Electron microscope images of high resolution are hard to find on the Internet. That was until now.
Thanks to Biochar Industries / Biochar Projects and Friends of the Char. Here are two stunningly glorious closeup shots of biochar as seen by an electron microscope. Click on the image to get your free Hi Res version (4megs +)
electron microscope Images
Jocelyn biochar electron microscope images 1
These photos have been placed in the public domain for the benefit of the entire human race so please feel free to use / share / reproduce / disseminate or any other thing you might want to do with them. Please be a champ and give credit to Jocelyn or a nice fat back link to biocharproject.org.
Here is what Jocelyn had to say about Biochar under an electron microscope images. “I got to use two different 800,000 dollar electron scanning microscopes today to take photos of my biochar. ‘As close as you can get without your eyes getting wet’ !!!. I want one of these devices for my spare room, haha!”
As you can see she has put the elite world of science into the hands of those who can actually do something for the planet. Three cheers for Dr Jocelyn.
Jocelyn biochar under an electron microscope 2
Scientifically speaking this is what an electron microscope is. Courtesy of Wikipedia. An electron microscope is a type of microscope that uses a particle beam of electrons to illuminate the specimen and produce a magnified image. Electron microscopes (EM) have a greater resolving power than a light-powered optical microscope. Electrons have wavelengths about 100,000 times shorter than visible light (photons), and can achieve better than 50 pm resolution[1] and magnifications of up to about 10,000,000x, . Whereas ordinary, non-confocal light microscopes are limited by diffraction to about 200 nm resolution and useful magnifications below 2000x.
Really neat folks and I am proud to have friends who can help me spread the word of Biochar. If you are doing a biochar project no matter how big or small let me know and I will showcase you on this site.
Charmaster Dolph Cooke
Natural Soil Nano Technology
Thanks Dolph & Dr Jocelyn
Here is another development;
A Consilience of Bio-Physics;
Paradigm Shift in Understanding of Biology Could Alter Electronics
http://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/semiconductors/nanotechnology/paradigm-shift-in-understanding-of-biology-could-alter-electronics
Biofilms are powerful, now we know the mechanics of some of this power. Microbes like to sit down when they eat, as they sense the quorum of their brothers, dormant genes express that profoundly change the new Biofilms abilities. BP found this out on the Alaskan pipe lines as biofilms became steel eating microbial masses.
This Bio-Nano-Wire research is a wonderful story of “Consilience”, Dr. E. O. Wilson’s coin for the jumping together of knowledge.
The Geobactors seem the Jack of all Metabolizing Trades; http://www.geobacter.org/
My reviews of the agronomic field trials & literature using Biochars clearly show consistent positive effects in temperate & tropical soils, what
is not known, and in debate, are some of these same mechanisms for the “black box” nature of biochar effects : MYC / AMF & microbe refuge theory, Glomalin soil aggregation & water films, microbial mats & quorum sensing, expansion of aerobic soil horizons & suppression of the anaerobic and the most startling, plant chemical signaling for expression of dormant genetic traits.
One interesting point about the DuPont work with Hg, that Dr. Landis brought up in our phone conversation, was the enhancing effects on sorbtion & binding when soil biology is added to the mix. DuPont’s work exemplified this, their lab bench results showed good binding
but did not hit 95% reductions in food web uptake until the in situ study with the full complement of microbes, fungi and the bioturbations’ of macro fauna. The majority of soil & sediment wee-beasties are not characterized and only now can be studied with current techniques like meta-Genomic assays, because most can not be cultured individually outside their symbiotic environments.
The majority of soil & sediment wee-beasties are not even characterized and only now can be studied with current techniques like meta-Genomic assays, because most can not be cultured individually outside their symbiotic environments.
This same problem remains for explanation of the mechanisms of other char applications, The internal biology changes when char is used as a feed ration for live stock for reduced belching of CH4 by ruminants, health & egg quality in poultry, the major increase in size of indeterminate growing species; Clams, Shrimp, fish and eels
The role of Phosphorous chars for both plant availability and an heavy metal binding remediation techniques.
The intricacies of fostering increased aerobic conditions into deeper soil horizons, I’m just so glad we have all these positive affects that tantalize
researchers and will build funding support to answer the mechanism questions.
What the CFC / Ozone success story was for raising the importance and attention to atmospheric chemistry, I feel biochar soils will be for carbon soil chemistry, Mycology and Microbiology.
So Much work to be done,
Cheers,
Erich