# I just saw my sperm. Awesome! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 21, 2006, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-sperm-awesome/340969 "2006-01-21T06:04:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-sperm-awesome/340969/1 "2006-01-21T06:04:54Z")
So I saw this cheap $50 1200x microscope and figured I’d give it a shot. It came in the mail today and I was wondering what neat things I could look at. Well, one thing led to another and I whipped me up a slide and there they were. Swarming all around. It was just the weirdest feeling. Here were all these little microscopic machines made by my own body. And there they went, scooting around under the cover slip. Two of them bonked into each other. I tried to take a photo but it is after all just a $50 microscope. It’s little projector did its best but sperm are very, very small and wiggly. Even the ones that weren’t moving I could really only see the head like a grain of rice on the kitchen floor. Now I want a really nice microscope that I can connect a camera to and take awesome photos. Although I suppose they’ll still be too small to see much detail. Well, it’s been about half an hour since I made the sample and the movements all gone. It’s just a sad little post apocalyptic slide now. The tattered remains of a once bustling city. Poor little swimmy and all his brethren. Oh well, i can’t wait to check out my blood, ear wax, boogers and tartar. I hope to be able to find some of my human fauna. Any advice on where to look? I kinda don’t want to see what things I might find in a stool sample but I’ll probably get around to it. I’m still so excited, not that way, it was so amazing. ---
**Author:** ![inkleberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@inkleberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inkleberry)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-sperm-awesome/340969/2 "2006-01-21T08:49:03Z")
You have far too much time on your hands. Please consider installing clue labeled “life.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-sperm-awesome/340969/3 "2006-01-21T09:00:27Z")
> [@inkleberry](#): > > Please consider installing clue labeled “life.” 😉 Sperm are half-life. As it happens I don’t have the tools, technological nor conversational, to get the other half. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-sperm-awesome/340969/4 "2006-01-21T09:02:52Z")
I think it’s kind of neat. If I had sperm and a microscope, I’d look. You may not want to base your actions on mine, however. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-sperm-awesome/340969/5 "2006-01-21T09:04:39Z")
> [@inkleberry](#): > > You have far too much time on your hands. > > Please consider installing clue labeled “life.” 😉 I respectfully disagree. Peering at…stuff…through the microscope is a better use of time than watching TV or going to the movies. Of course, I work in a lab. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-sperm-awesome/340969/6 "2006-01-21T09:25:35Z")
That microscope won’t do you any good once you’ve gone blind, you know. ---
**Author:** ![indecisive1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/41988e/32.png) [@indecisive1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/indecisive1)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-sperm-awesome/340969/7 "2006-01-21T11:03:16Z")
Take a scraping from under your fingernail and see what might be there. You better have a look at a hair too. How about just some good old spit, bet there’s all kinds of cool creapy stuff in that. Happen to have any zits? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-sperm-awesome/340969/8 "2006-01-21T13:49:46Z")
> [@Fern Forest](#): > > So I saw this cheap $50 1200x microscope and figured I’d give it a shot… So … I’m the only one who laughed at the first line of the OP? And I’ll vote for “fun” rather than “sign that there’s no possible escape from your terminal geeky weirdness.” ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-sperm-awesome/340969/9 "2006-01-21T14:20:13Z")
For extra fun, you could race them! ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-sperm-awesome/340969/10 "2006-01-21T14:34:10Z")
> [@Fern Forest](#): > > Sperm are half-life. And with a mod, you could make 'em [counter-strike](http://www.counter-strike.net/faq.html). ---
**Author:** ![tsarina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@tsarina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tsarina)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-sperm-awesome/340969/11 "2006-01-21T14:39:47Z")
Pluck out one of your eyelashes and place it in a drop of water before you put a coverslip on it. A lot of people have microscopic mites living in their eyelash roots, and you’ll be able to see them swimming around. I love looking at junk from my body under the microscope… I used to work in a microbiology lab and I was always Gram-staining swabs from my tongue or nose. I didn’t learn anything other than the fact that I have a lot of huge Gram-negative rods in my mouth, but it was fun nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-sperm-awesome/340969/12 "2006-01-21T14:46:19Z")
During a 4.5- year dance with infertility, I saw mine once. On t.v. There was a video tap hooked up to the microscope. It’s…uh…well, humbling and fascinating. Most of mine were swimming slowly and aimlessly, some were not swimming at all. ( hence some of the infertilty. ) Wish I had me a microscope now. I also would love to swab various surfaces around the house for bacteria, but I have no idea how powerful a microscope I would need to see them. Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-sperm-awesome/340969/13 "2006-01-21T14:49:19Z")
Two of them bonked into each other? Hmmmm… I’m not sure I’d want to _know_ if two of my husband’s bonked into each other. It doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-sperm-awesome/340969/14 "2006-01-21T14:57:14Z")
Didja pan fry them after you were done? ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-sperm-awesome/340969/15 "2006-01-21T15:11:36Z")
You shouldn’t use the words “little projector” in a post about your own sperm. ---
**Author:** ![wayward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a87d85/32.png) [@wayward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wayward)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-sperm-awesome/340969/16 "2006-01-21T17:18:43Z")
> [@inkleberry](#): > > You have far too much time on your hands. > > Please consider installing clue labeled “life.” 😉 Er, I don’t think that’s time… Someone had to say it 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-sperm-awesome/340969/17 "2006-01-21T17:20:11Z")
> [@inkleberry](#): > > You have far too much time on your hands. Clearly that’s not the only thing he has on his hands. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-sperm-awesome/340969/18 "2006-01-21T17:46:39Z")
Wasn’t sperm the first thing Leeunwenhoek looked at through his microscope? What is it with guys and 'scopes? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-sperm-awesome/340969/19 "2006-01-21T18:30:44Z")
It’s nice to be handy with scientific equipment, isn’t it? Sounds like you had a blast. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2006, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-sperm-awesome/340969/20 "2006-01-21T18:46:30Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Wasn’t sperm the first thing Leeunwenhoek looked at through his microscope? What is it with guys and 'scopes? 😃 I’m going to be a good girl and not mention anything about Freud and microscopes. I’m really not. That said, I once looked at a live amoeba under a microscope (this was in an all-girl’s private school, sperm wasn’t really available at the time). Very cool and fascinating stuff. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-my-sperm-awesome/340969.md?page=2)