Deci-BELLS

I did decide to take the summer microscopy course. For these reasons: it's pass/fail, it's in the summer and only 5 weeks instead of 8 in a normal semester, that means I will have one less course to take in the Fall or Spring, and it will be good training for my future. But, little did I know that taking this course would also teach me about digital imaging. We learned about pixels today, about the detector and processing chips (I would have to look up the actual names), about WHY more pixels give greater resolution, and methods for increasing transfer rates. Not much of this information is actually practical - unless I wanted to build my own camera; it's more about the theory. But, it was interesting nonetheless. Did you know the cameras used with microscopes can cost up to $20,000? And we wonder why research and development is so expensive.

Incidentally, I've always heard the word "decibel" pronouned with the accent only on the first syllable. The instructor today pronounced it DEC-i-BELL. Capital means accent. I almost lost it when she kept saying it over and over and over again. But now it makes me curious enough to go to the dictionary to look for the proper pronunciation. So the next time you think about decibels when you turn up your car stereo, think DEC-i-BELLS. It will make you laugh.