Most trade magazines have an annual schedule of featured topics slated for certain issues. This publishing calendar helps readers, authors, and advertisers know in advance that a certain topic will be emphasized at least once a year. For Microscopy Today, the March, July, and November issues will feature, respectively, microanalysis, light microscopy, and scanning probe microscopy. The other three issues during the year will contain the usual variety of topics concerning all microscopy methods.

The most widely accepted model of learning at the level of the cell involves associative synaptic plasticity in brain neurons that include cortical pyramidal cells (PC). To oversimplify, for a neuron to “learn” from information coming into it, electrical events need to occur in a fairly precise pattern throughout the cell membrane.

Over the last two decades, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) has emerged as the tool of choice to image living organisms in a near-physiological environment. Whereas fluorescence microscopy techniques allow labeling and tracking of components inside cells and the observation of dynamic processes, AFM is mainly a surface technique that can be operated on a wide range of substrates including biological samples. AFM enables extraction of topographical, mechanical and chemical information from these samples.

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) began as an art as well as a science, and in many ways it continues to be an art and a science. Despite the existence of new, better, faster, bigger (or smaller!) atomic force microscopes (AFMs), some of the of the fundamental challenges remain—probe tips, sample dirt, and moving beyond leading-edge results obtained with one biological system to obtain leading-edge results with a related system.

Polymers play an essential role in modern materials science. Because of the wide variety of mechanical and chemical properties of polymers, they are used in nearly every industry. Knowledge about their physical and chemical properties on the nanometer scale is often required. However, some details about the phase-separation process in polymers are difficult to study with conventional characterization techniques because these methods cannot chemically differentiate phases with good spatial resolution without damage, staining, or preferential solvent washing.

Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) has developed into a very powerful tool for characterization of surfaces and nanoscale objects. Many physical properties of an object can be studied by AFM with nanometer-scale resolution. Local stiffness, elasticity, conductivity, capacitance, magnetization, surface potential and work function, friction, piezo response—these and many other physical properties can be studied with over 30 AFM modes. What is typically lacking in information provided by AFM studies is the chemical composition of the sample and information about its crystal structure. To obtain this information other characterization techniques are required, such as Raman and fluorescence microscopy. The Raman effect (inelastic light scattering) provides extensive information about sample chemical composition, quality of crystal structure, crystal orientation, presence of impurities and defects, and so on. Information provided by Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy is complementary to the information obtained by AFM. So it is a natural requirement in many research fields to integrate these techniques in one piece of equipment—to provide comprehensive physical, chemical, and structural characterization of the same object. Of course, for routine studies of various samples, it is important to be able to obtain AFM and Raman/fluorescence images of exactly the same sample area, preferably with the same sample scan.

Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) techniques have become a mainstay of nanoscience and nanotechnology by providing easy-to-use, gentle, structural imaging and manipulation on nanometer length scales. Beyond topographic imaging, SPMs have an extremely broad range of applications in probing electrical, magnetic, and mechanical properties. Despite impressive growth in applications, the traditional approach to SPM measurements—based on detection of cantilever response to a well-defined periodic excitation at a single frequency—has remained virtually identical for almost twenty years.

The Physics and Astronomy Department of Appalachian State University acquired a Nanosurf Easyscan 2 system in the Fall of 2008 with funds from an NSF MRI award (DMR 0821124). We have used this AFM in over a dozen outreach activities for middle and high school students. We also have incorporated the AFM into several of our college courses, including an overview course on microscopy, a first-year seminar course on nanotechnology, and a senior-level lab course for physics students. We have learned from our outreach and teaching experience that introducing AFM to students excites them about nanoscience and nanotechnology and provides an important opportunity for implementing experiential learning in the classroom. Several principles are reinforced by having the students learn to operate the microscope and acquire images themselves. When students take ownership of acquiring AFM data during sample analysis and are able to take with them a digital file or print out the imaging results, it allows them to share what they learned with their peers and family. This learning cycle, from abstract conceptualization to concrete experience, has proven to be an effective pedagogy for students of all ages. To improve our outreach and teaching activities, we have developed several new learning modules for AFM, and we share one physics-based module here.

MICROSCIENCE 2010 was held at the ExCeL International Exhibition and Conference Centre, London, from June 29 to July 1. The conference attracted 519 delegates—the first time that the 500-barrier has been broken. Overall, 2139 visitors from 30 countries from across 5 continents passed through the doors during the three days.

On August 1–5, 2010, the Microscopy & Microanalysis meeting was held in Portland, Oregon. This annual meeting is sponsored by the Microscopy Society of America and the Microbeam Analysis Society. The meeting was enhanced by participation of the International Metallographic Society and the Microscopical Society of Canada, both of which held their annual meetings in conjunction with M&M. The conference attracted a total of 2,768 attendees from 34 countries, making the meeting the third largest in attendance after Philadelphia in 2000 and Chicago in 2006. The equipment exhibition, always a key element of any M&M meeting, was a great success with 1,007 exhibitor attendees from 108 companies occupying 333 booths, totaling 33,300 square feet (3,094 sq metres).

Selected postings from the Microscopy Listserver from July 1, 2010 to August 31, 2010. Complete listings and subscription information can be obtained at http://www.microscopy.com. Postings may have been edited to conserve space or for clarity.