What would an extreme close-up of your sandwich filling look like? What about your hair? The cluster of dust in the corner of your living room? The grain of pollen stuck to your coat? Scientists, of course, have ways of finding out, using electron microscopes to look at the tiniest of objects in glorious detail.
Now you can do the same for free. A company called ASPEX, who bill themselves as "a leading producer of benchtop SEM (scanning electron microscopes", is offering readers a chance to send in a sample of anything and see what it looks like in extreme close-up.
To take them up on the offer, download and fill in this form from the ASPEX website and send it (along with the sample you want scanned) to:
ASPEX Corporation Free Sample Submissions 175 Sheffield Dr. Delmont, PA 15626
It'll take them about two weeks to complete the scan. Once they're finished, they'll notify you by email and post the images and the report on their website.
It sounds fun - if you take them up on the offer, post what you've sent to them here.
