scinerds:

Intriguing Science Art From the University of Wisconsin

“The scientist does not study nature because it is useful; he studies it because he delights in it, and he delights in it because it is beautiful. If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth knowing, life would not be worth living.”

—Jules Henri Poincare, a French mathematician (1854-1912)

The University of Wisconsin-Madison revealed the winners of the 2012 Cool Science image contest at the beginning of the month. From clusters of cells, zebrafish neural networks to ZnO Fall Flowers as seen above, this year’s contest showed nothing but impressive content for us to enjoy. Check out the rest of the contestants here!

scienceyoucanlove:

Common East-coast fern

This colorful collage is actually a closeup of the common East-coast US fern,Polypodium virginianum. This image was created using a laser scanning confocal microscope by Igor Siwanowicz of Howard Hughes Medical Institute. It took third prize in the 2012 Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition.

Siwanowicz’s earlier macro photography included startling images of insects fighting each other. Siwanowicz is a Polish photographer and research specialist Howard Hughes Medical Institute who has bred his own insects and photographed them extensively. “My [research] project involves describing the neural circuits responsible for generating pray capture behavior in dragonflies, but I find it irresistible to study other morphological adaptations that make those insects such formidable predators,” he explains.

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scienceisbeauty:

These fluffy snowflakes, known as aggregates, form when snow crystals collide with other snow crystals. Many of these flakes also show some riming, or an icy coating. A new high-speed, three-camera system developed at the University of Utah made these pictures as the snowflakes fell.

Credit: Tim Garrett, University of Utah

Source: New high-speed camera system reveals what snow looks like in midair, Phys.Org

odditiesoflife:

Ice Caves Around the World

Ice caves come in two forms. A cave formed entirely of ice is actually called a glacier cave and as the name implies, forms in glaciers. Water runs through or under the glacier and forms a cave.

The other type of ice cave can be any cave type (limestone, lava tube, etc.) that has ice in it year round. These caves trap cold air. Water entering the cave freezes and stays frozen year round.

Glacier caves can be found in the Pacific Northwest and ice caves are found in many locations where temperatures drop below freezing. Once cold air enters the cave, it generally stays there.

1. Iceland
2. Russia
3. France
4. Antarctica
5. Iceland
6. Russia
7. Iceland
8. Iceland

Microscopic Photos of the Elements

[Click images to enlarge & read descriptions.]

“Ryoji Tanaka’s photographs may look like alien landscapes, but they are very much of this world. The organometallic chemist at Sagami Chemical Research Institute in Kanagawa, Japan, snaps pictures of everything from iodine to silver using a system of Nikon digital SLR cameras with macro and ultra macro lenses.

To see more of Tanaka’s work visit his website and Flickr.”

arpeggia:

Lisa Oppenheim - Lunagrams, 2010

In Lunagrams (1851/2010), a series of photograms, negatives depicting a lunar phase from 1851 are illuminated by moonlight of the same lunar phase in 2010, providing a translation of images of the past into the present. The source images are glass negatives taken by John William Draper, who was the first to photograph the moon. Photography as well as celestial bodies, such as the moon, can be seen as generic markers of the passing of time. The process of making these images is bringing to life which would otherwise be hidden away under a layer of dust in a library or archive - illuminating the past through the light of the present. [klosterfelde]

jtotheizzoe:

Frozen Glass

I was pretty shocked to find out just how little liquid fresh water Earth contains, like we saw in this post. But I was equally shocked to find out that as much as one-fifth of Earth’s fresh water is locked up in the beauty above: Lake Baikal.

Siberia’s Lake Baikal, not only the world’s oldest lake at ~25 million years of age, is the largest single fresh water source on the planet. The water is so deep and so pure that when it freezes it becomes a sort of cold, turquoise glass, giving an observer a lens that can see over 100 feet straight down.

There’s more pictures not to miss at My Modern Met.

electricspacekoolaid:

New Robot Memes on Tumblr - Shaming Robots

A new Tumblr site has arisen to call out the robots who have made mistakes. Called “Shaming Robots” it started innocently with an image posted of the engineering model of the Curiosity rover blaming the engineering Opportunity rover for messing up JPL’s Mars Yard. Submit your own if you have a robot you’d like to shame. You can also follow on Twitter at the hashtag #robotshaming.

ianbrooks:

Amber Inclusions by Anders Damgaard

With all this discussion recently surrounding the ethics of manipulating DNA in an effort to resurrect lost species, it seems appropriate that we take a look back in time at the vessels for our future T-Rexes and (fingers crossed~!) Giant Ground Sloths. Until that glorious day when we will ride atop the backs of huge beavers (it was a thing! Science up), admire the beauty of these amber-encased insects, forever looking out at us through a layer of several million years.

Photog: Flickr / Website / Blog

discoverynews:

Gallery: When Art Meets Science

The University of Wisconsin-Madison just announced this year’s winners of its Cool Science Image contest. After surveying 105 submissions, these 10 images were awarded. This Cool Science Image winner took a close look at mold. When food gets tough to find, slime mold become social and form multicellular organisms such as those shown here. See more.

Sunsets, Dancing Auroras, Eclipses, Sun Trails & Comets - Mesmerizing Sky Photography of Juan Carlos Casado — Tierra y Estrellas

(Source: ikenbot)

ikenbot:

The Milky Way Band and Dark Skies

PSA:“That has to be superimposed - they photoshopped that on!” It’s understandable why a lot of you (and I do mean a lot) might be confused when confronting these vistas. But these are actual images of the milky way as seen under the best viewing conditions known to our planet, the dark skies. Due to the rapid growth of our civilization, we emit more light than we should and thus this darkens out many of our views and blocks us from making those wonderful necessary connections to the skies our minds desperately need. We can’t see the Milky Way band as seen above in many places, it’s always there though, rest assured, ready to greet us with its lovely stars. If we’re missing out on this.. is the way we use public lighting really as conventional as we believe it is? [Similar Posts: Losing the Dark - a Public Service Announcement on Light Pollution] [Losing The Dark: GIF set]

Images: Southern dream, Southwest Night, Three Roads To Galactic Paradise, Tropical milky way

staceythinx:

Photographer Eric Rolph captured this beautiful view from above Maui, Hawaii.

afracturedreality:

Salt Pond Ecosystem

The color of salt ponds range from pale green to deep coral pink, and indicate the salinity of the ponds. Microorganisms create these spectacular colors, changing their own hues in response to increasing salinity.

In low-to mid-salinity ponds, green algae proliferate and lend the water a green cast. As the salinity increases, an algae called Dunaliella out-competes other microorganisms in the pond, and the color shifts to an even lighter shade of green. In mid-salinity ponds, millions of tiny brine shrimp clarify the brine and contribute an orange cast to the water. And in mid-to high-salinity ponds, high salt concentrations actually trigger the Dunaliella to produce a red carotenoid pigment. Halophiles, such as Halobacteria and Stichococcus, also contribute red tints to the hypersaline brine.

Kite aerial photographs by Charles “Cris” Benton.

propaedeuticist:

At NASA’s Drawing Board - J R Eyerman