To fully use the site, active X controls and the Shockwave plug-in are required.įigure 1. It is a wonderful idea, but unfortunately the links appear to be somewhat haphazardly chosen and some are out of service. You click on 10 −5 or 10 −6, for example, and see cellular images and can then follow links to other websites addressing the world at that scale. Sample images at various powers of 10 are provided, along with links to websites concerned with any given scale. The official Eames Powers of 10 website ( makes the original film available, along with some other useful features ( Figure 1). The film has been paid homage in many creative ways over the years, including a beautiful IMAX version and a hilarious animated feature of a child on a pogo stick jumping by powers of 10, over the hedge, over the rooftops, and then out into the universe. The film made a lasting impression on me, in part because the setting is a park in my native Chicago. I first saw the film when it came out in 1977 and I was in high school. Many readers may be familiar with the classic film Powers of 10 by Charles and Ray Eames.
Scale in the natural world is important and interesting enough to be worthy of explicit discussion with students. On the other hand, scale bars can mar a beautiful image, and students often ignore the information they provide. A common problem for many students in understanding the sizes of cells is photomicrographs without scale bars, or unlabeled scale bars, or changing scale bars to make matters worse. How big are they? What shapes can they exhibit? How do cells perform their myriad functions? How do scientists produce all those pretty colors? This Feature describes websites that would help answer these and other important questions about cells, as well as sites that would help address some common sources of difficulty in the presentation of cellular information. Given the microscopic scale that cells inhabit, and the variety of imaging techniques used to visualize them, it's not surprising that students are both inspired and confused by cells. Much of the progress of modern biomedical science can be tied to advances in our ability to better visualize the functional morphology of cells, including higher resolution imaging, informative molecular tags, and techniques for making observations in living cells. Besides, cells are beautiful, and a gorgeous photo of a cell can spice up an otherwise dreary talk. Cells are the fundamental unit of life and disease therefore, many avenues of research converge on cells, making images of cells prominent in research and teaching.
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