ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Environmental scanning electron microscope

An environmental scanning electron microscope is like a magic microscope that helps scientists see really tiny things that are too small to see with our eyes. It works a bit like a camera, taking pictures of tiny things and making them bigger on a screen so scientists can study them.

But what makes the environmental scanning electron microscope special is that it can do this in a special kind of environment, like in water or in air. This is important because sometimes scientists want to study tiny things that live in water or on the surface of things. They need to be able to look at these things in their natural environment to really understand them.

To make this happen, the microscope has a really special chamber that can hold tiny samples while they are being looked at under the microscope. The sample is put on a tiny little platform that can be moved around, and then the microscope uses a special beam of electrons to make the sample glow and show up on the screen.

The scientists can then use the pictures they take to learn more about what the object is made of, how it behaves, and what kind of environment it likes to live in. It's like taking a really, really close-up look at something and learning things you never knew before.