A new microscope called the Multi-View SPIM, or MuVi-SPIM for
short, is allowing scientists to take unprecedented images of
rapid biological processes, at a level of detail we've never
seen before. And to show off the power of this new microscope,
the developers have released an incredible time-lapse video of a
fruit fly embryo undergoing development.  To capture this video,
the new microscope shines a thin sheet of light on the embryo,
illuminating one layer of the sample at a time, to obtain an
image of the whole sample with minimal light-induced damage.
MuVi-SPIM builds upon the Selective-Plane Illumination
Microscopy (SPIM) technology developed at EMBL a few years ago.
But unlike SPIM, the new microscope takes four full images from
different angles, eliminating the need to rotate the sample.
This results in faster imaging and the ability to merge the four
images into a single high-quality three-dimensional image -
something that's never been done before.  Astonishing Time-Lapse
Video of a Fruit Fly Embryo