+DaGizmoGuy We debated showing the process, but to be honest it isn't that exciting as it takes a while between putting the specimen in the various solutions and letting them sit for days without a whole lot visibly happening. Perhaps sometime soon we'll set up a timelapse in the lab and try to capture the transformation that way!
+ljmasternoob Have you been there? It's a damn huge museum. I mean, Emily has shown us some parts of the museum on video, but until you've gone there in person, it's hard to understand how big it really is. I'm surprised it's ONLY 140.
I would love to see a timelapse of making these clearing and staining fishes (or something else). Just to see how everything changes. Awesome vid btw I now know how they do it!
I don't know, I think it'd probably be worth doing this to a human to see what we can learn about our own bodies. Depending on how expensive it is it might be best to leave that to an eccentric billionaire instead of draining public funds, but isn't doing weird things with their corpses what eccentric billionaires are for?
I'm not sure how useful a cleared and stained Emily specimen would be. I mean, even after the whole process I'm pretty sure we'd see that it's still got brains on it...
THAT IS AWESOME! I LOVE IT (In a purely scientific way... of course)! Thanks for that. I didn't know it was called diaphonization (?). These are so cool.
Fantastic! This is great example of the vast riches found on UA-cams video servers - the channel "for the people". Many thanks for your video. I just had to chime in and say, "COOL!".
Man, i would love to have a job like Emily! She gets to dip into all types of sectors of science (and look at some of the coolest things on earth) and spread knowledge that a lot of people would never get to see!
WHAAAT. WOAH! This was just so amazingly cool! I had no idea clearing and staining animals like this was a thing until watching this video. Now I really want to see one in person.
My internship had a really cool video conference with some internso at the Smithsonian and they had a puppy that was stained like this. It's such a cool way to look at a specimen. Woo brain scoop^^
I just want a tour of one of the stained specimen like that little ray. Can we just get Dr. Caleb just explaining the morphology of the ray? That will be so cool
Yet another amazingly interesting behind-the-scenes episode, Emily ^^ Diaphonization... another word I had never heard before. Seems to be pretty useful. And it looks pretty cool, too.
That was really cool! Throughout the video, I was wondering too what it would be like to do this to a human. I think it's interesting just how informative this actually is, being able to move around the skeleton and joints, you could learn a lot by that.
+Erika Martin This paper from Taylor and Van Dyke (1985) seems to be one researchers reference as a good baseline, but as Caleb mentions in the video there are a few different ways to go about it depending on the size of the specimen, how old it is (e.g. he has cleared/stained specimens collected in the early 1900s that have sat in alcohol for a century), etc. But, you could start here: sfi.mnhn.fr/cybium/numeros/1985/92/01-Taylor[92]107-119.pdf
VERY COOL! I really enjoyed this episode, I'd only every seen these in passing but it was cool to understand the process :D And they look very awesome.
that is one of the coolest things i have ever seen. not only is it a fascinating process, it also looks very aesthetically pleasing for some reason. Is this something a layman could do as well, or are these chemicals restricted in their availability outside of professional scientific research? Also, could you encase these specimens in something like clear urethane resin or would that not work due to their gelatinous surface?
Awesome process! I found some of these teeny tiny stained specimens in 2 inch jars for sale when I visited Tokyo! I regret not buying one of them now :(
The stingray(-ish?) and turtles look amazing. Couple of questions: - Can mammals be cleared too? He only mentions "other vertebrate groups" - Can you reintroduce slight color variations in the soft tissue? It would be amazing to be able to distinguish muscle and such on a translucent level while still be able to see the bones
+Carlos Vives you can buy cleared and stained rats on Amazon, and there are several ways you can do it at home. I'm not sure if you can stain muscles, but you might be able to still see them if you don't completely clear the specimen.
They had some fetuses at body worlds nyc that were prepared in this way! It was a very morbid room but it was amazing to see the tiny skeletons in fetuses that were only a few weeks old.
Are there any simple guides out there for assembling fish skeletons? Because I have a few and it's impossible to keep track of all the parts, especially around the skull.
+Eko ari wibowo this is a cool idea. One issue I can see with it would be that typical small scale 3D scanners (which often use a form of triangulation) would have trouble modelling the refracted path of the light through the transparent collagen/glycerine (they have the same refractive indices as one another but not air) in order to extract a clear structure of the innards. I don't know that it would prevent it from working, but it would make it more complicated for sure :)
+Pelle Olsson Well, glycerine tastes sweet and is classified as non-toxic, so I guess you could think of the specimens as candied fish? Edit: Now, purely out of curiosity, I wonder if a person could actually eat the specimens. Aside from the fact that there's probably no nutritional value and that it'd be like eating bones, plus it would destroy something with scientific value but...could it be done? I'm guessing yes.
This is so cool! And now I want those fishes on my walls... Hmm, what would happen if you encased such a specimen in like clear resin? Would it rot? Would that have a different refractive density and would that make it cloudy? I mean, it would probably be easier to paint one to put on the wall, but the real thing would be so cool (especially if you put a light behind it)!
Sooo...storage of these specimens after they've been cleared and stained is just in one of those partially filled clear containers? Cuz it seems like they'd slosh around a bit, potentially becoming damaged :/
+roidroid I don't believe so. As it was mentioned in the video, the specimens are stored in glycerin as it has the same refractive index as the collagen , which allows for that 'see-through' appearance. I'm not sure you'd get the same effect if it they were somehow solidified in some type of plastic, etc.
+thebrainscoop actually, i think it would be cool, you would have the fish delineated in the transparent plastic and still being transparent. not sure if that would conserve as well as glycerin though. but I would definetly buy a transparent cyclid necklace. it would look awesome
A Japanese artist, Iori Tomita, makes them and they are available for purchase. Most of his works are small though and are not as big as ones seen here.
I mean put it all (incl the glycerin) into a clear perspex box, and hang that on the wall. Just imagine those same containers you're using in the video, but sealed with a clear lid, and hung on the wall. The "pins" & stands etc to keep the specimen in position while vertical would also be transparent. I dunno if you'd put a light behind them, or just a white or highly reflective backing. They'd probably work well if mounted infront of a window.
+roidroid I actually make these specimens for sale. I will be finalizing a new batch in the next few days but please contact me for details on availability. Biology@lucentmorphics.com
How long does each stage take generally? Because these are being absorbed by static (dead) things I feel that each stage would take a considerable amount of time. Plus what looked like a small ray of some description looked great, can we get a close up of that . It kinda reminded me of the old screen-savers of dancing lines.
I want a coffee table with "Cleared and Stained" specimens as decorative pieces inlaid into it an lit from below! Give me one now! I'll pay extra for the "Brainscoop" logo is somewhere on the piece.
That's funny, just today I had a vertebrates biology class in which we used some fishes that were cleared and stained, and they explained me the process behind it
I would love to see the clear and stain process performed on video.
+DaGizmoGuy We debated showing the process, but to be honest it isn't that exciting as it takes a while between putting the specimen in the various solutions and letting them sit for days without a whole lot visibly happening. Perhaps sometime soon we'll set up a timelapse in the lab and try to capture the transformation that way!
+thebrainscoop Sooner rather than later, please, on that timelapse!
+thebrainscoop Seconded, I want to see that time lapse too!
+thebrainscoop Yessss timelapse!
+DaGizmoGuy A timelapse would be absolutely fantastic and well appreciated if you guys can :)
I am amazed by how much research is being done at the Field Museum.
+ljmasternoob I'd say it's typical of all museums
666Tomato666
But at this level? Over 140 scientists is a lot.
+ljmasternoob Big museums.
+ljmasternoob Have you been there? It's a damn huge museum. I mean, Emily has shown us some parts of the museum on video, but until you've gone there in person, it's hard to understand how big it really is. I'm surprised it's ONLY 140.
ShadeSlayer1911
It is on my list of science pilgrimages I need to make.
I found this channel for the first time yesterday. I instantly subscribed and I can not stop watching.
+JakeBobProductions One of us! One of us!
+Mr. G. Ruff one of us, one of us
+Mr. G. Ruff we accept him one of us
Squirrel McNastyface
+Mr. G. Ruff Gooble Gobble! Gooble Gobble!
I would love to see a timelapse of making these clearing and staining fishes (or something else). Just to see how everything changes. Awesome vid btw I now know how they do it!
i could stare at those images for hours. damn, the colors are amazing :D
"Check the gonad jar jimmy" Oh Lord xD
right?....sometimes I feel like my ex wife still has my gonads in a jar
+William Scott Patterson Oh...Well I'm sorry
+William Scott Patterson You had a bad divorce lawyer.
Boy did I ever
I don't know, I think it'd probably be worth doing this to a human to see what we can learn about our own bodies. Depending on how expensive it is it might be best to leave that to an eccentric billionaire instead of draining public funds, but isn't doing weird things with their corpses what eccentric billionaires are for?
Tacokel does it lol
Pretty sure the Body’s exhibit has parts that are clear
i always love your videos, but i've gotta say, this episode was shot particularly well -- and the audio was on point.
That little skate/ray looks AMAZING! What a great job!
Those specimens look like some form of art.
Couples who stain together stay together
+Cindayyee it's only a little awkward when she looks directly into the eyes of her partner telling him to put the gonads in the jar.
I've waited for you to do this episode for so long and now it's finally here! Thank you so much, Emily, it was beautiful.
I love stainings like these, they are the perfect combination of science and art!
I'm not sure how useful a cleared and stained Emily specimen would be. I mean, even after the whole process I'm pretty sure we'd see that it's still got brains on it...
AHHH I WAS THINKING THE SAME THING!!! I am glad I wasn't the only one to want to clear and stain a body.
IT MUST BE DONE
+ellock1998 They've done it with fetuses. Just ask the internet
Also check the search phrase "diaphonized fetus". If you are not creeped out by childrens skeletons.
THAT IS AWESOME! I LOVE IT (In a purely scientific way... of course)! Thanks for that. I didn't know it was called diaphonization (?). These are so cool.
You're welcome :)
+ellock1998 that is the kind of thing that would make a nice funeral
It is so cool that The Field Museum has so many cool fish and amphibian specimens.
Woah there Jimmy, those fish bits are for science only.
I swear, that jingle makes me so happy! Ting ting ta ting ting...I light up every time I hear it.
This video was great! The audio, framing of shots and chapter videos/images. Great, great, just great.
Fantastic! This is great example of the vast riches found on UA-cams video servers - the channel "for the people". Many thanks for your video. I just had to chime in and say, "COOL!".
I didn't realize how cool this would be!
I've always wanted to know about Diaphonization. Thank you BrainScoop!
"I'm a mammal Greg, can you clear and stain me?"
I love the ray! These are all beautiful, but that one looks like something you could hang on your wall! ^.^
This method is *so* awesome!
I am now going to look for videos, where I can see how the actual process is performed.
Man, i would love to have a job like Emily! She gets to dip into all types of sectors of science (and look at some of the coolest things on earth) and spread knowledge that a lot of people would never get to see!
Hypsophrys nicaraguensis! I had this fish in my aquarium for years. In the aquarium hobby it's known as the "Nicky."
Beautiful! What artwork that would make. But omg the disappearing and reappearing fish! What magic is this! LOL
Fascinating and extremely useful
I've gotta try that as a pick up line. "That would take a lot of trypsin, ladies." Thank you for the awesome episode! you guys always rock.
i’m so glad i found the brain scoop again this was always one of my favorite channels
He was great! Great video.. love hearing people talk about their passions, and he made it very clear :)
YAY more episodes!!!
Brain scoop makes the bleary autumn far more fun!
I'm pretty sure I saw those colours used in the Bob Ross stream.
"Lets take some fish-bone-violet; just a little, yeah a little from the fish-bone-violet."
+Sardinfangfischnetz ! "And lets use that fish-bone-violet to have some happy little skeletons right here on the light box."
WHAAAT. WOAH! This was just so amazingly cool! I had no idea clearing and staining animals like this was a thing until watching this video. Now I really want to see one in person.
I love this channel so much
Mr Emily is super cool. Great video guys
A cleared and stained Emily would be the coolest.
My internship had a really cool video conference with some internso at the Smithsonian and they had a puppy that was stained like this. It's such a cool way to look at a specimen. Woo brain scoop^^
I just want a tour of one of the stained specimen like that little ray.
Can we just get Dr. Caleb just explaining the morphology of the ray? That will be so cool
"Check the Gonad Jar" is my Jimmy Eats World cover band name
This was truly fascinating
Yet another amazingly interesting behind-the-scenes episode, Emily ^^ Diaphonization... another word I had never heard before. Seems to be pretty useful. And it looks pretty cool, too.
Love watching your videos.
They are so beautiful and useful! Cool!
That was really cool! Throughout the video, I was wondering too what it would be like to do this to a human.
I think it's interesting just how informative this actually is, being able to move around the skeleton and joints, you could learn a lot by that.
That ray looks so amazing, it's beautiful!
Edit: also that pelvic region on that frog looks so weird :D, cool
Nice to see Raccoon keeping his/her skills up-to-date :D
I was wondering if there is a published protocol for this method somewhere online?
+Erika Martin This paper from Taylor and Van Dyke (1985) seems to be one researchers reference as a good baseline, but as Caleb mentions in the video there are a few different ways to go about it depending on the size of the specimen, how old it is (e.g. he has cleared/stained specimens collected in the early 1900s that have sat in alcohol for a century), etc. But, you could start here: sfi.mnhn.fr/cybium/numeros/1985/92/01-Taylor[92]107-119.pdf
VERY COOL! I really enjoyed this episode, I'd only every seen these in passing but it was cool to understand the process :D And they look very awesome.
that is one of the coolest things i have ever seen. not only is it a fascinating process, it also looks very aesthetically pleasing for some reason.
Is this something a layman could do as well, or are these chemicals restricted in their availability outside of professional scientific research? Also, could you encase these specimens in something like clear urethane resin or would that not work due to their gelatinous surface?
That first word above should be spelled "diaphAnization" (process of making diaphanous or transparent). Nice video!
I was really enjoying this, and then she asked if he could clear and stain her - I died laughing!
Awesome process! I found some of these teeny tiny stained specimens in 2 inch jars for sale when I visited Tokyo! I regret not buying one of them now :(
M , another great video and you do such a wonderful job at doing it. I always enjoy your videos. Thanks
This is my new favorite channel of forever!!!!! *squee*
Emily and I asked the exact same question at the exact same time about clearing and staining ourselves.
You should start a kickstarter for getting cleared and stained now! That way you'll have enough!
alizarin crimson (red) is the color red paint Bob Ross uses in the first season of "The Joy of Painting" neato!
Great vid again!
That's so cool to see inside a fish or reptiles and the bones
The stingray(-ish?) and turtles look amazing. Couple of questions:
- Can mammals be cleared too? He only mentions "other vertebrate groups"
- Can you reintroduce slight color variations in the soft tissue? It would be amazing to be able to distinguish muscle and such on a translucent level while still be able to see the bones
+Carlos Vives you can buy cleared and stained rats on Amazon, and there are several ways you can do it at home. I'm not sure if you can stain muscles, but you might be able to still see them if you don't completely clear the specimen.
Joseph Colley
Heh, it's true you can find anything on Amazon these days :) Thanks for the information
They had some fetuses at body worlds nyc that were prepared in this way! It was a very morbid room but it was amazing to see the tiny skeletons in fetuses that were only a few weeks old.
this looks so artsy
Funny to see a technique I use in my lab shown on here. We study zebrafish fin regeneration and we use this staining to look at how fins regenerate.
Are there any simple guides out there for assembling fish skeletons? Because I have a few and it's impossible to keep track of all the parts, especially around the skull.
I've always thought of doing that but I don't know where to get the supplies. So I just preserve them.
Not just biology today but chemistry too. :D
i hope you can digitize those specimen with 3d scanner. its easier to shared and distributed that way
+Eko ari wibowo as a visual reference, sure. I loved it when he manipulated that one fish to show the articulation of the bone structure
kazoosc that will be great if anyone can make 3d model with manipulated joint
+Eko ari wibowo this is a cool idea. One issue I can see with it would be that typical small scale 3D scanners (which often use a form of triangulation) would have trouble modelling the refracted path of the light through the transparent collagen/glycerine (they have the same refractive indices as one another but not air) in order to extract a clear structure of the innards. I don't know that it would prevent it from working, but it would make it more complicated for sure :)
I always wondered how this was done! Woo! :D
I love the editing done! Kudos to Brandon Brungard I see
Why not just put them in oil or smoke them? Much tastier afterwards.
+Pelle Olsson Well, glycerine tastes sweet and is classified as non-toxic, so I guess you could think of the specimens as candied fish?
Edit: Now, purely out of curiosity, I wonder if a person could actually eat the specimens. Aside from the fact that there's probably no nutritional value and that it'd be like eating bones, plus it would destroy something with scientific value but...could it be done? I'm guessing yes.
E Hernandez Well, a human can eat practically anything. Some things but only once... *cheesy horror laugh*
Pelle Olsson Good point! Now, would you like to try my arsenic cookies? They are to die for!
E Hernandez I always liked my sweets bitter.
+E “Anonymous Nerdfighter” Hernandez Dibs on the eyes
Oooh i would love to see this process done to larger animals!
This is so cool! And now I want those fishes on my walls... Hmm, what would happen if you encased such a specimen in like clear resin? Would it rot? Would that have a different refractive density and would that make it cloudy? I mean, it would probably be easier to paint one to put on the wall, but the real thing would be so cool (especially if you put a light behind it)!
Nice video! keep up the good work (a.k.a my favorite one this channel)
Sooo...storage of these specimens after they've been cleared and stained is just in one of those partially filled clear containers? Cuz it seems like they'd slosh around a bit, potentially becoming damaged :/
Is it possible to preserve a specimen in resin and still be able to see them clearly?
New Kickstarter Campaign! Clear and Stain Emily.
THIS IS SO COOL!
So after clearing is it possible to inject the vascular and nervous system with different colored fluids, would make an interesting specimen.
Is it possible to buy these to put on my wall?? It's so interesting and beautiful!
Informative and pretty
People would really love to have these on their wall, is it known for commercial taxidermists to use the technique?
+roidroid I don't believe so. As it was mentioned in the video, the specimens are stored in glycerin as it has the same refractive index as the collagen , which allows for that 'see-through' appearance. I'm not sure you'd get the same effect if it they were somehow solidified in some type of plastic, etc.
+thebrainscoop actually, i think it would be cool, you would have the fish delineated in the transparent plastic and still being transparent. not sure if that would conserve as well as glycerin though.
but I would definetly buy a transparent cyclid necklace. it would look awesome
A Japanese artist, Iori Tomita, makes them and they are available for purchase. Most of his works are small though and are not as big as ones seen here.
I mean put it all (incl the glycerin) into a clear perspex box, and hang that on the wall.
Just imagine those same containers you're using in the video, but sealed with a clear lid, and hung on the wall.
The "pins" & stands etc to keep the specimen in position while vertical would also be transparent. I dunno if you'd put a light behind them, or just a white or highly reflective backing. They'd probably work well if mounted infront of a window.
+roidroid I actually make these specimens for sale. I will be finalizing a new batch in the next few days but please contact me for details on availability. Biology@lucentmorphics.com
"But I want to take a gander at it's diddly bits" must be put on a shirt or mug. I have $25 ready for this purchase.
I love the old cinema edits. "I want to take a gander at its diddly bits."
Who wrote that? Emily? Brandon?
How long does each stage take generally? Because these are being absorbed by static (dead) things I feel that each stage would take a considerable amount of time. Plus what looked like a small ray of some description looked great, can we get a close up of that . It kinda reminded me of the old screen-savers of dancing lines.
Would the process change if I wanted to do that with bats?
Thanks!
I wish I lived at The Field Museum.
THIS IS THE COOLEST THING EVER!
Great video, but I have to ask something: where do you get those tweezers??? Me want! Me want now!
I want a coffee table with "Cleared and Stained" specimens as decorative pieces inlaid into it an lit from below!
Give me one now! I'll pay extra for the "Brainscoop" logo is somewhere on the piece.
I've made a few calls and haven't had any luck--do funeral homes use some sort of trade name for diaphonization, or am I just pronouncing it wrong?
how beautiful!
That's funny, just today I had a vertebrates biology class in which we used some fishes that were cleared and stained, and they explained me the process behind it
THIS IS SOOOOO COOOOL
fascinating
What is this called as a job? Like I really wanna do this a a job but I have no idea what I need to study or whats its called.
Super cool.
Is this a technique a student could execute for a science lab or research project?
Yay! Cool things!