3-D microscope opens eyes to prehistoric oceans and present-day resources

ScienceDaily (Sep. 29, 2011) — A University of Alberta research team has turned their newly developed 3-D microscope technology on ancient sea creatures and hopes to expand its use.

U of A engineering professor Dileepan Joseph and two graduate students produced a 3-D imaging system called Virtual Reflected-Light Microscopy. The technology consists of a regular optical microscope, a light source, a platform that moves the objects being photographed and software programs that extract shape and reflectance from images and transform this digital information into a 3-D image. To see the full effect on a computer screen viewers wear simple, paper framed 3-D glasses with red and cyan coloured lenses. Viewers also control a virtual light source, which they reposition using their web browser.

The test subjects used in the development of the VRLM were drilling core samples taken from beneath the floor of the Pacific Ocean. Joseph, Ph.D candidate Adam Harrison and master's student Cindy Wong produced 3-D images of ancient protozoa or microfossils that were mixed in with the sand and rock in the core samples.

Joseph says the VRLM gives geoscientists and computer programs in development much more information than simple images. The goal is to accelerate species identification of the tiny and numerous microfossils. Such identifications are used to date the rock from which the creatures are pulled. The microfossil species digitized by the U of A's VLRM prototype were found in rock known by geologists to be 60 million years old.

Geoscientists can use that kind of strata dating information in Earth sciences research and in the search for energy resources. The U of A researchers say there are multiple industrial and academic uses for their 3-D microscope technology.

The development of the VLRM technology is documented by the U of A researchers in the academic publication Journal of Microscopy.

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The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by University of Alberta, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Journal Reference:

A.P. Harrison, C. M. Wong, D. Joseph. Virtual reflected-light microscopy. Journal of Microscopy, 2011; DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2818.2011.03536.x

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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Canada's weather service lags U.S. in resources

Canada's weather service system lacks the resources and funding compared to its American counterparts, some weather experts say.

"I do know that the meteorological service of Canada …is starved for funding and has been for years and probably always will be," Ian Rutherford, executive director of the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, told CBC News.

"It's very difficult to run a weather service in a country as big as Canada, with such a small population," he said.

Rutherford said Canada does a good job with the resources it has but that at some point, public safety could be compromised.

Rutherford noted that Canada has to run its service with a bigger area and a tenth of the population compared to the U.S.

"We can't afford what they do in the U.S," he said.

Rutherford said Environment Canada employs around 500 meteorologists, compared to the National Weather Service in the U.S, which has 10 times as many. He said his society has about 800 members, compared to the 12,000 members of its American counterpart.

As well, Canada has about 30 radiosondes (atmospheric measuring probes in weather balloons) compared to around 300 for Americans, Rutherford said.

"The density of observations over Canada is not what it should be. And that's simply because we can't afford to put in the same density and coverage of observations they have in the U.S. and Europe."

"This inevitably affects the quality of the information," Rutherford said.

But Rutherford said Canada "is just as good" when it comes to disseminating information about weather events. He pointed out that Canada has a dedicated Weather Network similar to the U.S. Weather Channel.

Rutherford also said the Canadian Hurricane Centre, for example, based in Dartmouth, N.S., is very good at forecasting and analyzing hurricane-related data.

"Money isn't everything," he said.

He said both countries have weather radio networks that broadcast warnings and forecasts to those with a weather radio, that radar and lightning networks are integrated and that all meteorological information is shared internationally.

Frédéric Fabry, associate professor at McGill University's Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences department, said data gathering is somewhat comparable to the U.S. and that forecasting is as good, although the Americans have a better infrastructure for disseminating information.

But Fabry said the U.S. has to spend more on resources because it is much more affected by weather.

"If you look at the U.S., they get the worst weather in the world. Snowstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes. We get them too, but not of the same scale as them," he told CBC News.

"So, of course they invested a lot more in tornadoes because it's a threat and it's very visible and you can show you're doing something about it. Here, the tornado threat is not as [high] so we don't invest that much."

Fabry also agreed there are no gaping holes in Canada's weather service system.

"You have to choose between, [whether] you spend more on tornado warnings or snowstorms or icestorm warning or aviation forecasting...certainly aviation forecasting is important here."

"So it's a matter of priorities and budget."

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