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Stunning science images
Friday, August 12, 2011
The Eureka Prizes were again overwhelmed with entries for the 2011 New Scientist Eureka Prize for Science Photography.
The caliber of entries remains high, with judges finding it difficult to agree on a top ten, let alone the winner!
The Top Ten are:
Balloon Brains, Ollie & Dom Barrington
Ballon Brains demonstrates the property of surface tension holding together a mass of water that has been released from a flexible container, moments before the force of gravity overpowers the cohesive force of surface tension. Relying on the co-ordination of the photographer and the ballon popper - "1 2 3 Pop" was heard 256 times to capture this image.
Atta Cephalotes Worker in its Nest, Andrew Bruce
Leaf-cutter ants cut fragments of leaves from trees and transport them to their nests. This leaf-cutter ant, an atta cephalotes worker, is among those responsible for processing the leaves into mulch, which is then fed to a fungus that grows food for the next generation of ants. This remarkable symbiosis is the basis for one of the most sophisticated societies on the planet.
Hanging Out Lunch, Stephen Doggett
A flower spider has captured a bee and is barely hanging onto its prey, while phorid flies are feeding off the bee carcass. It is not uncommon to see these flies feeding on insects captured within webs, however this was a most unusual circumstance as the spider almost seemed perplexed about what to do next.
Receding Glacial Cap with Cryoalgae, Jason Edwards
A storm front rises over a rugged and weathered glacial cap stained by blue and pink Cryoalgae, as it recedes due to global warming. This region of the Antarctic Peninsula has undergone one of the highest temperature increases in the world over the past 50 years.
Seized from Above, Michael Fogg
Seized from Above shows a juvenile white bellied sea eagle swoop down and grab an unsuspecting epaulette shark that was trapped in a small pool of water left by the ebbing tides. This photo was taken at Montgomery Reef in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia.
The Pinnacles & The Milky Way, Dr David Parlevliet
The Pinnacles of Nambung National Park dot the landscape. There is still some debate as to how they were formed although vegetation is thought to have had an active role. The Milky Way, our home galaxy, stretches from horizon to horizon above the pinnacles.
Golden Lung, Dr Ian Smyth
The complex cell and tissue rearrangements which occur during embryonic development are important determinants of adult health. The image captures the foetal lung of a mouse beginning its complex process of branching to form the airways necessary for life outside the womb. By understanding how this occurs, we hope to better understand childhood lung disease.
Follow Me, Magdalena Sulecka
Follow Me illustrates a 3D movement of a single light source attached to a hanging pendulum, creating a harmonogram. It looks like a computer generated harmonogram, but there is no computer manipulation involved.
Starry Starry Night, Flaming Flowers that Brightly Blaze, Professor David Vaney
Starlight is processed in the mammalian retina by a special type of interneuron called the AII amacrine cell. This AII cell - one of 500,000 in the rabbit retina - was injected under direct microscopic control with fluorescent dye, and a series of confocal micrographs later taken through the depth of the inner retina.
Harlequin Bugs Hatching, Damon Wilder
A mother harlequin bug watches on as her eggs hatch. She has spent the last week perched atop the cluster of eggs watching guard. The young bugs emerge looking like miniature versions of their parents and stay closely packed together for a number of weeks.
