Any other fans here of the MicroCosmos channel? Way more chill than the other spaz-energy SciShow channels. And of course the footage is beautiful. Here’s the first video for anyone who hasn’t discovered it yet.
I’m also curious if we have any amateur microscopists among us. MicroCosmos is, incidentally, right now doing a kickstarter. Obviously you can just go on Amazon and buy a microscope, but I’m on board with most of the design decisions they went with, so I decided to back it. I’ll be excited to see what sort of images I can get when it shows up next year! 
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1702213282/the-microcosmos-microscope
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For anyone curious!
I decided I wasn’t happy with the way that Kickstarter project was being managed. Ignoring any backer questions that asked for even the most basic technical information about the scope itself. Only responding to posts that were along the lines of “OMG so excited.” Creating a sense of false urgency by putting limited quantities on rewards and then magically increasing those quantities after they filled up. Then they finally showed a clear shot of it (after weeks of the Kickstarter) and I found the exact scope on AmScope for approximately the same price (AmScope B360). So on top of all that, I could have it now instead of waiting for 6 months, so I decided to do that (with a slightly nicer model). Now that their Kickstarter is over, they are finally starting to answer some people’s questions, but too little too late if you ask me.
Anyhow, now I have a microscope! I recorded my first viewing session and edited it down, added some commentary, etc. Literally my first microscope, first audio editing project, first video editing project, first youtube video, etc. So temper your expectations, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.
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I have subscribed to them on Youtube and watched most of their stuff there. Pretty chill and that slow voice Hank uses for this channel has calming effect .
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How did I miss this thread the first time? The one with the “lid” was cool. 
What video recording/editing program are you using?
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Thanks, I’m glad you liked it! Lucky coincidence for me that the framerate with the operculariate’s cilia happened to make a fun gyrating wave 
I knew as soon as I saw it that it needed to be in my intro lol.
I have a total cheapass setup: I am recording with my cellphone looking through an eyepiece 
, and using Shotcut to edit the footage. I’m sure there are more powerful editors out there, but Shotcut is sufficiently intuitive for someone who’s never done video editing that I picked it up right off, so it fit my needs.
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The reason I was asking is that Humble has a video editing etc program called Pinnacle Studio 24 Ultimate for a whole US dollar in the first level. 
I don’t know if that would help you or not.
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Thanks, I’ll investigate!
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PS - another episode is up!
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That was cool. It’s strange how the orange colour doesn’t show throughout the slide.
You got a great voice too. Are you taking requests???
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The reason for the transparency at higher magnifications is twofold. First, we’re looking at something super up-close. The pigmentation particles are small and so it’s like when you look at a monitor up close and there’s space between the colored pixels and they no longer look like the jpeg you had on your screen. Second, this is a compound microscope, so we’re basically staring at a 20W halogen light bulb! A lot of the perceptible color is just blasted away by the intensity of the light.
Also thanks! I actually just had a fairly significant sinus surgery last month so I had to wait until the splints got taken out of my nostrils before I could talk normally again (or do much else lol). Still recovering, but at least I can gently blow my nose again now.
I don’t know if I’d say I’m taking requests, so much as I’m always open to ideas! So fire away.
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Maybe some skin cells or a hair??? A feather?
Are you using distilled water for your water?
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Skin cells: indirectly on my list already. Expedition 6 will be earwax, which will probably be full of skin cells. You can tell me if it is an unsatisfactory amount lol
Hair: an excellent idea, I will put it down for Expedition 9!
Feather: this one will be down to luck in finding one. Also not sure how well I will be able to immerse the feather since it is probably covered in oils to repel water, but I can check when I find one. Maybe I can strip the oil with isopropanol.
As for distilled water, eh, only when I think it matters (and mostly I don’t). The water sample was its own source of water, and the carrot doesn’t care if the water has a bit of minerals in it. If I need to clean a lens, I will use distilled water, but mostly I don’t worry about it.
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The expeditions continue! The first one was just an experiment, but I’m kind of getting into this…
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I got snow everywhere… so no moss here.
Those spores being released was cool. And I glad you caught it when it was “doing it’s thing” because you wouldn’t have known where those spores came from.
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Yes, it was a pleasant surprise! I still don’t know for sure if the wet conditions caused it to start shooting them out, but it’s definitely a possibility. My research tells me some mosses basically work on a timer, some wait for dry conditions (so the spores drift further), and some prefer wet conditions (so the spores can start growing right away).
You might be surprised by the amount still going on outside. The bird bath I got those first microbes from had literally been frozen solid a few days before. I bet there are mosses under the snow just “chilling” and waiting for it to melt.
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And another video, even soil under the microscope is pretty! I’m going to keep making weekly videos, but I think I’ll stop posting them after this; likely anyone actually interested has subscribed and I don’t want to spam the forum.
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FINALLY! 
Had a headache this week, so been kinda behind all week. I finally got a few minutes to watch this.
I joined your channel but if you want to continue here. It’s only one thread. It’s not spamming.
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I’m glad you’re feeling better, in any case!
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Forgot to mention, @delenn13, I did that episode on hair you suggested. I thought it was super interesting, and I didn’t realize hair was so large (compared to what I’ve been looking at!). I think it was interesting enough I’m going to find some more hairs to investigate! Anyway, in case you missed it:
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Wow, this is interesting to watch, and kinda creepy when there’s some kind of little beings around there, at some point the hair was “breathing” but I suppose is because of the focus of the microscope
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