When science and art collide, the outcome can be surprising and inspiring. This is what chemist Márcio de Paula seeks to demonstrate by giving school students the opportunity to use a scanning electron microscope. “They are amazed to see everyday items up close, in ways they never imagined,” he says. De Paula captures images of insects, leaves, pollen, and other small objects. The image above, colored using nanoart techniques, shows the eye of an ant that he found at home in a sugar jar. It won third place at the international NanoArtography Competition in November, from among 306 images submitted from 36 countries.
Image submitted by Márcio de Paula, an electron microscopy technician at the Chemistry Institute of the University of São Paulo, São Carlos campus (IQSC-USP)
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