This is not an article about the song made famous by the late (great) Don Ho. This is about a breakthrough in the understanding of how micrometer-sized bubbles can be stabilized for long periods of time. This can influence the taste, smell, and consistency of consumer products including food and cosmetics.

In two-phase systems, which can include air (as bubbles) suspended within a liquid, the structures of the dispersed (bubbles) and continuous (liquid) phases play a critical role in determining the properties of the material. There is also the function of time in that the microstructure of the dispersed phase continuously evolves toward a state of lower energy by minimizing the surface area between the two phases (referred to as the interfacial area). In the long term, this time evolution diminishes the usefulness of two-phase systems. Emilie Dressaire, Rodney Bee, David Bell, Alex Lips, and Howard Stone have devised a way to stabilize a two-phase system for time periods of a year or longer.

Embryologic development is a dynamic process that has been previously studied by examining static (usually chemically-fixed) specimens at different time periods and then extrapolating results by assembling a series of static images. Recently, Amy McMahon, Willy Supatto, Scott Fraser, and Angelike Stathopoulos have developed new methods to look at developmental migration patterns in real time. They used an optimized imaging approach and quantitative methods to analyze a two hour period during which gastrulation occurred in the embryos of fruitflies (Drosophila). Specifically, they characterized the complex interactions between cells of the ectoderm and mesoderm by tracking the movements of over 1,500 cells, which involved the analysis of over 100,000 cell positions for each embryo!

Light microscopy has many advantages and several disadvantages. One of the advantages is that different wavelengths are perceived as different colors, and with the proper use of dyes, filters, etc. several different structures can be imaged in the same object. One the major disadvantages is that the resolution is limited by the wavelength, a limit known as the diffraction barrier. Several recently-developed techniques have allowed light microscopy to “break” the diffraction barrier, a phenomenon known as “super-resolution.” Lothar Schermelleh, Peter Carlton, Sebastian Haase, Lin Shao, Lukman Winoto, Peter Kner, Brian Burke, Cristina Cardoso, David Agard, Mats Gustafsson, Heinhrich Leonardt, and John Sedat have created a new microscope that not only achieves super-resolution, but creates images in 3 dimensions and multiple colors. Not only that, but preparing specimens to examine with this microscope uses conventional methods, and they claim the microscope is easy to use!

Recent advances in silicon drift detector (SDD) design have set a new benchmark for Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Not only do these detectors offer all the benefits users have come to expect from SDD—high count rates, liquid nitrogen-free analysis and excellent resolution—but large active areas and unique technology allow the user to collect EDS data at normal imaging beam currents and lower accelerating voltages in seconds.

Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (EDS) has been used for many years to analyse the chemical composition of materials. Historically, EDS detectors used a bulk silicon crystal drifted with lithium. Although such Si(Li) detectors had exceptionally good performance, they had limited count rate capability and operated at very low temperatures thus requiring cooling with liquid nitrogen.

All forms of microscopy are being pushed to the limit by nanotechnology. This is especially true for high-resolution scanning electron and helium ion microscopes, which are proving to be extremely useful for nanometer-scale imaging, characterization, and dimensional measurements. Excellent resolution is essential for imaging nanomaterials. Hence, there is a relentless quest to achieve better and better resolution with various electron and ion microscopes and to monitor and maintain these instruments to achieve the best possible performance levels.

The ability to resolve fine details with a microscope has greatly improved over the past 20 years. The resolution achievable with the newest scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) can now be at or below 0.4 nm and for the scanning helium ion microscope (HeIM), 0.24 nm has been reported. To put this into perspective, the {111} crystal plane in silicon (Si) has 0.32 nm lattice spacing, so one cubic nanometer in the Si crystal contains only a few atoms. Therefore, an instrument must be performing at the highest level possible to resolve routinely the finest structures. Clearly, the instrument operator must also be functioning at a high level as well to achieve the best resolution and to prove that the instrument is capable of doing the work.

Taxonomy: Classification, especially in relation to its general laws or principles. (OED)

The world has far too many things in it to treat them all individually. One way we make progress is through taxonomy. We group things so as to be able to discuss them usefully and understand them. The best-known taxonomy is that of living things: we group them as mammals, reptiles, grasses, trees. We group crystals based on their symmetry: cubic, hexagonal, orthorhombic.

Grain boundaries remain one of the main outstanding problems in materials science. We understand crystals rather well, but we do not have a good science of grain boundaries yet. It would help to have a taxonomy of grain boundaries.

Few electron optical inventions have revolutionized the TEM/ STEM as profoundly as the spherical aberration (Cs) corrector has. Characterization of technologically important materials increasingly needs to be done at the atomic or even sub-atomic level. This characterization includes determination of atomic structure as well as structural chemistry. With Cs correctors, the sub-Angstrom imaging barrier has been passed, and fast atomic scale spectroscopy is possible. In addition to improvements in resolution, Cs correctors offer a number of other significant improvements and benefits.

The use of photoactive compounds in microscopy has a long history. Caged compounds have been used for almost forty years, not only to elicit chemical reactions in cells, but also to mark specific cells or regions within cells by photoactivation of fluorescence. During the last seven years, the advent of photoactivatable GFP (PA-GFP) and its successors has opened up a myriad of new applications. All of this work has, of course, been greatly facilitated in live cells through the possibility of genetic labeling that is given by the fluorescent proteins. However, even as more photo-activatable and photo-switchable proteins are discovered, they are still limited in terms of wavelength ranges and photophysical properties. Thus, there has been a resurgence of interest in small organic photoactive molecules for cell biology experiments. In this short introductory overview, we will present the basic concepts of photoactivation and discuss many of the strengths and limitations of various approaches. We will also provide a general description of the kinds of applications for which these probes can be used.

Everything evolves. The Microscopy Society of America (MSA) purchased Microscopy Today (MT) from its founding editor, Don Grimes, and named Ron Anderson editor in 2002. Ron and Dale Anderson (MT Art Director) reformatted the magazine in 2002 and the magazine has enjoyed continuing success since that time. The format philosophy for Microscopy Today is to present 10 to 12 editorial articles plus NetNotes and Microscopy 101 as scientific content. Our aim has been to cover the entire field of microscopy giving even weight to all modalities. We have made progress in our efforts to be more universal with regard to different microscopies. We have made a point of providing editorial content in a dense format, with no white space, essentially, cramming in as much content for our readers as possible. We have kept MT as informal as possible—not mandating strict adherence to style rules—for example, we allow authors to format references any way they like as long as the reader can find the citation in question. And a little humor now and then can be found in our pages.

CryoEM is a powerful tool in the arsenal of structural biologists and soft polymer chemists. Hydrated specimens require a preservation method that will counteract the effects of the electron beam and the high vacuum environment of the electron microscope. Classical specimen preparation techniques using chemical fixatives are not able to capture the native structure of the once hydrated specimen perfectly. In contrast to classical methods for preserving specimens for electron microscopy, rapid freezing of radiation-sensitive specimens such as dispersed biological macromolecular assemblies, 2D crystals, and colloids allows the structural details of the specimen to be captured in their essentially native state to near atomic resolution.

Coupling between electrical and mechanical phenomena is an important feature of functional inorganic materials and biological systems alike. The applications of electromechanically active materials include sonar, ultrasonic and medical imaging, sensors, actuators, and energy-harvesting technologies, as well as non-volatile computer memories. Electromechanical coupling in electromotor proteins and cellular membranes is the universal basis for biological functionalities from hearing to cardiac activity. The future will undoubtedly see the emergence of broad arrays of piezoelectric, biological, and molecular-based electromechanical systems to allow mankind the capability not only to “think” but also “act” on the nanoscale. The need for probing electromechanical functionalities has led to the development of Piezoresponse Force Microscopy (PFM) as a tool for local nanoscale imaging (Figures 1 and 2), spectroscopy, and manipulation of piezoelectric and ferroelectric materials.

The year 2009 marks the centenary of the birth of Otto Scherzer, one of the early pioneers of electron microscopy. Scherzer, shown in Figure 1, was the originator of the famous microscopy theorem that the spherical and chromatic aberrations of rotationally symmetric electron lenses were unavoidable [1]. In honor of this centennial occasion, we organized a special memorial symposium during the Microscopy & Microanalysis 2009 meeting, which was held in Richmond, Virginia, in late July. The introductory talks of the symposium presented a fascinating mix of firsthand accounts about working with Scherzer in Darmstadt and descriptions of the correction concepts and the early corrector prototypes that emerged from his group. Placed in this historical context, the latest advances in aberration correction for scanning and fixed-beam instruments that were presented in this symposium were all the more impressive and conveyed a vivid sense of history in the making. Representative applications of aberration correction to a broad range of materials were also highlighted in platform and poster presentations. Here we give a short account of the emergence of aberration-corrected electron microscopy (ACEM) and very briefly summarize some of the prospects and challenges for this burgeoning field. Further information about these developments, including details of applications, will be found in selected papers from the symposium, which will be published in a forthcoming issue of the journal Microscopy and Microanalysis due to appear in mid-2010.

Training by an instrument manufacturer is provided at various levels, ranging from basic operation requirements of instrumentation to high level courses for specific advanced level applications and integrated solutions.

Initial training usually is in the form of an initial familiarization performed by the installation engineer, and subsequent training is given at training courses at the instrument company laboratory or, in some instances, at the customer site. Manufacturer training can be required on different levels from initiation to basic techniques and operation of the instrumentation to advanced courses for specific applications. Although basic theory is present at the start of a course, the overall aim is to provide practical expertise on an operational level. It is encouraged that customers who are new to the techniques presented may avail themselves of more theoretically orientated courses available at universities and other private institutes.

Researchers at Georgetown University's Department of Physiology and Biophysics use negative-stiffness vibration isolators to help measure micron-level patterns of neuronal activity in the mammalian neocortex. The research is shedding new light into brain sensory and motor processing functions relating to cardiac fibrillation and epilepsy.

Isolating a laboratory's sensitive microscopy equipment against low-frequency vibration has become increasingly more vital to maintaining imaging quality and data integrity for neurobiology researches. Ever more frequently, laboratory researchers are discovering that conventional air tables and the more recent active (electronic) vibration isolation systems are not able to adequately cancel out the lower frequency perturbations derived from air conditioning systems, outside vehicular movements and ambulatory personnel. Such was the case with the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at Georgetown University Medical Center, where Professor Jian-Young Wu has been conducting research on waves of neuronal activity in the neocortex of the brain.