Der Spiegel has just published the winning images in their microscopic photo competition. The pictures are amazing! Dealing with light waves at such high magnification levels is clearly an art in itself; these photographers have achieved some remarkable effects. i especially liked #12, which captures the movement of soap on a slide. Bill Bigg, my old plant physiology prof at Humboldt State, defined 'detergent' as anything able to break the surface tension of water and i think this photograph basically proves him correct. Enjoy the pics - #4 fish ovaries also fascinating.