Still no boys in my yard 🫡
What an explosion of bubbles, right??? These bubbles you see are fat globules, which make up only about 4% of breast milk. The rest, in mature human milk, is roughly 87% water, 7% carbohydrates (mostly lactose), and 1% protein. The composition can vary depending on many factors, including what the mother eats and the stage of feeding. Usually, at the beginning, there’s a bit more water, and toward the end, the milk becomes fattier.
Colostrum — the first milk produced after birth — is lower in fat but richer in proteins and hormones that the baby needs for growth, as well as antibodies that protect against infections. It’s often called the baby’s first vaccine! 💉
You can also see some bacteria in there — tiny round-shaped ones called cocci, and rod-shaped ones, like lactobacilli, which are commonly found in the milk of breastfeeding women. They’re thought to help establish the baby’s microbiome, along with bacteria from vaginal secretions.
According to some studies, bacteria in breast milk might even come from the mother’s digestive tract, though more research is still needed to confirm this!
Video taken with my iPhone mounted on an Olympus BX53 microscope with an @ilabcam adapter 🔬 @evidentmicroscopy
#biology #science #microscope #artist #health #medical #scientist #reel #life
#reels #doctor #art #nurse #milk #reelitfeelit #reels #human #education #breastcancer #breastmilk #breastfeeding #facts #microbiology #feminism #women #feminist #reelsinstagram #beautiful #bubbles
Is this a plant or an animal? Because it definitely looks like a micro tree! 🌿
Even if they do look like plants, these microbes are single cell organisms called ciliates from the Carchesium polypinum species. Every bell-shaped dots from this tree you see is one individual. Together, all of these dots form a colony! Carchesium colonies are more related to animals than plants even if they look like little trees. These microbes can be found around the globe, mainly in freshwater ponds and lakes but are also used in sewage treatment. A couple of marine species have also been found!
Carchesium are cousins of Vorticella, they are both Peritrich ciliates, and share many characteristics: they’re both mainly sessile, possess an elongated contractile stalk, are bell shaped and eat looots of bacteria. Carchesium possess thousands of tiny cilia that create a water vortex drawing food particles toward the colony. They usually eat bacteria, phytoplankton and debris that are floating around them.
The stalks of these tree animals have the ability to contract like springs in a matter of 10-20 mm per second and becomes 20% to 40% shorter as their bell becomes spherical! The bell part of these ciliates can reach a speed up to 60-90 mm per second which is corresponding to 1200 body length per second and makes them one the fastest living organisms!
Even if Carchesium polypinum is quite a primitive being, its life cycle is pretty complex. There’s a sessile colonial stage with contractile stalks, as seen in today’s clips, but theres also a free-swimming stage that enables migration and two free-swimming sexual forms for reproduction and gene exchange 😄
Video taken with my iPhone mounted on a BA310E Motic microscope with an @ilabcam ultra adapter 🔬
Pure. Liquid. Gold.
I zoomed in on turmeric and it became the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. 🔬
Under polarized light, the rhizome of Curcuma longa transforms into something straight out of a jewellery box. Those shimmering, gem-like particles are starch granules, and the golden droplets floating alongside them are the plant’s aromatic essential oils, the same ones responsible for that iconic smell.
Those golden bubbles? I added a couple drops of ethanol to the slide. The essential oils, normally stinking to the slide, merge with the alcohol and suddenly bloom into those vivid yellow droplets.
The dazzling glow on each granule is called birefringence. Starch is semi-crystalline, with molecules arranged so precisely that polarized light bends through them like a prism. And those granules aren’t just beautiful, they’re distinctive. Turmeric starch granules are heterogeneous, appearing triangular, ellipsoidal, and oval, which is actually how botanists can identify the plant species just from a microscope slide.
Turmeric has been used in India for thousands of years as a spice, dye, and medicine. The compound behind that legendary yellow color is called curcumin, a polyphenol that makes up around 2–5% of the rhizome and is so pigment-rich it’ll stain your fingers for days. Researchers have documented its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor properties, and scientists are still uncovering what it can do.
@tardibabe explore un monde que l’on ne voit pas.
À BESIDE Habitat, elle s’est aventurée près des étangs pour nous dévoiler l’invisible, un univers vivant que peu d’entre nous ont déjà réellement observé.
Un article fascinant qui nous amène à nous questionner sur tout ce qui échappe encore à l’œil nu. Trouvez-le en ligne dès maintenant, bonne lecture!
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@tardibabe explores a world we rarely see.
At BESIDE Habitat, she ventured to the edge of the ponds to reveal the invisible, a living world that few of us have ever truly observed.
A fascinating story that invites us to question everything that still escapes the naked eye. Now available online, happy reading!
A tardigrade!!! 😱
Here are the microorganisms I found:
1. Water fleas. These are microscopic crustaceans named Scapholeberis! I love how they have a little spike and some black pigments. These melanin pigments are found on the body parts facing towards light. Some research have shown that melanin would protect these creatures from photo damage!
2. Water bear. Found this little tardigrade walking around some green algae! Check out my tardigrade posts to learn more about them little babes
3. Red water mite. Unlike spiders, their close relatives, mites found ways to colonise under water habitats. There are thousands of aquatic mite species, mostly living in freshwater springs, streams, lakes and temporary pools, although some can be found in salt water
4. Mosquito pupa. Mosquitoes go through 4 stages: eggs, larva, pupa and adult! Here you can see the pupa with the future eyes and antennae.
5. Phacus gigas. This green leaf is an algae that can be found in freshwater habitats around the world. They swim with their flagellum located in front of the cell. The red eyespot is a photoreceptor responsible for detecting light! With this, Phacus can orient itself and swim toward a light source and ultimately produce energy by photosynthesis!
6. Gieysztoria sp. A free-living flatworm gliding aided by
thousands of cilia. This one was around 0.7mm and you can even see their little black eyes, used to detect light
7. Synchaeta sp. This is a planktonic rotifer that usually zoom around super fast. Rotifers are among the smallest animals on earth! They possess a ciliated corona on their head which is used to attract food particles but also to swim around freely! The single dark eye is also visible as well as the stomach filled with algae. The most visible structure is probably the v-shaped pharynx muscle!
8. Dinobryon sp. These golden algae live in colonies that form multiple branches, making them look a bit like wheat, don’t you think? Every gold bean is a single cell encased in a protective shell called the lorica. Each cell possess two unequal flagella whipping around, a short and a long one, enabling them to move around.
Why do pineapples make your mouth itchy? 🍍 🍍
Chloe (@tardibabe ) brings us into the microscopic world this iconic tropical fruit. Pineapples contain tiny needle-like structures called raphides. These are made of calcium oxalate crystals and can irritate your mouth when you eat them. As you chew, the crystals are released from specialized plant cells (idioblasts) and can poke into the soft tissues inside your mouth.
Pineapples also bring two more factors to the mix: they’re naturally acidic, and they contain bromelain, an enzyme that breaks down proteins. Together, the acidity, enzymes, and sharp crystals can create that familiar tingling or itchy feeling.
Calcium oxalate crystals aren’t unique to pineapples. They show up across a huge range of photosynthetic organisms, from microscopic algae to flowering plants. Plants use them to store calcium and deter herbivores. These crystals can be found in many plant parts, including leaves, roots, stems, and fruits, and they appear in hundreds of plant families.
These crystals have fascinated scientists for centuries. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, often called the father of microscopy, was among the first to observe them in the 1600s. Since then, they’ve been identified not just in plants, but also in soil, rocks, and a wide range of living organisms.
#Science #Microbiology #HiddenWorld #CloseUp #Pineapple
Le système immunitaire apprend en permanence.
Le vaccin lui donne une longueur d’avance 💉
Et non, le vaccin contre le VPH n’encourage pas les relations sexuelles.
C’est une idée reçue… mais les données scientifiques ne montrent aucun lien entre la vaccination contre le VPH et une augmentation de l’activité sexuelle ou des comportements sexuels à risque.
Le papillomavirus humain (VPH) est pourtant l’infection sexuellement transmissible la plus répandue au monde.
La plupart des infections disparaissent seules, mais certains types peuvent causer des verrues anogénitales et plusieurs cancers : col de l’utérus, anus, pénis, bouche ou gorge.
👉 Le vaccin contre le VPH est extrêmement efficace pour réduire le risque de ces cancers.
Le donner plus jeune ne change rien au moment où une personne devient sexuellement active.
Ça permet simplement une meilleure réponse immunitaire et une meilleure protection contre le virus.
Partage le vrai, pas le buzz.
👉Suis @LaSciencedAbord pour des infos vérifiées par des expert.es.
Sources (3-25) : tinyurl.com/LSAVaccinationVPH (/SUFVaccinationVPH)
#LaSciencedAbord
#EnsembleContreLaDésinformation
Spring’s here! 🐣🌸
As temperatures begin to rise (not fast enough imo, it’s still freezing in Montreal), sap in maple trees thaws and can be collected, then boiled and concentrate into syrup and transformed into candies, desserts, and just about anything your sweetest dreams are made of.
Although maple syrup is primarily composed of sugar (sucrose), its chemistry and flavor are shaped by a complex interplay of factor like sap collection and processing methods, microbial activity within the sap, environmental conditions, and the packaging and storage of the final product. Not only maple syrup is composed of sugar but also a mixture of water, minerals, organic acids, amino acids, proteins, phenol compounds and even a few vitamins.
Flavors and composition also varies depending on depending on the Country it has been produced! Canada, especially the province of Quebec, where I’m from, is by far the world’s largest producer of maple syrup, followed by the United States. It’s important to recognize that maple syrup was first introduced to European colonizers by First Nations, who deserve the credit for this knowledge and tradition!
As you can see from my sample, sugar from maple syrup crystallizes over time and it’s mesmerizing to look at under the microscope! 🔬
Video taken with my iPhone mounted on an Olympus BX53 microscope with an @ilabcam adapter 🔬 @evidentmicroscopy
Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in between 📣
Le VPH ne concerne pas seulement les femmes. Il concerne aussi les hommes !
Le virus du papillome humain (VPH) peut infecter les personnes de tout genre, causer des verrues anales et génitales ainsi que plusieurs cancers : col de l’utérus, pénis, anus, bouche et gorge.
Les hommes ont même un risque plus élevé de certains cancers de la bouche et de la gorge liés au VPH.
Une infection persistante par certains VPH pourrait aussi affecter la qualité des spermatozoïdes : leur mobilité, leur nombre ou leur intégrité génétique, ce qui pourrait avoir un impact négatif sur la fertilité.
👉 Vacciner les hommes protège les hommes. Mais ça aide aussi à réduire la transmission du virus et à protéger indirectement les filles et les femmes.
C’est pour ça qu’aujourd’hui plusieurs programmes de vaccination incluent aussi les hommes.
Partage le vrai, pas le buzz.
👉Suis @LaSciencedAbord pour des infos vérifiées par des expert.es.
Sources (26-36) : tinyurl.com/LSAVaccinationVPH (/SUFVaccinationVPH)
#LaSciencedAbord
#EnsembleContreLaDésinformation
🔬 Science thrives on curiosity — and curiosity belongs to everyone.
Today, only 1 in 3 researchers worldwide is a woman. Yet diverse perspectives are essential to tackling the challenges our planet faces — from protecting biodiversity to advancing innovation.
At UNESCO, we advance gender equality in science by supporting girls’ education in STEM, recognizing women researchers through the L’Oréal–UNESCO For Women in Science Programme, and promoting women’s leadership in research through the Gender-Inclusive Science Institutions and Systems (GenSIS) initiative with @owsdsecretariat , supported by Canada’s International Development Research Centre.
Hear from microbiologist and science creator @tardibabe from Montreal on why gender equality is essential for the future of STEM.
Because science should be accessible, exciting and open to anyone with curiosity.
💬 What sparked your curiosity about science?
#GenderEquality #WomenInScience #EveryVoiceInScience
