MicroscopesBlog: Expert's reviews, news, notes on Microscopes, Centrifuges, Lab Coats, Pipettes, Lab Safety, & more Lab Products!

We are currently trying to optimize our offering of Safety Glasses on microscopes.com and would like your input. Some of you have been extremely helpful when I asked for your help before and I'm hoping you can help me again. We would like to know which brands or types of safety goggles and safety glasses you use in your laboratory. Currently, we have a limited offering from the makes of Uvex, Bacou-Dalloz, Aero, Allsafe, US Safety, Smith & Wesson, Howard Leight, Kimberly Clark, Nalge Nunc, Crews, Dewalt and Bolle. Safety in the laboratory is of the utmost importance to everyone's health, so face protection is needed weather one is working with chemicals, in the lab, or with many industrial applications. We have to prioritize the manufacturers that we work with and would appreciate any input you can provide. The best product suggestions will receive a FREE pair of safety glasses!

Our sales have been increasing steadily. Thank you to everyone who has been purchasing all the laboratory equipment and lab consumables that we carry. Some items that I've been getting questions on lately has been microplate instrumentation. We carry several brands of microplate readers including Beckman Coulter, Turner Biosystems, Thermo Electron, and many others. These include microplate photometers that read in the UV and Visible ranges. We also carry Fluorometers and Luminometers that read fluorescence and luminescence, accordingly. When you use these readers, please don't forget to purchase the correct microplates for your particular experiment. Photometers use quartz or UV plates to read such things as DNA or RNA. You can use regular polypropylene microplates for visible readings. Black plates are used for fluoresence to cut down on the amount of crosstalk in microwells. White plates are best for luminescence, which normally gives such a weak signal, that white plates are the only ones that can maximize the signal given off from the microplate reader. In the last few years, there has been a rise in the number of multifunction readers being manufactured. These would read a combinations of absorbance, fluorescence and luminescense. Other experiments that can be now done are enzymatic kinetics reactions, TRF, and many other experiments.

Every parent or grandparent likes the idea of giving a child the gift of a microscope and, when done correctly, a microscope is a great way to encourage an interest in nature and science. The first step, though, is to decide whether to buy a toy microscope or whether to buy a student microscope. Each grade of microscope has its place, but expectations need to be tailored, accordingly. Paying for a toy microscope and expecting the quality and features of a student microscope is not realistic. Worse, yet, choosing incorrectly may only frustrate, rather than help, the youngster. A parent needs to use some judgment and carefully assess the interest and abilities of their child. A toy microscope is designed to introduce a youngster to a microscope basics and spark an interest in in science and nature. If a toy microscope achieves this in a youngster, it may be money well spent. Keep in mind, though, that if the interest continues and grows, you will quickly need to move on to a student level microscope - a toy microscope is not designed with the quality or features needed for extended or serious use. On today's market, any microscope under $100 is a toy microscope, regardless of the advertising or labeling. No amount of advertising as to magnification and other features will turn a toy microscope into a student class microscope. A student microscope will have the features needed for serious lessons and will also have enough quality to hold up for longer use. If possible, get a microscope with the quality and features similar to a model used in a middle school or high school science class (this is especially true for home schoolers). A microscope with these features will typically run about $200. A good example of a student microscope is the Celestron 44104 or Konus Academy. For parents on a budget, you can forgo a model with a built-in light source, though that is a feature that is well worth the added expense. A student class microscope that uses a mirror for illumination will run $100-150. A good choice, here, is the Celestron 44102 or Konus College. )By the way, toy microscopes that advertise a tiny LED as a light source do NOT count. The only way to use these, effectively, is with a mirror. )