A striking image of seaweed shows the complexity of even the simplest organisms.
Seen here is Irish moss—Chondrus crispus—a common Atlantic red alga that is routinely harvested for its carrageenan. The chemical is used as a thickener in many processed foods.
Andrea Ottesen of the University of Maryland's Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture shared a first place prize in the photography category of the 2007 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge for the natural light photo.
The awards are given out each year by the National Science Foundation and the journal Science for the imagery that best conveys complex scientific information and concepts. This year the winners are announced in the September 28 issue of Science.
It may look like a strange insect , but this is actually a CT image revealing the delicate structures underlying the human nose.
The multicolored pockets, seen in a cutaway from below the nose looking up, are the paranasal sinuses—the air-filled spaces in the skull that are the bane of many an allergy sufferer.
Kai-hung Fung of Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital in Hong Kong captured the image, a co-winner in the photography category of the 2007 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge, while examining a 33-year-old Chinese woman for thyroid disease.
This is the fifth year that the prizes have been awarded.
Metal with the consistency of ribbon garnered engineering graduate student Adam Siegel and chemist George M. Whitesides of Harvard University an honorable mention in the photography category of the 2007 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge.
The pair created this image by injecting molten solder into a tiny silicone channel.
When the solder cooled, it formed a delicate metallic structure that was flexible enough to be tied into a knot—but could still conduct electricity.
Not pictured here are the winners of the informational graphics category.
"Modeling the Flight of a Bat" by David J. Willis of Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Mykhaylo Kostandov of Brown University earned the first place accolade, while "How Does A Muscle Work?" by Mark McGowan and David Goodsell of the Exploratorium Institute took honorable mention.
A still image from a 3-D animation shows how nicotine stimulates nerve impulses to the pleasure center of the brain.
Donna DeSmet and Jason Guerrero of Hurd Studios won the first-place prize in the noninteractive media category of the 2007 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge for the video, titled "Nicotine: The Physiologic Mechanism of Tobacco Dependence."
Not seen here is "Towers in the Tempest," an animation of soaring hurricane clouds, which earned Gregory W. Shirah and Lori K. Perkins of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center an honorable mention in the noninteractive media category.
Understanding even basic geometrical transformations can be difficult—unless you get a little perspective.
This still image comes from "Mobius Transformations Revealed," a short film by Douglas N. Arnold and Jonathan Rogness of the University of Minnesota that shows how some mathematics can become simpler in higher dimensions.
The movie was an honorable mention in the noninteractive media category of the 2007 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge.
Other winners not shown here included the following:
First Place, Interactive Multimedia: "Physics Education Technology Project" (PhET) by Carl Wieman of the University of Colorado and the PhET Team.
Honorable Mention, Interactive Multimedia: "Breast Cancer Virtual Anatomy" by Cathryn Tune and Samantha Belmont of CCG Metamedia.
Referance :http://www.nationalgeographic.com/
