A multicoloured mouse eye, the macro-scale universe, alien slugs on the face of a baby cucumber - all these images accomplish a pretty impressive feat: They look awesome, and they can teach us something about the world we live in and our place in it. They are among the winners of the 2011 International Science and Engineering Visualisation Challenge, sponsored by the journal Science and the National Science Foundation.
The competition, now in its ninth year, honours photographers and illustrators who use their skills to promote understanding of science and new research. There were 212 entries from 33 countries, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which publishes Science.
Some of the highlights include a deep magnification of cucumber skin, with its closely arranged trichomes on the surface. Did you know that an immature cucumber had these points, each 40 times thinner than a sewing needle? We did not, but apparently the plants have evolved these distal points to thwart herbivores that would eat the veggies before they are fully grown. The points can "penetrate the mouthparts of herbivores," according to the challenge, which awarded an honourable mention to a photo of these points.
Other winners include a map of the cosmos, a zoomed-in view of the human hand, a 3D depiction of mitosis, and much more.
EDITOR'S PICKS
