this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2024
657 points (97.8% liked)

Greentext

4375 readers
1491 users here now

This is a place to share greentexts and witness the confounding life of Anon. If you're new to the Greentext community, think of it as a sort of zoo with Anon as the main attraction.

Be warned:

If you find yourself getting angry (or god forbid, agreeing) with something Anon has said, you might be doing it wrong.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] filcuk@lemmy.zip 21 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Err, I don't think that's right. That's physically impossible. Only electrons are small enough to visualise molecules and atoms, which is why you need electron microscope to see those.

[–] Eiri@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Whoa, my optometrist told me that's what they are and now I'm really disappointed.

Considering their shape and what you said about them being impossible to observe in visible light... I guess those branch-like pieces are cell organelle fragments instead?

Dang, and here I was excited to be seeing molecules.

[–] Flax_vert@feddit.uk 10 points 2 months ago (2 children)

You can see cells with the naked eye as well. Notably, eggs. Chicken eggs are also one cell. The largest cell is an ostrich egg.

[–] frezik@midwest.social 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

There are amoebas that reach 5mm in length.

IIRC, there are limits on how big they can get based on how far RNA can travel after copying DNA.

[–] Flax_vert@feddit.uk 2 points 2 months ago

Eggs are still bigger. I think you can actually see human eggs with the naked eye, as they are the width of a hair. Would probably need to be placed on a contrasting surface, though, and appear as a tiny speck

[–] Gemini24601@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

Don’t forget about Valonia ventricosa as well!