ABOVE: NASA
As Hurricane Dorian, which strengthened to a Category 5 storm today (September 1), makes its way toward the East Coast, some researchers at the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience are getting ready to spend the night with their microscopes, while marine researchers up the coast prepare for an impromptu study of the storm.
“You have to completely change all the [research] plans,” when a storm like this hits, says Nicolai Urban, a microscopy specialist at the neuroscience institute, also known as MPFI. “Everything’s going to be on lockdown.”
Having learned from previous storms like Irma and Matthew, researchers are taking special precautions to protect their samples, equipment, and data. At MPFI, that means defending 22 two-photon microscopes, complex instruments that allow the researchers to see into the cells of living tissue to better understand brain function.
The delicately-calibrated microscopes are extremely sensitive to the surrounding environment. The ...
