Join a journey through the bizarre and beautiful ?Nanoworld' and discover the hidden universe of microbes in a free public lecture at The University of Queensland on Tuesday, April 4 at 7pm.
Organised by the Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, Visualising the Nanoworld - Molecules to Muttaburrasaurus will use the powerful Philips XL30 scanning electron microscope which can magnify objects 100,000 times.
Organisers Dr John Barry and Dr Anne Kemp said the Nanoworld journey would take the audience to the earliest and simplest known life forms - the nanobes, first discovered at the Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis.
"These tiny organisms are many times smaller than the smallest known bacteria and are at the limits of the living world," Dr Kemp said. "Scanning electron microscopy allows us to examine the way nanobes grow. We can see how developing embryos use their nanostructure to organise their bodies, and how young lungfish keep their skins clean in a dirty environment.
"Nanostructure explains how scrub ticks are able to insert their mouth parts into an animal's skin and hang on tightly. We can work out how animals and plants support and protect their delicate cells and tissues, and what structures they use to collect food. The microscope makes it easy to see why parasites are so difficult to dislodge and it helps us to understand the world of fossils like Muttaburrasaurus.
"Everyone can share in this journey because, through our new Cyberstem system in the Nanoworld website: http://www.uq.edu.au/nanoworld/nanohome.html, you can watch an operator tour the Nanoworld. Not only are we solving problems in scientific research, we are creating a fascinating experience for the observer as well."
Dr Barry said the lecture would let the audience see the nanoscopic structures that formed the building blocks of the human body and the environment.
"Mostly we can only see the whole animal or plant or object, not the parts that make them operate. For this, we need a way of examining the nanostructure of all these familiar objects, as well as the hidden world of microbes," he said.
The journey would also help to answer questions about inanimate matter like metals, rocks, ceramics and glass, he said.
The lecture will be held in Hawken Lecture Theatre 1 at the St Lucia campus. Tea and coffee will be provided after the lecture.
For more information, contact Dr John Barry (telephone 3365 4390) or UQ Communications (telephone 3365 2619).
Enquiries can also be directed to communications@mailbox.uq.edu.au
