler