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A phonolite: phenocrysts of hornblende, sanidine, nepheline, aegirine and sodalite in a fine-grained groundmass.
POSTED 08/09/2024 - 15:25
Opening of the Manual of Minerals

While petrographic thin sections can provide a great variety of invaluable geological information, if you can't identify the different features, minerals and textures that they might show, they might as well be a form of abstract stained glass in…

An illustrative summary of the Macro 2 Micro project in comic book style.
POSTED 01/23/2024 - 09:17
Showcasing the geology of National Nature Reserves

Very few National Nature Reserves (NNRs) are designated primarily for their geology – but many contain interesting and unusual geological features or strata. The unique wildlife and landscapes of many NNRs are only there because of the rocks…

A microscope image of a geological sample with text annotation
POSTED 10/30/2023 - 09:17
Problems accessing microscope images?

Update 30 October 2023:

The error detailed below was fixed last week and the images should all be accessible.
If you find the error persists, you may need to clear your browser's cache (for example, via the browser's…

View of Winchcombe, where fragments of the meteorite were found
POSTED 03/22/2021 - 14:56
A first carbonaceous chondrite find for the UK

Following the meteor that blazed a trail across southern England on the evening of Sunday, 28th February, UK researchers have recovered fragments of meteorite from Winchcombe and the surrounding area.…

Flyer for Instagram art class featuring Virtual Microscope
POSTED 02/17/2021 - 14:25
VM to debut as model for Instagram art class!

Exciting – not to say astonishing – news: the Virtual Microscope is modelling for an online art class on Thursday 11th February – see flyer image. This free informal weekly drawing class is organized and hosted by Emma…

Composite image based on photomicrograph of a Triassic meteorite impact deposit
POSTED 01/08/2021 - 21:13
Zeiss-GSL Scholarship: apply now!

Applications for the ZEISS-GSL scholarship are now open. The scholarship, worth £8000, will fund a project that uses innovative microscopy within an Earth Science PhD studentship. Applications are welcomed from the UK and overseas (excluding…

logos for Leicester, Plymouth and Portsmouth universities on a background of several virtual microscope images
POSTED 01/19/2021 - 19:17
Three brand-new collections

Three universities – Leicester, Plymouth and Portsmouth – have partnered with us to help support online teaching during the COVID pandemic. Between them they have made >200 samples from their…

Microscope image of tin ore under crossed polars
POSTED 01/07/2021 - 16:02
GeoLab consortium develops teaching collection

The new Irish GeoLab collection, created in a collaboration of four Irish Universities (UCC, TCD, NUIG and UCD) and the OU, has reached 67 samples after we combined it with the Trinity College Collection. The collection will be used by…

Close up plane-polarised view of sample 15427 Green Glass Clods from the Apollo 15 mission
POSTED 01/07/2021 - 16:45
Fantastic Moon rock thin sections

We’re working with NASA to digitise the iconic Apollo Moon rock thin section samples and after a year we’ve managed around 120. They’re all now available in the Apollo lunar…

GeoLab logo above image of Ben Bulben, banner image of Irish University Rocks collection
POSTED 01/07/2021 - 17:17
Irish University Rocks Collection

We've started work on a project to create a collection of virtual thin sections using teaching collections of Irish Universities in a project which is entitled “The Geoscience e-Laboratory (Geo-LAB): Developing Digital Teaching and…

Leeds University logo on stylized microscopic view of fossiliferous limestone
POSTED 01/07/2021 - 17:36
New collection of undergraduate thin sections

Colleagues at Leeds University have been using 20 virtual microscope thin sections for undergraduate teaching for several years but they’ve now allowed us to make them open to everyone on the Virtual Microscope for Earth Sciences site. It’s a…

X-ray map microscopic image of 'Black Beauty' Martian meteorite
POSTED 01/07/2021 - 17:39
Black Beauty X-ray map testing

We hope you like the new experiment we’re trying. A full colour image with mineral composition information for a Martian meteorite.
The virtual microscope software allows us to combine several different kinds of image and we normally use…