this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2024
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Those are so cool. They're the only way (I know of) that you can see molecules with your naked eye. Actual molecules! That's practically at the level of atoms, and you can see that microscopic stuff!
**Edit: they are not, in fact, molecules. See replies for more info. **
Also red blood cells. It's pretty cool that if you stare at the sky (not the sun; please not the sun) you can sometimes see red blood cells move in the back of your eye. Single cells! Amazing.
Err, I don't think that's right. That's physically impossible. Only electrons are small enough to visualise molecules and atoms, which is why you need electron microscope to see those.
Whoa, my optometrist told me that's what they are and now I'm really disappointed.
Considering their shape and what you said about them being impossible to observe in visible light... I guess those branch-like pieces are cell organelle fragments instead?
Dang, and here I was excited to be seeing molecules.
You can see cells with the naked eye as well. Notably, eggs. Chicken eggs are also one cell. The largest cell is an ostrich egg.
There are amoebas that reach 5mm in length.
IIRC, there are limits on how big they can get based on how far RNA can travel after copying DNA.
Eggs are still bigger. I think you can actually see human eggs with the naked eye, as they are the width of a hair. Would probably need to be placed on a contrasting surface, though, and appear as a tiny speck
Don’t forget about Valonia ventricosa as well!
They are individual cellular organisms but they're not molecules. Individual molecular structures are too small for light to interact with so no matter how much you magnify them you're never going to see them.
That's why things like electron microscopes were invented. You can't just build bigger and more powerful microscopes it doesn't work.
I thought they were cells
Looks like you're closer to the truth than I am.