![UNLV life sciences professor Laurel Raftery and her former post-doctoral researcher Xiaodong Wu captured this image, magnified 40x with a confocal microscope. It is a portion of a fruit fly ovary that shows developing follicles that will each make a fruit Microscopic view of a purple fruitfly ovary against a black background.](/sites/default/files/styles/360_width/public/ckeditor_files/Page10_Raftery.jpg?itok=FMjn5lrK)
![Wing cells that are developing inside a fruitfly larva are stained green to detect the locations of a protein that regulates gene expression relative to the nuclei of the cells, which are outlined in orange. The goal of the research is to understand how c Microscopic view of green and yellow wing cells that are developing inside a fruitfly larva.](/sites/default/files/styles/360_width/public/ckeditor_files/Page11_Raftery.jpg?itok=nJYDaZj2)
![This photograph is of a different sample of gold ore taken from a Nevada Carlin-type gold deposit, and it was also magnified 400x with a petrographic microscope. The gold color in the photo is a mix of the minerals realgar and orpiment, which contain both Microscopic view of yellow slice of gold ore.](/sites/default/files/styles/360_width/public/ckeditor_files/Page13_Cline.jpg?itok=IgtRAh8x)
![This image, taken by chemistry professor David Hatchett, shows the size and dispersion of gold particles in a composite material that he created from polymer (plastic) and gold. This material is designed to improve chemical sensors; the plastic provides a Microscoptic view of green-ish gold particles in a composite material](/sites/default/files/styles/360_width/public/ckeditor_files/Page13_Dave-Hatchett.jpg?itok=bZ6VhzDm)
![This image shows a grouping of three prominent salivary gland cells from a fruitfly larva that have different subcellular compartments labeled with fluorescent proteins. Green indicates the membranes surrounding secretory granules containing a glycoprotei Microscopic view of green and blue salivary gland cells from a fruitfly larva.](/sites/default/files/styles/360_width/public/ckeditor_files/Page14_Andres.jpg?itok=IBSb9zm9)
![This image depicts carbon nanostructures that were extracted from soot condensed on a kitchen ceiling. The soot, which is a product of burning biomass materials, was examined as part of ongoing research on carbon nanomaterials in various natural and artif Microscopic view of blue and orange carbon nanostructures.](/sites/default/files/styles/360_width/public/ckeditor_files/Page14_Heske.jpg?itok=hOZOpH1w)
![This photograph of a two-millimeter fluorite crystal was taken with an optical microscope from a thin section of igneous rock. Through examination of this sample and others like it, Minghua Ren, an assistant research professor in geoscience, seeks to unde Microscopic view of a fluorite crystal.](/sites/default/files/styles/360_width/public/ckeditor_files/Page15_Minghua-Ren.jpg?itok=5wi4IvhY)
The path to discovery can be painstaking, complex, and…aesthetically beautiful. In the following pages, UNLV scientists provide some of the most striking images they’ve examined as part of their research. Learn how these fascinating photos were captured and what they represent.
Taken by geoscience professor Jean Cline, this is an image of a thin slice of gold ore that has been magnified 400x with a petrographic microscope. The sample came from the northern Nevada Carlin-type gold deposits, which have been studied extensively by Cline and her team; they are seeking to understand the sequence of the formation of minerals in the ore. The white, blue, yellow, and pink are jasperoid quartz, and the red is realgar.
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