Strawberries aren't actually berries. Botanically, they're aggregate accessory fruits, and under the microscope, their unusual anatomy becomes even more apparent. 🍓🔬

Our friend Chloé Savard, known as tardibabe on Instagram, reveals a hidden world of tightly packed plant cells, delicate vascular tissue, and pigment-filled compartments. The bright reds come from anthocyanins, water-soluble pigments stored inside the cells that help protect the fruit from UV damage while also attracting animals to disperse its seeds.

The geometric network you see is made of cell walls built primarily from cellulose, giving the fruit its structure while remaining flexible enough to hold the water and sugars that make strawberries so juicy. Tiny sparkling circles scattered throughout the sample are air bubbles trapped during slide preparation, while the shimmering rainbow colors appear where polarized light interacts with microscopic structures inside the fruit.

Look closely at the green leafy cap and you'll find long, hair-like trichomes. These tiny outgrowths help defend the developing fruit from insects, reduce water loss, and shield delicate tissues from environmental stress.

Next time you bite into a strawberry, remember: you're crunching through a microscopic city of living plant cells, pigments, and tiny biological structures that most of us never get to see.

Sources:

• Plant Physiology and Development (Taiz, Zeiger, Møller & Murphy, Oxford University Press)
• Biology 2e (OpenStax), Chapters 30–33: Plant Form, Function, and Reproduction
• Molecular Bases of Strawberry Fruit Quality Traits: Advances, Challenges, and Opportunities, Plant Physiology (2023)
• Recent Advances in Biosynthesis and Regulation of Strawberry Anthocyanins, Horticulture Research (2025)
• The Strawberry: Composition, Nutritional Quality, and Impact on Human Health, Nutrition (Giampieri et al., 2012)

I bought a few pairs of eclipse glasses over the years. One was clearly defective (it let through way too much light).

That made me wonder: would a defective pair still block UV light?

I assumed the answer was probably no, but I decided to try a simple experiment.

Ingredients:
1) Good eclipse glasses
2) Suspect/Defective eclipse glasses
3) UV-sensitive color changing beads

Method:
1) I used three small plastic cups and filled them each with color-changing UV sensitive beads.
2) I wrapped the outside with metal tape to block light from the outside.
4) I covered two of them with solar eclipse glasses.
5) I exposed them to direct sunlight for several minutes.

Results:
Surprisingly, the UV beads didn't show any color change through either pair of glasses.

This suggests that my defective pair was still blocking the UV that these beads respond to, even though it failed the visible light test.

The experiment (and my bizarrely edited video) is captured here:
https://youtu.be/NearkopsWh4

Trying not to spill a full glass? Physics can help. 💧

Gregory Wolf, explains how centripetal force keeps the liquid inside the glass during the loop. As the tray swings, it continuously pushes the glass inward, and the glass pushes the water inward, providing the force needed for the water to follow a circular path. Slow down too much, and gravity takes over!

You can use a DIY cloud chamber to see radiation! ☢️

Alex Dainis shows us how to use uranium glass beads, sometimes called Vaseline glass. Uranium acts as a colorant in the glass, and most of its radiation stays trapped inside. But isopropyl alcohol and dry ice can still reveal it. As the alcohol condenses, charged particles leave visible tracks. With the beads inside, there's noticeably more activity than in tests without them. However, it's hard to say how much of this activity comes from the beads versus background radiation like cosmic rays.

Is a synthetic cell that eats, grows, and reproduces alive? 🧫

Researchers from the University of Minnesota have built a synthetic cell called “SpudCell” that performs three core functions of the cell cycle! It can grow, copy its own DNA and divide. However, they are not living. This is because they still depend on food and ribosomes to build proteins, they don’t have any immune defenses, and they can’t get rid of their own waste. Despite SpudCells not being alive, this is the closest we’ve gotten to turning dead chemistry to something living!

The cracks in a sidewalk are  home to an incredible hidden ecosystem. 🌿🔬

Quinten Geldhof, also known as Microhobbyist, explains how you can explore the microscopic life hiding in moss from the sidewalk using a microscope. With just a small sample, you might discover tardigrades, nematodes, and countless other microorganisms living in an entire ecosystem invisible to the naked eye.

Can you really make a rocket out of a matchstick? 🚀🔥

In this experiment, Alex Dainis demonstrates propulsion science by turning  a tiny foil-wrapped match head into  a miniature rocket. As the match ignites, hot gases build up inside creating pressure. Once the pressure is high enough they are forced out of the open end of the rocket, creating thrust that sends the rocket flying. Remember to wear proper protective gear and have fire extinguishers close by when trying this demo.

What happens when you push a lit sparkler through an egg? 🥚🧨

In this experiment, Alex Dainis explains why the sparkler doesn't fizzle out and keeps burning straight through the egg. Most fires rely on oxygen from the surrounding air, sparklers are self-oxidizing. They release the oxygen needed to keep the reaction going, even inside the egg. That's also why you can't simply blow a sparkler out!

How many red, white and blue LEDs can you light up with 250 coins?

Alex Dainis built a battery using 250 coins, electrolyte-soaked paper towels, and parafilm, generating an impressive 18 volts. But high voltage isn't everything. The long battery also had so much internal resistance that it couldn't deliver enough current to light an LED. By splitting it into several smaller batteries, each producing about 3 volts, she reduced that resistance enough to light all three LEDs.

Did you know that an entire microscopic world lives between each grain of sand? 🏝️

Quinten Geldhof, also known as Microhobbyist, shows us how each grain can hold tens to thousands of bacteria, and how the organisms feed on them. These microbial residents act as a filter as the tide moves in and out, processing debris as it passes through!

Ever wondered why a balloon can stay inflated without being tied? 🎈

Greg Wolf demonstrates how atmospheric pressure can keep a balloon inflated without trying it. Using a simple bottle experiment, he reveals why trapped air prevents a balloon from inflating, and how changing the pressure lets the invisible force of Earth’s atmosphere do the work. It’s a fascinating physics demonstration that shows the power of air pressure in action.

Did you know pineapple eats Jell-O? 🍍

Alex Dainis explains how to bypass this and make a pineapple Jell-O mold! The fruit contains an enzyme called bromelain that breaks down proteins, effectively breaking apart the Jell-O when mixed! You can often deactivate enzymes with heat, so if you cook the pineapple, you can make the bromelain ineffective, and add it to your Jell-O!

Hello everyone,

I'm interested in learning more about the practical use of Petri dishes in different laboratory environments.

In microbiology and research labs, both glass and plastic Petri dishes seem to be widely used. From what I've observed, plastic dishes are convenient for single-use applications, while glass dishes can be sterilized and reused multiple times.

For those with laboratory experience:

• What factors influence your choice between glass and plastic Petri dishes?
• Do you see any significant differences in contamination control?
• Are reusable glass Petri dishes still common in academic or research laboratories?
• Which option do you find more cost-effective in the long run?

I'd appreciate hearing about your real-world experiences and best practices.

Would you use it if all the features needed for an internal peer-review process comes built into a LIMS + ELN laboratory software's manuscript tab? Is that something that you would like to use?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Hi, I need some help guys please. I'm looking for ISO 17318. Can anyone help please?

Can you bake cookies in a hot car? 🍪🚗

Alex Dainis explains how cars get hotter in the summer due to the greenhouse effect, when visible light travels through the glass of your windshield and windows, hits the seats and interior, and gets converted into heat. That is then radiated back out as infrared rays that can't escape through the glass and get trapped inside. So on an 80°F day, your car could get as hot as 120°F! When she put cookies on the dashboard after just a couple of hours the car reached 175°F, low-baking them to soft but surprisingly not-terrible results.

Vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate ice cream. Three layers, three distinct microcosms under the microscope. 🔬🍦🍓🍫

Our friend Chloé Savard, known as tardibabe on Instagram, shows us how the vanilla layer features a suspension of ice crystals, fat globules, and air bubbles surrounded by a sugar matrix. The crystal size defines texture: slow freezing creates larger crystals and a more icy texture, while rapid freezing keeps them small for a smooth, creamy mouthfeel. Those tiny dark flecks are from Vanilla planifolia seed pods—the direct source of vanillin, which gives vanilla its characteristic warm aroma.

The strawberry layer gets its pink hue from anthocyanins, water-soluble pigments in the fruit's cell walls. Because anthocyanins react to pH, the strawberry layer in an old carton shifts from pink to dull brownish-red as they oxidize. Fruit brings more water than cream, encouraging more aggressive ice crystal formation and making the texture trickier to control.

Finally, we have chocolate. The suspended brown particles are roasted Theobroma cacao solids. The deep brown color comes from Maillard reaction products formed during roasting—the same chemistry responsible for a perfect bread crust or a seared steak. Chocolate ice cream also has a higher concentration of dissolved solids, which depresses its freezing point. This is why it stays slightly softer than the other two layers, even straight from the freezer. Needless to say, it was hard not to eat the samples!

Sources

Dairy Foods. (2019). "Frozen Desserts: Keep Them Creamy." https://www.dairyfoods.com/articles/93358-frozen-desserts-keep-them-creamy

DDW Color. (2024). "Why Do Anthocyanins Change Color." https://learn.ddwcolor.com/why-do-anthocyanins-change-color/

Gallage, N.J. et al. (2014). "Vanillin Formation from Ferulic Acid in Vanilla planifolia is Catalysed by a Single Enzyme." Nature Communications. https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms5037

Górnaś, P. et al. (2019). "Effect of Roasting Parameters on the Physicochemical Characteristics of High-Molecular-Weight Maillard Reaction Products Isolated from Cocoa Beans of Different Theobroma cacao L. Groups." European Food Research and Technology. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00217-018-3144-y

Havkin-Frenkel, D. et al. (2017). "Intracellular Localization of the Vanillin Biosynthetic Machinery in Pods of Vanilla planifolia." Plant and Cell Physiology, 59(2). https://academic.oup.com/pcp/article/59/2/304/4657111

Ice Cream Science. (2023). "Ice Crystals in Ice Cream." https://www.icecreamscience.com/blog/ice-crystals-in-ice-cream

Pinzer, B.R. et al. (2024). "Imaging the 3D Microstructural Changes of Ice Cream During Meltdown." PMC. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11189849/

Ribera-Fonseca, A. et al. (2022). "Color Quality of Frozen Strawberries: Effect of Anthocyanin, pH, Total Acidity and Ascorbic Acid Variability." ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229983667

Under-Belly. (2023). "Ice Cream: Solids, Water, Ice." https://under-belly.org/ice-cream-solids-water-ice/

Wu et al. (2025). "The Science of Ice Cream Meltdown and Structural Collapse: A Comprehensive Review." Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12261055/

The idea is simple. I'm building a Lab SaaS, a mix of both the LIMS and ELN systems.

The principal investigator of a team can create an organization. And then, they can invite their team members in. The software has everything I can think of, but my imagination is limited. So, I need your input to finetune it. I'm also thinking of making a free, opensource version that users can download and install, for those small labs who can't pay a monthly subscription. What do you guys expect in a lab software? Any feedback would be helpful.

Hi everyone,
I’m trying to extract RNA from ligamentum flavum tissue that’s extremely fibrous. No matter what I do, my RNA purity is terrible — I’m getting low A260/A230 (0.01–0.15) and low A260/A280 (~1.3–1.6) on the Nanodrop and lots of noise on the Bioanalyzer.

Here’s everything I’ve tried so far:

• Standard Qiagen RNeasy Mini kit with a Tissue Tearor
• DNase treatment on the eluate through a column
• On‑column DNase during the RNeasy protocol
• Protease K added to the lysis buffer, incubated with heat, then RNeasy + DNase
• Short, on‑ice homogenization bursts (30 seconds at a time) to avoid overheating
• Blotting tissue to remove RNAlater before lysis
• Samples stored in RNAlater ICE anywhere from 1 week to 1 year

Despite all this, I consistently get:

• Low 260/230 → heavy salt/chaotrope contamination (RNAlater + guanidinium?)
• Low 260/280 → protein, collagen, elastin, or other ECM contamination?
• Decent RNA concentration but unusable purity