40 Insanely Cool Microscope Pictures Shared By Curious People

There’s something magical about zooming all the way in. Microscopes turn the mundane into the mesmerizing. Sugar becomes crystals, bugs turn into aliens, and fabrics look like cursed landscapes.

People online are sharing the most unexpectedly beautiful (and sometimes creepy) things they’ve seen under a microscope, and it’s giving big “science is wild” energy. It’s like nature’s hidden Pinterest board.

Scroll on for a close-up look at everyday things you’ll never see the same way again.


1. “Peacock Feather Shows The Full Spectrum Under A Microscope”

Image Credit

2. “This Amoeba I Saw Through The Microscope”

Image Credit

3. “Swallowtail Butterfly Wing Scales Up Close”

Image Credit

4. “Looked At My Hair Under A Microscope And My Gray Hair Is Actually Clear”

Image Credit

5. “I Balanced A Grain Of Sugar On 3 Strands Of My Hair That I Loosely Braided”

Image Credit

6. “A Single Pollen Grain On Saffron. Looks Like A Micro Sunset”

Image Credit

7. “The Micro-Art Of Mykola Syadristy – A Camel Train In The Eye Of A Needle (Under Microscope)”

Image Credit

8. “Snow Flakes Highly Magnified By A Low-Temperature Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)”

Image Credit

9. “It Was Pretty Cool Seeing My Own Chromosomes. Spent A Good Amount Of Time Looking Through A Microscope During Undergrad Research. Thought I Would Share One Of The ‘Woah’ Moments”

Image Credit

10. “Caffeine Crystals Under Polarized Light At 200x”

Image Credit

11. “Red Crayon On Paper Under A 400x Microscope”

Image Credit

12. “New Ballpoint Pen Under The Microscope”

Image Credit

13. “Uric Acid Crystals Of Urine Sample Seen Through A Microscope”

Image Credit

14. “Some Pictures Of Salt Under Microscope”

Image Credit

15. “My Friend Looked At His Microscope The Exact Second This Water Flea Was Having 6 Babies”

Image Credit

16. “Onion Layers Under Microscope”

Image Credit

17. “This Is What A Cross Section Of A Pine Tree Needle Looks Like (Photo Taken Through My Microscope)”

Image Credit

18. “Piece Of Paper Cut With Scissors vs. Torn Piece Of Paper Under A Microscope”

Image Credit

19. “Crack In A Smartphone Display Under The Microscope”

Image Credit

20. “Salt And Pepper Up Close”

Image Credit

21. “Pollen From A Variety Of Common Plants (Original And Retouched Picture, Coloring Is Speculative And May Differ Significantly From The Real Colors)”

Image Credit

22. “Ghostly Tendrils Of Mold Rise Up From The Microscopic Hills And Valleys Of An Over-Ripe Strawberry. Who Knew Mold Could Be So Strangely Beautiful Up Close”

Image Credit

23. “My (Human) Hair Splitting”

Image Credit

24. “Human Bone Under A Microscope!”

Image Credit

25. “Insane Picture Of Ice (Through A Microscope)”

Image Credit

26. “0.07mm Mechanical Pencil Graphite Under An Electron Microscope (Colors Added For Visibility)”

Image Credit

27. “Toothbrush Bristles With Toothpaste On Them”

Image Credit

28. “An Image Of Starfish Feet Taken Using Secondary Electrons. Did You Know That There Are ~2000 Known Species Of Sea Star?”

Image Credit

29. “Cardiac Muscle Under A Microscope Looks Like A Planet”

Image Credit

30. “Head Of A Flea At 400x Magnification”

Image Credit

31. “Surface Of A Strawberry With Strawberry Seeds Seen Through An Electron Microscope”

Image Credit

32. “Ant Head – Electron Microscope Image”

Image Credit

33. “What A Leaf Looks Like In A Microscope”

Image Credit

34. “Found A Microscopic Bug While Looking At Red Onion Cells!”

Image Credit

35. “What A Potato Looks Like Under A Microscope”

Image Credit

36. “A Fly Wing Under The Microscope”

Image Credit

37. “Microplastics In Bread”

Image Credit

38. “Vinyl Grooves Under Magnification”

Image Credit

40. “The Difference Between My Mom’s Hair (55f, Left), And Mine (25m, Right)”

Image Credit

Conversation

We've temporarily paused comments to improve performance during site updates. Be back soon!

Nate

Nate Armbruster

Nate writes for Pleated-Jeans and enjoys finding the internet’s funniest corners so you don’t have to.