At last I’ve got software to make my old intel play microscope work. I don’t know what took me so long to look for it and down load it. Of course now that it works, the quality is a little sad, but then it is quite old and we’ve come to expect so much of digital imaging in the meantime. Maybe I should put down a new microscope on my Christmas present list.

Either way, it’s much more fun than squinting down an optical microscope.

I’ve noticed a bit of an invasion of flatworms in the pond this summer. I love the way they glide through the water, just under the surface, using the surface tension to hold them up. The Flatworms, or Planaria, are about 12 to 15 mm long. They are related to tapeworms and liver flukes. They are carnivorous. As they have no blod, if you split them in two, two new flatworms will grow.

The microscope doesn’t do that well with bigger things like this, but I did make a little movie of it gliding around a blob of water that shows you how graceful they are. They move by using hair like cillia as little rowing oars. I should try to get closer in and show that movement. Flatworms are not to be confused with leeches – I’ve got them in the pond too!