Who can take a microscopic photo of this object?

Question

The object can be seen at:
http://www.edconrad.com/ebay/FOSSILS/OldestTool.jpg
It's 300 million years old. Its tapering end shows longitudinal striations. I need a botanist to use a stereomicroscope and magnify those striations (at its tapering end) by 100 times, without cutting a thin section from the object. I need to know whether those striations have been damaged by compression during its burial underground.
I will pay for all the relevant costs/expenses.
The botanist can publish his/her findings in his/her own name. I will be glad to answer any question.
My e-mail is [e-mail] Please contact me.

Answer 1

ANYONE WITH A MICROSCOPE AND CAMERA

Answer 2

borrowing a 100x stereomic shouldn be such problem, should it? You probably are not allowed to damage the thing by coating it for SEM?

Or if such low magnification is enough, it sometimes helps if you place the object on a dark (black) slide under a normal light microscope with this low magnif. and instead of driving the light through the object (you switch this light off) you shine any strong light on it from the side, or as much from above as possible, this way you can have a look at the surface of something - as i dont posess stereomicroscope did this many time with a children-toy microscope at home, when i wanted to see a surface structure better than under just magnifying glass. The thing is that you need enoough space above the object in the microscope to shine the light from the side and from above, but for this low magnification there should be plenty of room above the preparation, it happens in high magnification that the preparation almost touches the objective. Pleas tell me whether this worked

Answer 3

I wish it were as easy as Hard Luck thinks. If you cannot cut superthin slices, you cannot use a light microscope that has 100X magnification. The light must pass through the sample. A stereoscope will not magnify that much. I assume you are referring to the power of the objective lens only.



If you cannot cut a piece from the sample, you will have to use a scanning electron microscope. Then the sample will have to be sprayed with a layer of gold about an atom thick. I don't know if your uses for the sample would prohibit that.



I hope this helps, my B.S in botany is from 1975 and a little rusty now.

Answer 4

yep see above, a scanning electron microscope would probably be the best tool for the job, go down to your local university and ask them, scientist types are a funny lot but if you engage thier interest i am sure they would be happy to help.



not wishing to make a sweeping generalisation about the scientific community there just speaking frm expereince.



i had a professor at uni calld Dr David Ensor, he was the best, good sense of humor and always ready to shoot the breeze, and dr Justin Collins both top blokes and they were in the same office more or less, plus they were both mad scientist types

Answer 5

Contact - 'Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow,Uttar Pradesh State, ( U.P.) INDIA.' by a letter/post.

They have everything you require. It is an institute devoted to the study of fossils only.Birbal Sahni was a world renowned scientist of FOSSILS. The institute is built in his memory.

Answer 6

I don't know what your association is with Ed Conrad, but if you ask me he is a crackpot or a fraud. I seriously doubt that that object is any sort of tool and I hope you are working to discount his claim that it is.