What Tears Look Like Under a Microscope

Photographer Rose-Lynn Fisher spent years capturing human tears under a microscope for her project The Topography of Tears. What she found startled scientists: tears of grief look nothing like tears of joy. Tears shed in mourning form jagged, fractured patterns — like shattered glass or cracked earth. Tears of laughter create smooth, flowing crystalline structures resembling snowflakes or ferns. Every tear carries a chemical signature of its cause.…