A microscopic tale...

[membas#1]

Okay--so I'm a big science person--work in a lab, look at things under microscopes-and find it fascinating. So you know, I got a brilliant idea this weekend, and told SO we needed to look at his sperm--well he was more excited than me! So that's just what we did (borrowed a microscope)--put a little sample on a slide and OMG! there were TONS of swimmers. It's really fascinating! We looked up online and found out all the different shapes/mutations--obviously there's normal, but there are double headed, double tailed--crooked tail etc....now, to be considered fertile at least a certain fraction (1/3? or more) need to be 'normal' looking. SO had mostly 95% normal looking but we did see all the strange variations. Most of the strange ones don't survive to make it to the egg, but they are in there for sure! We got a big kick playing scientist this weekend.

Oh the things that entertain us! Their movements are funny--such determined little things!

 

[AlJaCoDee]

I actually laughed at this, But I bet it was pretty neat!

 

[membas#1]

no worries, i laughed at us too it's pretty funny, which is why i posted it--but yes, pretty neat too

 

[DolceBella]

Were they confused on the slide.. with no eggie to swim to???

 

[membas#1]

well they couldn't swim much because there was a thin piece of glass over the sample, so it was a fairly 2 dimensional space they were in....so they just tried like hell to move between the slide and coverslip....they were working hard and going nowhere. some made some forward progress, but it was pretty limiting environment. Some were still alive this afternoon--24 hours later--for being in that environment on a slide under a piece of glass and to still be trying to move some....hardy little things. I was excited to see just how many were there

 

[DolceBella]

Stubborn little buggers!

 

[Amygdala]

Haha, amazing! What kind of magnification do you need to see them? *wonderswereshemightgetherhandsonamicroscope*

 

[dragonhawk]

Oooo, I had much the same though as Amygdala.... So what level of magnification did you need? DH is in Europe at present, so if we can source a suitable microscope, it sounds like a fun thing to do....

 

[membas#1]

Glad you all don't think I'm some weirdo You could see them very well at 400X mag. Most compound microscopes have 10 X eyepieces, so you need at least a 40X lens to reach 400. I could see tiny things moving around at 100X, but the best view was 400X. I'm not sure where you could get your hands on a scope. I work at a university, so it was easier for me to borrow one. (I manage all the scopes for the classes, so I just had to check one out from myself since I do the checkouts

 

[inertia63]

I have to say, this sounds absolutely amazing. I want to try so bad now.

Since you're an expert, could you tell me if this microscope would do the job, according to the specs? https://www.amazon.co.uk/National-G...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1274802287&sr=1-1

Ahhhh, cluckiness overload! x

 

[membas#1]

That microscope is likely just a bright field microscope, which means you may be able to see some things, but since sperm are clear and in a clear liquid, it may be hard. The microscope I had access to had some phase contrast capabilities to make the sperm stand out from the background. i will go home tonight and look at the slide (yeah we still have it--all dead spermies now), and i will use bright field only and see how it looks. i'll let you know. the magnification would be sufficient on this scope--300X or 600X would work well.
~M

 

[pumpkim]

That sounds cool. I want a go

 

[justjill]

OMG I wanted to do this with my boyfriend, just to see what spermies look like under a microscope! He was like, "Umm, I don't think so." Lol. I wonder why he was so against it? I think it would be fun!

Glad you had a good time with it!

 

[membas#1]

OMG I wanted to do this with my boyfriend, just to see what spermies look like under a microscope! He was like, "Umm, I don't think so." Lol. I wonder why he was so against it? I think it would be fun!

Glad you had a good time with it!

I kind of wonder how most guys would feel about it. I knew my SO would be all over it. He's an anatomy/biology kind of guy. He was putting all sorts of things under the microscope--yogurt, raw goat's milk (which is cool), blood, etc. Guess it takes all kinds--I can imagine not all guys would be into it.

 

[RoyalPython]

Did you know sperm can "smell" lilly of the valley? They swim toward it. Learnt it not that long ago and it was even in the news !!

 

[membas#1]

Did you know sperm can "smell" lilly of the valley? They swim toward it. Learnt it not that long ago and it was even in the news !!

Yea I recall seeing something about that online--something about receptors on the sperm that respond/attracted to the fragrance. Very cool!

 

[membas#1]

I have to say, this sounds absolutely amazing. I want to try so bad now.

Since you're an expert, could you tell me if this microscope would do the job, according to the specs? https://www.amazon.co.uk/National-G...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1274802287&sr=1-1

Ahhhh, cluckiness overload! x

after a second look using only bright light on the scope you may have a hard time seeing much--if it's not much cost and you really are curious, i'd probably just try the scope and see what happens

 

[inertia63]

I have to say, this sounds absolutely amazing. I want to try so bad now.

Since you're an expert, could you tell me if this microscope would do the job, according to the specs? https://www.amazon.co.uk/National-G...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1274802287&sr=1-1

Ahhhh, cluckiness overload! x

after a second look using only bright light on the scope you may have a hard time seeing much--if it's not much cost and you really are curious, i'd probably just try the scope and see what happens

Thank you very much. *If* I were curious enough to get one that's not a bright light microscope, what would I search for?

 

[membas#1]

I have to say, this sounds absolutely amazing. I want to try so bad now.

Since you're an expert, could you tell me if this microscope would do the job, according to the specs? https://www.amazon.co.uk/National-G...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1274802287&sr=1-1

Ahhhh, cluckiness overload! x

after a second look using only bright light on the scope you may have a hard time seeing much--if it's not much cost and you really are curious, i'd probably just try the scope and see what happens

Thank you very much. *If* I were curious enough to get one that's not a bright light microscope, what would I search for?

You would need something with phase contrast and those are not cheap.

 

[Armywife]

This made me laugh because hubby and i did a similar thing before i got pregnant with Poppy! Absolutely AMAZING! Sadly it was a borrowed microscope so i had to hand it back but i looked at EVERYTHING i could get my hands on under it! Hehe! Glad to know i'm not the only one! xxx