20150212 - human body

The Human Body Under the Microscope

By Colin Salter|Wednesday, February 11, 2015

A visual voyage through the cells, organs, microbes and molecules that make up our bodies.

http://discovermagazine.com/galleries/2015/jan-feb/science-beautiful

Take a look at your body like never before — from the intricate geometry of your hormones to the tiny architecture of the microbes that infect you — in this selection of images from the new book Science is Beautiful. 

Here, a colored scanning electron micrograph of empty fat cells. Fat cells, or adipocytes, are amongst the largest cells in the human body. They form a thick insulating layer under the skin which serves to cushion us as well as to store energy.

In this image the normal lipid (fat) deposits of the cells have been removed, revealing the honeycomb structure of the cell membranes.

When we put on weight, the cells swell with additional fat, and eventually extra cells are added too.