this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2024
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Greentext

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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.

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[–] filcuk 22 points 3 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.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 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.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 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.

[–] [email protected] 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

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Don’t forget about Valonia ventricosa as well!