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The identity of the mysterious science photo
October 17th, 2009, 2:06 pm · 109 Comments · posted by Gary Robbins, science writer-editor
Image courtesy of UC Irvine. We'll identify the lab when a reader identifies the content of the photo.
We’re working on an online project that will present readers with a series of fascinating photographs that were taken with cameras that are part of high-powered microscopes at UC Irvine. This is one of the images we’ll be using. On Saturday, I challenged readers to identify the contents of the photo and go a tremendous response. Some people came close to the right answer, but no one was completely accurate.
Here’s the answer: You are looking at a strand of hair dotted with fat deposits. Yes, fat. I had no idea that there’s fat in our hair until I received the photo from Eric Potma, a chemistry professor at UCI. Potma said it is not widely known that there’s fat in people’s hair. But it’s true.
Look for a new photo contest next weekend.
Here are some of the responses I’ve gotten from readers. And it is time for a hint. The column is a strand of hair. But what are the bright green dots?
- “At first I thought it was DNA, but then I thought maybe it was the H1N1 virus under under a microscope.”
- “The green spots are zooplankton (maybe they’re even reproducing because some appear to have double heads like they are dividing) and the long column in the center is the cilia or hair from a creature higher up the food chain, like a mollusk.” Tim Miller
- ‘The little green things are baby jellyfish and the blue strands is the big jellyfish swimming down. hoping I’m right.”
- “It looks like antibodies that have attached themselves to synapses.” Toni M. Duldulao
- “Glow-stick media. Hydrogen peroxide reacting with phenyl oxalate ester and fluorescent dye.”
- “What I think it is, is a tentacle of a jellyfish. The green spots are the poison sacks that the jellyfish uses to “sting” its prey.” Ron Zukowski
- “It is nerve bundle. The green spots are the cell body and the green lines are the axons.” Kirk Kahn
- “I believe the photo you have up for your contest is a picture of individual neurons that have been tagged with enhanced fluorescent green (EFG) protein attached to the neuron, placed there via use of a virus.” Bob Wilson
- “I see a helix. Are we looking at something based on nucleic acid? Is this an incredibly close up [closer than usual] look at DNA? Could this be a helical twist of a protein?”
- “I’m guessing that the object is a stalactite or stalagmite with fluorescent green light.” Jeanne Scherr
- “The tentacles of a giant squid with smaller fishalong for the ride?” Nicole
- ” Column- a hair shaft, green spots-lice nits.” L.Murcia
- “A beam of moonlight hitting fireflies.”
- “Well then my second guess…if i am allowed one would be a hair shaft with dandruff or skin flakes.”
- “Looks like sperm (blue streaks), eggs(green dots) and fertilized egg cells (green with yellow dots).”
- “I think it is a fluorograph of a nudibranch with nematocysts (stinging cells). My other guess is a sponge with symbiotic algae.” Stephanie White
- “I am saying nucleolus in the column area, the luminescent spots appear to be DNA from the helices.” Cole Burbidge
- “Okay, how about fireflies flying around a bush…like a cyprus tree?”
- “Looks like stem-cell research. Green spots are the stem cells and the blue matrix looks like a neuron bundle or spinal cord segment.” Brandon H. Hammon
- “The strands are part of 1 jelly fish and the green/glowing objects are the krill that are being eaten by the jellyfish. ???”
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Bioluminescent algae on fisherman’s net, Playa Coyote at Baja California
Paul: There’s a very insightful guess …. but not correct. Good to hear from you.
A rhizobium root hair lit up by GFP?
Chromosome (little green spots) in a nucleic structure?
Another excellent guess. Sorry to say, not the right one.
Swine flu nasal spray heading up some poor soul’s nose
Hair folicule
Chloroplasts (green dots) inside a group of plant cells (cylindrical part)?
living coral matrix
hair shaft with lice nits
DNA chain illumanated.
My guess is: cells expressing GFP situated on some sort of matrix (like growing tissues on a matrix)
aBEAM OF MOONLIGHT HITTING FIREFLIES
THE TENTICLES OF A JELLYFISH
Little green spots are proteins in alpha-helices, the column is extra-cellular matrix
Jelly Fish
its a trick, it’s upside down. A stream of water from the faucet…under a black light. squint, you’ll see it.
a bong exploding
Glow-stick media. Hydrogen peroxide reacting with phenyl oxalate ester and fluorescent dye
Strand of hair with water particles…
Hair follicle using an epifluorescent microscope
Moss on a tree
Squid caught in a fisherman’s net??? I think it has to be something to do with the ocean because of the prize you chose, am I right?
Get real: Here’s a hint: The photo does not involve the marine environment.
Just simple old sea weed or kelp. The pods glow…
H1N1 Swine flu virus.
At first I thougt it was DNA, but then I thought maybe it was the H1N1 virus under under a microscope.
How about simple sperm (blue lines), egg cells (green dots) and fertilzed eggs in different stages of developement (green with yellow dots) ??
An STD.
DNA of a drink?
Why is my comment “awaiting moderation?” All I said is could this be the DNA of a drink?
Fleas on a strand of hair.
Yeah I am thinking hair shaft also. Wet hair that is, not necessarily water though, gel or something similar.
mucus under the microscope
a strand of hair with split ends
Saliva/silk from a cave-dwelling glow worm?
A waterfall (strands=water) and the green dots are pieces of liken (sp?) crumbling off and into the water… taken at night under florescent light?
A jet stream with radio active material.
LOOKS LIKE A PIECE OF STRING/FIBER WITH LINT UNDER ON OF THOSE FLUORESCENT LIGHTS. (FIGURED WOULDN’T HURT TO GUESS I WAS BORED.) LOL
Or better yet, run off/waste from a nuclear site…maybe a leak?
I meant a nuclear reactor…?? Run off/waste from a nuclear reactor?
I’m going to take a wild guess since it’s October and say it’s breast tissue and the green spots are cancer.
A shallow river bed (strands = water) and the green/yellow dots are pieces of gold.
Green algae - the ultimate renewable energy. http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/04/01/algae.oil/index.html
Exhaust from a rocket/spaceship taking off
My guess is a piece of grass.
Inside a mine…water running down the wall and the spots are pieces of gold or whatever mineral being mined.
hair with dandruff
Okay how about muscle tissue with whatever connects them (green dots)?
Or nerve tissue with synapse?
Nerves with syanapses?
Contrast media for angiography.
Contrast media for a brain MRI
Inside a blood vessel with platelets.
Someone with a cold sneezing.
A strand of hair. The green spots are gel globules.
A piece of honeycomb with honey droplets
A piece of tree bark with sap
a leaf section with water drops or plant liquid
piece of black licorice strand with mold
lining of the throat with canker sores
Shroud of Turin
cross section of tonsil with infection (green spots)
fiberglass with glue spots
A cyprus tree with moths (larger green spots) and their eggs/cocoons (smaller green dots) under florescent light
What if no one guesses it? Is there a time limit?
Editor’s Note: Scott’s third message deleted for continuing to stray off topic.
is it the limb of a pestiside?
its a fiber from a sweater.
a hair with dust mites feeding on it.
Section of spider web with caught insects
section of spider web with water droplets
Is it an organ of the body, with maybe a certain condition?
parallel fibers and neuropeptides
multi polar neurons
Mylin sheath with neuclei
Hair cuticles
Demodex mites
Is it a strand of hair with head lice…
Dandruff
Keratin
Its feline hair with dandruff
is it a hair out of a dermoid cyst?
sebaceous gland
Sebum
Is it a strand of hair from a smoker? Cigarette smoke particles????
hairspray particles
Bacteria, expressing GFP
Has anybody guessed the right answer yet??
I’ve been watching this thing since like 2pm…
Hair dye particles?
Paint used to coat radiant watch dials.
A radioactive drug. Maybe seeds used to treat prostate cancer.
A strand of hair with hairspray on it.
A strand of hair wet with pool water, and the green spots are the clorine in the water?
Flea eggs on a strand of animal hair.
Well, you already wrote that it is a strand of hair but are asking what the bright green dots are. Someone else wrote dust mites.
I was going to be less specific, but in a similar vein say whatever lives on our hair which I guess would be dust mites maybe and maybe other similar things.
Had another thought. Maybe it is a strand of hair from some type of furry creature and the bright green dots are the oil from glands that makes the fur water repellent.
close up of a christmas tree?
a drop of drinking water in a vacuum chamber with microorganisms irradiated by the electron beam
Sorry Mike, I didn’t see your answer, (I was researching UCI websites) before I posted. I think you have it.
It appears UC Irvine is doing a lot of environmental research concerning state issues so my guess is this is water (moving through a clear pipe)? and the glowing particles are some type of bacteria or protein being treated or detected.
OK Gary! That was loads of fun! So who gets the book?
So no winner????
I think we need a few clues (OR AT LEAST ONE) for the next contest!
He did post a clue at least by 10-17.
At 6:36 I said Sebum. As the definition describes below, sebum includes fat. You did not say what type of fat was on the hair strand.
se·bum (sbm) n.
The semifluid secretion of the sebaceous glands, consisting chiefly of fat, keratin, and cellular material.
Yes, I agree that there should be a “starter” hint for the next picture.
——————————————————————————–
I think it is a strand of hair dotted with fat deposits.
This “contest” is officially a bust. Next time please come up with a question for which is a reasonable chance of a correct answer. You’ve lost your original audience by now.
Hey, it was fun guessing.
Gary, you should have one of these every day, but you should zero in on something a bit less abstract and more “guessable”. It would only take a couple of minutes to put together, and would end up being one of the most sticky topics on the OCR site. Heaven knows, the OCR needs the help.