Advanced light microscopy is a complex art riddled with technical terms. Here we explain what the terms mean to help you make the right decisions about your experiments.
- The microscope has stopped working!
- Choosing the correct fluorophore
- Confocal versus Epifluorescence
- Magnification and resolution
- Filters
If the microscope has stopped working properly:
- First please don’t panic. 80% of problems with the microscopes can be solved in minutes.
If there is oil on the air lens and your sample looks blurry:
- Clean the lens first with 100% Ethanol this should remove the oil
If you have accidentally crashed the objective into your sample.
- Please come and tell Ann immediately and stop using the microscope. If this happens after hours - switch off the microscope and put a sign on it to warn others.
If the software has stopped working properly:
- Check the amount of data you have in your account. If its more than your quota simply delete the old stuff and make more room
- If you have room but the software isn’t working then quit the software and restart the software
- If this doesn’t work then switch off the computer, switch off the hardware and reset from the beginning. You will have to wait for the lasers to cool. If you are resetting the system please leave the mercury lamp on.
