image by Gregory Johnson

1999 JUNE MYSTERY IMAGE

What a great month it has been for guesses. Many of you have some very good ideas. So what was the mystery image? This cool image comes from the leaf of the Umbrella Plant (Cyperus alternifolius). The image was taken of the abaxial (or lower) surface using a microscope. A special UV-lamp was used to reveal the blue-green veins (xylem and phloem) along with the stomata and trichomes (or hairs). The red coloration is chlorophyll fluorescence.

Congratulations to Town and Country school for the most guesses.

For those of you that are curious, here are some numbers from our list of guesses.

• 23% guessed that it was either cloth of fibers.
• 15% guessed that it was from outer space.
• 11% guessed that it was some kind of light rays.
• 7% guessed that it was an atom.

Some of the creative single answers are listed below.

• Seats in a concert.
• A strand of DNA.
• Atoms, where protons, electrons, neutrons are moving and are in action.