Sini Ruohomaa

@futurebird@sauropods.win Semi-unrelated generic bug study side track: I have been running into a few awesomely interesting but 1mm-size bugs that I wanted to identify, and got a side remark that one could take a photo of them with a (stereo)microscope to get one good enough for someone else to help figure out what they are. This thought has stuck with me for months now, but I don't have the connections at hand to find out where to start looking for the right kind of microscope. I called one local microscope store and got a very honest summary that their microscopes' cameras aren't very good. :D And I learned one can even use the phone camera for photography at a microscope. But I keep putting this dream into backburner because I don't have confidence on where to start. If you or this network has someone who can answer newbie silly questions about this sort of microscope photography, I am in luck, otherwise I will stick to planning the one day I will take off from work to visit the closest biology department and just not leave before I find a suitable professional. One day! :)

@MCDuncanLab@mstdn.social @futurebird@sauropods.win Thanks a lot for help everyone! I took the #foldscope specs, eliminated a few options ("we got a USB microscope for kids ... but it's not very good", "how about this 200x clip you put on your phone? ... someone had tested it and concluded the magnification is closer to 2x in practice") and then I managed to somehow "search differently" than months ago because I found a new local #microscope shop, and they had a "do contact us if you need any help e.g. to select the first microscope for your child" ("I am a little bit past that age BUT can you still help? I mean of course it is for my ...inner child?"). They recommended this version as probably sufficient, it has 2x, 4x 'objective pair' and 'switch magification 20- and 40-times' changeable "with the oculars", I have no way to translate it to Foldscope's "3 Lenses (50x, 140x, 340x)" though. Is it 40x by comparison, or 4x40x = 160x? https://prodi.fi/tuotteet/mikroskoopit/stereomikroskooppi-st-30-led-sis-akun/ This model also has a battery so I could 'scope away in disconnected areas too (in response to me spelling out my crazy field plans), but can be used on the wire as well. I may give it a shot! Whee! Exact species identification field dopamine awaits!

@MCDuncanLab@mstdn.social @futurebird@sauropods.win I have to say #Foldascope looks actually awesome in many ways. On a quick check 200 eur Fedex shipping for a 40 eur microscope kit seems I would be funding primarily completely other kinds of activities than the making of microscopes - but this gives me an important numbers reference, thank you!

@adrake@sfba.social @futurebird@sauropods.win These pictures are so beautiful! I've also been blown away by the first slightly bigger iPhone camera I got, it sees better than I do with a magnifying glass. I've invited sister over with her camera and macro lens for some 1,5mm things and it was a lot of work to get just enough above the phone picture to reach identifiability, but it was reached for that one. :)

@Wharrrrrrgarbl@an.errant.cloud @futurebird@sauropods.win Thanks a lot for the reply! I am certainly hoping the microscope would stand still, just extensively confused about basic things like if it's stereo, you have two eyepieces and just one phone-camera eye, does the microscope have to be special somehow like a "trinocular" for this kind of purpose, and is there other things I should definitely know if I want to check out a tiny walking and/or bouncing bug and a tiny swimming bug both preferably without having to buy a microscope for each kind? (If observation does not absolutely require me to kill the sample, all the better, though a few blood sacrifices I can make.)

I watched a few videos and was thinking that the songs seem a little extra familiar than most years, and then realized I'm watching last year's version - but I will have to finish watching that one too since it was completely hilarious. :D But here is a link to this year in case someone is suffering from the same issue as I am for this year: https://tv.nrk.no/serie/adresse-wien/sesong/2026/episode/IUFF33000526

Our technology review on the transition to #postquantum #cryptography in #telecommunications just came out. :) Big transition, somewhat happening in the shadows of loud hype things, but with also many interesting developments. It's like cryptography's new and fresh again after decades of being delightfully still. ;) https://www.ericsson.com/en/reports-and-papers/ericsson-technology-review/articles/migrating-telecom-to-quantum-resistant-cryptography

@MCDuncanLab@mstdn.social @futurebird@sauropods.win It has an option to attach a microscope camera through the ocular though I am planning to start with all possible amateur mistakes (maybe I should borrow a microscoping book from the library if the instruction manual is not at least 50 pages) available - and not grow any bacteria as such, just look at stuff I've acquired by questionable means such as fishing from a pond or throwing plant-eating bugs I find into the freezer, the kind of stuff that normal people do.

@MCDuncanLab@mstdn.social @futurebird@sauropods.win Good note. There are libraries where I could likely borrow them, but in my case I am much more constrained on being in random places during any kind of business hours than I am at investing into a home microscope, plus I got a professional recommendation so I'm very willing to leap after just dreaming about this for a year. :) In contrast, I've also wanted to get 'socks that act like shoes' for ages and was finally able to implement that yesterday with the help of a friend's magical transport and investigation service. Life is wonderful!