This photo series by Rose-Lynn Fisher captures tears of grief, joy, laughter and irritation under the microscope.
Tears aren’t just water.
They’re primarily made up of water, salts, antibodies and lysozymes,
but the composition depends on the type of tear.
There are three main types –
basal tears, reflex tears, and weeping tears.
As you can see,
they can look incredibly different when evaporated and placed under a microscope.
—
Men must live and create. Live to the point of tears.
Albert Camus
—
More info: http://bit.ly/RJqvK7
Images by Rose-Lynn Fisher, via the Smithsonian Magazine and ScienceAlert.
Tears, I’ve found, having shed many in my life, are a great detoxifier! My skin is luminescent after a heavy bout of crying and the red having calmed down.
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i agree, fnd )
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That is so interesting Beth, think I have the first two more than the others meh lol
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it is, isn’t it jen? and each of us have more of some than the others –
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Reblogged this on hocuspocus13.
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thank you, hp )
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This is beautiful!
>
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i think so too, roy )
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This is just so lovely! I never knew that tears had different ‘patterns’ when cried and each pattern could be read and attributed to a certain feeling or reason that they were shed. Thank you so much for sharing this post, it’s taught me something new and amazing. (Also glad that it led me to find your blog!)
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it really is, i agree. and i am more than happy to share this wonderful science, so mixed with the human nature of emotions. and i’m happy to have you reading and commenting ) best, beth
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Those are awesome photos!
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i think they are too, thanks austin )
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🙂
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That is an amazing fact I will share all week! Awesome.
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Reblogged this on Ramblings and Musings and commented:
This is an amazing post by ksbeth. Enjoy!
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thanks wendy! )
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That’s amazing info about different tears. Love the photos, the patterns are so beautiful. Thanks Beth!
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i agree, they are amazing ) thanks paul –
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So interesting.
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it really is –
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The laughing tears are my favorite type of tears. 🙂
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me too julie )
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What wonderful photographs thank you for sharing them. I had no idea tears could be so beautiful! Next time I have a good cry, my eyeballs are bright red and tears are dripping off the end of my nose I will feel as though actually, you know what, I am creating a piece of art here!
Bright Blessings
x
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you will be and what a great way to look at it )
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I will file this under one of my favorite Beth post categories: Who knew?
This is more proof that we should not try to hold back our tears. Thanks, Beth.
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thanks, mark and i agree, we should not hold back ) b
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I have never seen this quote before and I have seen it twice today! These photos are amazing.
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i know, i thought they were so beautiful )
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This is the most fascinating thing on a blog post – ever. Aren’t people complex? I’d always assumed all tears were the same. I’ll always see them differently now.
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i’m so happy you enjoyed this lundy. i always thought the same thing – we’re always learning aren’t we?
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I would never have guessed that. Fascinating
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i agree, it is fascinating )
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I love this post! Tears can be measured and somehow deduced to whether or not you were happy or sad? Amazing scientific studies and research done, so glad you have Rose’s name down to look further into this! I also wanted to say, I enjoyed the quote, Beth, by the author of “Out of Africa!” I love her book and writing, so much!
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i’m so happy you enjoyed this robin. i found it fascinating on many levels. and i though the quote was so true and went with it in quite a natural way, i love her writing too )
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That is so interesting!
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i think so too edwin –
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In the Cosmos series Neil deGrasse Tyson also explains that the body has many specialized bacteria. One just for our eyelashes that only comes out at night to clean the eyelash hair. I wonder if some of that life also ends up in our dried tear eye sand?
Thanks for your visits
I am a big sci-fi fan so I am hoping long before we need to ‘escape’ our blue ball, we will have figured out many if not just one other home in space.
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oh i think he is so great too, and always happy to stop by your page for a visit. i’m hopeful we have more than one option as well –
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Tears deserve complexity. They come from complex emotions.
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yes, they certainly do, andra.
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We shed tears for different reasons – and wow, Beth – this post was so informative.
Thank you 🙂
Eric
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we do, eric. and it was my pleasure to share this. )
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What a great post! Thank you for sharing the photos.
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thank you, and you’re very welcome )
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my god…I love this because I am both a cry-baby and a flop-sweater!
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happy you like this susie, and can identify with it in more ways than one )
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Lovely post, read my post words, related to this .http://afsheenanjum.wordpress.com/2014/05/06/words/. I will be glad to stay around here, to read more from you.
May Allah bless you ameen
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thank you very much for reading and commenting )
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Pleasure is all mine.
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and thank you for the link, it is closely related indeed –
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You are welcome dear friend.
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Don’t you just love science? I’d like to see them framed, black and white photos and on a wall like a square. Very cool!
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yes i do, eileen. that would be beautiful )
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Wouldn’t it? I’m looking forward to seeing more of your discoveries!
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This is amazing Beth!!! It reminds me of The Secret Life of Water!!! Thanks for sharing it with us:-) Now I know what my tears look like!
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i think so too tracy, and it’s good to know, isn’t it?
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Wow, that’s quite interesting. Who’d have though it? 🙂
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it is, rachel and i had absolutely no idea )
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Me either!
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I read a book about about that! (Thinking it was the Secret Life of Water mentioned above.) Also, water in vials reacted differently depending on how it was spoken to. Weird, yes, but why not? Our words and emotions have power. Cool post.
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yes, and isn’t that so amazing?! mind boggling )
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How intriguing!
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it is, thanks )
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How fascinating! I have extremely dry eyes, but they get teary a lot. Makes no sense hey… It’s embarrassing sometimes because sometimes I’ll merely chuckle but my eyes will get all teary.
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my eyes get very dry and teary too. my daughters have told me that every story i tell ends with me either laughing or crying or sometimes both )
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wonderful post, just wonderful ♥
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thank you so much, bonnie )
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Wow; this is amazing. I’d never have imagined tears could be so different. Thanks 🙂
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yes, who knew, su?
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I’d heard tears differed in composition, but this is the first time I’ve seen pictures. Fascinating!
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and they are beautiful )
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Whaaaaat. This is soooo cooooool. Hahaha. Seriously, though. Who would have known?
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it really is, and who knew indeed ?
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I saw a video to this effect–where the water was actually spoken to–in different tones, and with different sentiments and its molecular stamp was greatly affected, also. Makes you know how important your environment is, inner and outer, both. And it’s so cool to know besides…
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how cool, i’d love to see it and you are right about the inner and outer environments –
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How absolutely fascinating. It’s something completely new to me. So much we are unaware of!
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i think it is too and the world is a very large and interesting place –
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Wow, this is great. I was reading a book the other day (Yesteday, I Cried by Iyanla Vanzant) and she described how different kinds of tears fall from various parts of the eye. I can’t remember the specifics, but it was something like sad tears seep from the corners, angry tears rush to your lips causing you to lick the saltiness, etc. I never knew tears held so much meaning! Now, to see the absoulte beauty of them in these photos….well let’s just say that I will no longer apologize for being such a sensitive cry baby.
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that is so interesting, faith. i’ll look up that book. and by all means never apologize of your tears, you are simply creating art!
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Beth,
As I read these words, I am just a stroll from that source of peace, the sea. Lucky me.
Just beautiful.
Tom
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oh, i’ m happy and you are lucky, indeed, tom )
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You have got to be kidding me. there are types of tears. Beth did you and your kindergartners start a fake news site? To mess with all the grown ups
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that’s such a great idea tom, for my band of merrymakers and i, but this one is real )
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Incredible photos, and awesome data.
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i was awestruck too )
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Reblogged this on YOURS IN STORYTELLING… and commented:
Who would have thought that there could be so much difference in a single tear?
Give this a read, would you?
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thanks for this steve, and for reading and following ) beth
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Wow, that is so interesting. Thank you for sharing!
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i agree, i found it simply fascinating and it was my pleasure to share, anna )
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This really moved me.
I am glad I stopped by…
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I’m happy that you felt moved by this, i did as well. and thank you so much for stopping by,
best, beth
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amazing study
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i so agree, carl
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I have a series of repetitious e-mails from everybody…am I virus-ish?
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do you have a fever, susie? )
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hilarious, beth…no fever! I actually meant to send the note to roy my engineer? but replied to this blog instead? so maybe I do have a fever after all? I was receiving two of everything yesterday? doubly blessed? my cup was not half empty but overflowing? 🙂 but two of you is a special blessing!
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i completely understand, susie. i am the worst tech person on the planet and could keep a team of engineers busy.) as for two of me, not sure my mother would have agreed ))
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I’ve been getting repititious e-mails when new posts are published as well. Not all the blogs i subscribe to but about 10% are doing that. I thought it was my alternate e-mail account but I went in and checked and it is not.
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sorry to all this may be happening to, i have some wpress odd things going on as well –
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I found this really interesting. Never realized that there were different types of tears. Tried to “like” your post, but it only came up as a box with a dot in it. So thought I’d comment so you’d know.
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thanks, judith, i was happily surprised by it as well. as for the tech issue, thanks for going the extra mile, apparently wp was having some issues this weekend, so anything is possible )
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Really cool
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thanks )
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That’s interesting and yet not so surprising. Maybe palm readers should invest in microscopes instead of crystal balls!
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so true, tom )
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It would be interesting to know if all the photos were from the same person’s tears
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what a great question –
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Awesome Science. You’ve even delivered it like a poem.
And yes, complex and simple at the same time.
Thanks so much for sharing!
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thanks, wwfy )
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Amazing discovery…thanks for the knowledge deary 😉
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my pleasure, the world is an amazing place, isn’t it beryl?
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hehe..very much ksbeth! very much…so many things that dont make sense now make sense in the long run
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absolutely )
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How interesting!
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it really is )
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Incredible snaps! and the quote has so much depth to it.
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they really are, and i wish they were mine, my job is only to share them. depth is so right. )
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Incredible.
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i feel the same.
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