Not only have improvements to the microscope facilitated numerous discoveries, but the development of a wide array of sample handling and staining techniques has also played an important role in furthering the aims of science. Microscopy stains are often utilized with a wide variety of specimens, especially those that do not readily absorb light. This is because stains render such samples, which could not otherwise be seen, visible to the eye. Stains are also often used in combination with one another in order produce easily distinguishable contrasting colors. For instance, a blue hematoxylin stain might be applied to cell nuclei in order to make the important structures highly discernable from surrounding cytoplasm stained pink with eosin.