Imaging
Zooplankton Shells
May 21, 2013 11:38 am | News | CommentsThis 120x photo of Radiolaria shells received an honorable mention in the 2012 Nikon Small World Photomicrophotography Competition. It was taken by Ralph Claus Grimm of Jimboomba, Queensland, Australia, using a darkfield technique.
Disney Develops Fast, Economical High-def Video Compositing
May 20, 2013 12:42 pm | by Disney Research | News | CommentsZURICH - Video compositing to create special effects, replace backgrounds or combine multiple takes of an actor's performance is an integral, but highly labor-intensive, part of modern film making. Researchers at Disney Research, Zürich, however, have found an innovative way to create these composite videos that is simple, fast, and easy to use.
Deep-sea Copepod
May 20, 2013 10:10 am | News | CommentsThis 10x photo shows the dorsal view of a female deep-sea copepod (Pontostratiotes sp.) collected in the southeastern Atlantic at a depth of 5395 meters. The image received an honorable mention in the 2012 Nikon Small World Photomicrophotography Competition.
Gut of Fruit Fly Larva
May 17, 2013 1:55 pm | News | CommentsThis photo shows a single optical section through the whole gut of a fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) larva expressing a reporter for Notch signaling pathway activity (green), and stained with cytoskeletal (red) and nuclear (blue) markers.
Red Algae
May 16, 2013 10:33 am | News | CommentsThis 10x photo of red algae (Ptilota) received an honorable mention in the 2012 Nikon Small World Photomicrophotography Competition. Dr. Arlene Wechezak of Anacortes, WA, used a darkfield technique to capture the image. www.nikonsmallworld.com
NASA Completes First Part of Webb Telescope Eye Surgery
May 15, 2013 7:09 pm | by NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center | News | CommentsMuch like the inside of an operating room, in the clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., engineers worked meticulously to implant part of the eyes of the James Webb Space Telescope. They scrubbed up and suited up to perform one of the most delicate performances of their lives. That part of the eyes, the MIRI, or Mid-Infrared Instrument, will glimpse the formation of...
Bombardment: Mars Camera Reveals Hundreds of Impacts Each Year
May 15, 2013 7:09 pm | by University of Arizona | News | CommentsScientists using images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, or MRO, have estimated that the planet is bombarded by more than 200 small asteroids or bits of comets per year forming craters at least 12.8 feet (3.9 meters) across. Researchers have identified 248 new impact sites on parts of the Martian surface in the past decade
Black Hole Powered Jets Plow into Galaxy
May 15, 2013 2:59 pm | by Chandra X-ray Center | News | CommentsThis composite image of a galaxy illustrates how the intense gravity of a supermassive black hole can be tapped to generate immense power. The image contains X-ray data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue), optical light obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (gold) and radio waves from the NSF's Very Large Array (pink).
Beetle Eye
May 15, 2013 2:04 pm | News | CommentsThis 18x photo of the eye and first segments of a cinnabar flat beetle (Cucujus cinnaberinus) received an honorable mention in the 2012 Nikon Small World Photomicrophotography Competition. Nikola Rahme of Budapest, Hungary used reflected light to capture the image.
Illuminated Snow Crystal
May 14, 2013 3:40 pm | News | CommentsThis 5x photo of a snow crystal, illuminated with colored lights, received an honorable mention in the 2012 Nikon Small World Photomicrophotography Competition. Dr. Kenneth Libbrecht of the Department of Physics at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, CA, used a homemade microscope to capture the image.
Filamentous Fungus
May 13, 2013 10:22 am | News | CommentsThis 63x photo of a multinucleate filamentous fungus (Ashbya gossypii) CLN3 mRNA (orange) and nuclei (blue) received an honorable mention in the 2012 Nikon Small World Photomicrophotography Competition. ChangHwan Lee of Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH, used single molecule fluorescence in-situ hybridization to capture the image.
Fossilized Cyanobacteria
May 10, 2013 4:04 pm | News | CommentsThis 12.5x photo of fossilized accumulations of cyanobacteria on a substrate (stromatolite) received an honorable mention in the 2012 Nikon Small World Photomicrophotography Competition. Douglas Moore of University Relations & Communications/Geology at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, WI, used stereomicroscopy to capture the image.
Two Ants Meet on a Twig
May 9, 2013 11:37 am | News | CommentsThis 2.5x photo of two ants of different genus meeting on a twig received an honorable mention in the 2012 Nikon Small World Photomicrophotography Competition. Geir Drange of Asker, Norway, used reflected light and image stacking to capture the image.
Surprising Clutch of Hydrogen Clouds Lurking among Our Galactic Neighbors
May 8, 2013 5:53 pm | by National Radio Astronomy Observatory | News | CommentsIn a dark, starless patch of intergalactic space, astronomers have discovered a never-before-seen cluster of hydrogen clouds strewn between two nearby galaxies, Andromeda (M31) and Triangulum (M33). The researchers speculate that these rarefied blobs of gas -- each about as massive as a dwarf galaxy -- condensed out of a vast and as-yet undetected reservoir of hot, ionized gas, which could have...
Orion Crew Module at Kennedy Space Center
May 8, 2013 2:47 pm | News | CommentsOrion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry humans farther into space than ever before. The spacecraft will provide emergency abort capability, sustain crews during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep-space return velocities.
Mars Stereo View
May 6, 2013 3:42 pm | News | CommentsLeft and right eyes of the Navigation Camera (Navcam) in NASA's Curiosity Mars rover took the dozens of images combined into this stereo scene of the rover and its surroundings. The component images were taken during the 166th, 168th and 169th Martian days, or sols, of Curiosity's work on Mars
LAGEOS I, Laser Geodynamics Satellite, 1976
May 6, 2013 2:56 pm | News | CommentsThe LAGEOS I, Laser Geodynamics Satellite, was launched on May 4, 1976, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA. The two-foot diameter, 900-pound satellite orbited the Earth from pole to pole and measured the movements of the Earth's surface relative to earthquakes, continental drift, and other geophysical phenomena.
Lava Flow on Mawson Peak, Heard Island
May 2, 2013 1:06 pm | News | CommentsIn October 2012, satellites measured subtle signals that suggested volcanic activity on remote Heard Island. These images, captured several months later, show proof of an eruption on Mawson Peak. By April 7, 2013, Mawson's steep-walled summit crater had filled, and a trickle of lava had spilled down the volcano’s southwestern flank.
Bug Eyes Inspire Digital Imaging Capabilities
May 1, 2013 3:30 pm | by University of Illinois College of Engineering | News | CommentsAn interdisciplinary team of researchers has created the first digital cameras with designs that mimic those of ocular systems found in dragonflies, bees, praying mantises and other insects. This class of technology offers exceptionally wide-angle fields of view, with low aberrations, high acuity to motion, and nearly infinite depth of field.
Marine Ciliate
May 1, 2013 1:50 pm | News | CommentsThis 40x photo of a marine ciliate (Rhabdonella spiralis) was designated an Image of Distinction in the 2012 Nikon Small World Photomicrophotography Competition. Dr. John Dolan of CNRS/University of Paris Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche-sur-Mer, France, used differential interference contrast to capture the image.
The Rose: Spinning Vortex of Saturn Polar Storm
April 30, 2013 10:35 am | News | CommentsThe spinning vortex of Saturn's north polar storm resembles a deep red rose of giant proportions surrounded by green foliage in this false-color image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Measurements have sized the eye at a staggering 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers) across with cloud speeds as fast as 330 miles per hour (150 meters per second).
Fruit Fly Embryo
April 29, 2013 4:31 pm | News | CommentsThis 20x photo of a phalloidin stained embryo of a fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) was designated an Image of Distinction in the 2012 Nikon Small World Photomicrophotography Competition. Maik Drechsler of the University of Osnabrück, Germany, used confocal microscopy to capture the image.
Spider Spinnerets with Silk Gland Spigots
April 29, 2013 3:06 pm | News | CommentsThis 18x photo of a spider’s posterior lateral and median spinnerets with silk gland spigots was designated an Image of Distinction in the 2012 Nikon Small World Photomicrophotography Competition. Walter Piorkowski of South Beloit, IL, used EPI, reflected light, fiber optics and image stacking to capture the image.
Cricket Tongue
April 26, 2013 10:42 am | News | CommentsThis 40x photo of a cricket tongue (Gryllus campestris) was designated an Image of Distinction in the 2012 Nikon Small World Photomicrophotography Competition. Christian Gautier of Vernafilm in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, used darkfield and Rheinberg illumination to capture the image.
Scientists Image Nanoparticles in Action
April 25, 2013 4:00 pm | by Virginia Tech | News | CommentsThe macroscopic effects of certain nanoparticles on human health have long been clear to the naked eye. What scientists have lacked is the ability to see the detailed movements of individual particles that give rise to those effects. In a recently published study, scientists invented a technique for imaging nanoparticle dynamics with atomic resolution as these dynamics occur in a liquid environment.
