Ho! Explorers!

We had an absolutely stellar time with microscopes on Sunday, which served as a reminder that even the smallest worlds invite us to keep exploring. The captain’s report is below as well as some special thanks to those that made it possible.

We’re also beginning to roll out our Dispatches from France project. As many of you know, we have an expedition of 30 or so Explorers heading out to France in June. While we’re there conducting important explorations, those of you unable to go are offered the opportunity to receive mail from us. If you’re interested in this program you can fill out this form.

Microscopic Wonders Captain’s Report

Holy rotifers, what an exploration!

Looking back at our day of microscopic curiosity, I’m thrilled to report it was a rousing success. We had 25 Explorers convene at a community workspace known as Informal Spaces. Their venue gave us plenty of table space, along with a location near a BART station, which proved ideal for a day with the scopes. With snacks, scopes, and curiosity in abundance, all we needed was a fearless leader to guide us. While my own knowledge was limited, we were fortunate to have the best guide we could hope for: Janai Southworth from the SF Microscopical Society.

Janai gently and generously guided us through the tools, introducing the basic mechanics we would be working with. We had both stereo and compound microscopes, each with its specialty. The stereo scopes were perfect for observing rocks, flowers, and colored pencil shavings(ooOOooOo). Meanwhile, the compound microscopes brought us closer to the critters in pond scum (ahhhhh). Janai provided samples for everyone to explore, though many Explorers brought their own discoveries to share too.

With help from Janai, Nate, and Edith, it wasn’t long before everyone began seeing something under the microscopes. Mosquito larvae danced, the details of a fruit fly revealed endless points of interest, and sand became an expansive journey through color and texture. November Bravo noted that the colored pencil shavings looked like “floating shards of color,” while Chris, using a poker, carefully sorted crystalline sand. The veins in a leaf resembled the upraised branches of a tree.

This was a unique exploration for the Explorers Guild in that our adventure was microscopic, and so we remained mostly seated. Travel came through small movements of slides and trays as the microscopes fed our insatiable curiosity. I found myself in a fortunate role, moving between stations, checking in with Explorers, and sharing in their discoveries. It also allowed me to gather fragments of conversation: “Microscopy, the more you know the less you know,” “Microbeauties,” “Proteus is the junk drawer of science,” “plan-imals,” and “it’s nearing its wiggle time.”

Despite Janai’s early warning that time slips quickly when looking through scopes, I don’t think we were prepared for just how fast it would pass. Just as we hit our stride, with calls of “come look at this!” and “whoaa,” we were down to our final 15 minutes. Janai still had more to show us, and so she placed a new sample under the camera in search of a rotifer.

With our attention drawn to the main screen, it was easy to lose oneself in the microlandscape. She reminded us that the viewing area was only a 22mm square. With critters darting about, tracking them required patience and steady hands. Near the end, she found a hydra, which struck us with that feeling of awe that we were all searching for.

As our time came to a close, Janai offered a perfect distillation of the experience: this was only a shallow stop on the microscopic journey. I indeed hope that this is just our first step into this microscopic world.

Thanks to everyone that came out to our microscope event! This idea was first presented by Edith during our Council meetings last year and I’m thankful for her careful consideration on how to make it happen. A massive thanks needs to be mentioned to Janai, Edith, Nate, and the SF Microscopical Society for helping us realize the joy of looking through microscopes. None of this would have been possible without an ideal place for us to occupy, so thanks to Denorae for connecting us to Kyle Valiton from Informal Spaces. It really is a joy to have everything come together to make a lovely event a reality.

Semper Explorandum Explorers!