SciencePhoto

Connecting lines, illustration.

Reydon solar farm. Aerial view over the photovoltaic arrays of the solar farm at Reydon, Suffolk, UK. This site can power approximately 1300 homes a year.

Cygnus X-1 black hole, illustration. Cygnus X-1 is located near large active regions of star formation in the Milky Way. This illustration depicts what astronomers think is happening within the Cygnus X-1 system. Cygnus X-1 is a so-called stellar-mass black hole, a class of black holes that comes from the collapse of a massive star. The black hole (left) pulls material from a massive, blue companion star (right) toward it. This material forms a disk (red and orange) that rotates around the black hole before falling into it or being redirected away from the black hole in the form of powerful jets. Cygnus X-1 is around 6000 light years from Earth, in the constellation of Cygnus. Image published in 2011.

Black anemone fish (Amphiprion melanopus) hidden in the tentacles of a partially bleached sea anemone. This fish, also known as the fire clownfish, is found on the coral reefs of the tropical Pacific Ocean. The anemone fish has a symbiotic relationship with the sea anemone. The sea anemone provides the anemone fish a safe haven by protecting it from predators through its stinging tentacles. The fish is immune to the sting and cleans the anemone by feeding on parasites such as algae and zooplankton. Photographed in Milne Bay, off Papua New Guinea.

False-colour scanning electron micrograph of a TM 2716 integrated circuit, showing a corner of the device with surrounding connecting pin leads. This chip is of the EPROM type - Eraseable, Programmable, Read Only Memory. EPROM chips are programmed by applying a voltage across selected connecting pins. Some such devices may then be subsequently reprogrammed - other types, PROMs, may not. Magnification: X 30 at 6x4. 5cm size. The TM 2716 EPROM chip is of the NMOS type (n- type

Meteor Crater. Aerial view of Meteor Crater, near Winslow in northeast Arizona, USA. It is also called the Barringer Crater, after the mining engineer who first suggested that it was formed by a meteor impact. It is about 50,000 years old and is about 200 metres deep and 800 metres across. Several attempts to mine the iron-rich material of the meteor were made before a visitor centre was built in the 1960's. Two new minerals - coesite and stishovite - were identified here; both are forms of silica created at high temperatures and pressures. In recent years the crater has been used for astronaut training & studies in planet comparison.

Flowers outside Kensington Palace. These flowers were placed by members of the public in memory of Princess Diana, popularly known as the Queen of Hearts, outside her residence during the days after her death on 31 August 1997. She was killed in a car crash in Paris. The outpouring of public grief at Princess Diana's death was unprecedented and florists across the country had to work non-stop in the aftermath of the crash to keep up with demand.

Ponzo's illusion. The vertical red line to the left of the image appears to be smaller than the one to the right. In fact they are the same length, but the brain perceives them differently due to the converging black lines. This illusion exploits the brain's understanding of perspective: imagine the converging lines are a representation of a wall going into the distance. The red line to the right then appears to span a greater width of what the brain interprets as parallel lines. Hence it concludes it is larger.

Tornado over fields. Photographed near Crawford, western Oklahoma, USA, on 26th April 2009.

Rock strata and canyon at Ernst Tinaja water pools, in Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA.

Pyramidal neurons in the cerebral cortex, illustration. Pyramidal neurons are found in certain areas of the brain including the cerebral cortex, the hippocampus, and the amygdala. Here, the illustration shows the synaptic signals highlighted using a microscopy fluorescence technique.

Mandelbrot fractal. Computer graphic showing a fractal image derived from the Mandelbrot Set. Fractals geometry is used to derive complex shapes as often occur in nature. The Mandelbrot Set, named after the mathematician Benoit B. Mandelbrot, is a group of complex numbers. Each point is assigned a colour depending upon its behaviour plotted under a series of simple but repeated mathematical operations or mappings. Generated on a computer screen, fractals are used to create models for real-world non-linear phenomena such as stock market prices, weather forecasting, plant growth, erosion of coastlines and fluid turbulence.

Peptide self-assembly and DNA, illustration. Peptide self-assembly and structural DNA nanotechnology are two important but distinct branches of nanobiotechnology. Peptide scaffolds offer chemical versatility, architectural flexibility and structural complexity. This image shows how peptides add backbone to DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) self-assembly.

Lighthouse of Alexandria. Historical artwork showing the Lighthouse of Alexandria, Egypt. Also known as the Pharos of Ptolemy, this lighthouse was designed by Sostratus of Cnidus and had three sections. Its construction was completed in the reign of Pharaoh Ptolemy Philadelphus between 285 and 247 BC. Fires were used at night, and mirrors in the day, to direct ships. Its height was between 115 and 135 metres, one of the tallest man-made objects of the time, and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was destroyed by several earthquakes in the 14th century.

Brain scans. Coloured magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans through a human head showing a healthy brain. The bottom row (and one at lower right) are axial sections with the front of the head at top. The others are sagittal sections with the front at left. The largest part of the brain is the folded cerebrum, which controls conscious thoughts. The highly-folded cerebellum, which controls balance and posture, is seen at lower right in the sagittal scans. Eyes (white circles) are seen in some of the scans at lower right. MRI uses radio waves and a powerful magnet to provoke tissues to emit signals depending on their composition. It is particularly useful for studying nervous tissue.

Aluminium recycling. Blocks of compacted aluminum waste stored on pallets prior to being recycled.

Halley's comet photographed from New Zealand in October 1986. The Moon is behind cloud at bottom right. Named after Edmund Halley (1656-1742), who first recognised its periodicity, the comet has been recorded every 76 years since 240 BC. It consists of a nucleus of ice & dust, shaped like an elongated potato. Its tail is formed as the comet is heated when it approaches the Sun. Dust & gas are released and swept into a tail both by radiation pressure and by the solar wind.

Higgs boson. Computer artwork showing a Higgs boson particle, which was formed by the collision of two protons, decaying into two photons. The Higgs boson is thought to give other particles mass. The first sighting of it was announced by scientists at CERN on 4th July 2012.

Lion's mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata). Lion's mane jellyfish are the largest known species of jellyfish. They can reach over 2 metres across with tentacles of around 30 metres long, containing millions of nematocysts (stinging cells). They range from Arctic waters to the coasts of Florida, USA, and Mexico.

Smoky quartz crystals. Quartz is a form of silica (silicon dioxide) characterized by its hexagonal (six-fold) crystal symmetry. It is the second most abundant mineral in the Earth's crust after feldspar. It is colourless and transparent when pure but ranges from blue to pink in colour owing to a variety of natural chemical impurities.

Chocolate cocoa plant (Theobroma cacao) with fruit pods (red) that are used to make chocolate. This watercolour is plate 48 from one of a set of three volumes by the Indian-born British artist and amateur ornithologist Margaret Bushby Lascelles Cockburn (1829-1928). These volumes, dating from 1858, consist of artworks of the people, flora and fauna of 19th-century India, particularly in and around the Nilgiri Hills (then known as the Neilgherry Hills) in the state of Tamil Nadu, in southern India.

Sinclair Oil Refinery. Panoramic view of the Sinclair Oil Refinery, Wyoming, USA.

Adipose stem cells. Fluorescence light micrograph of human stem cells derived from adipose (fat) tissue. Nestin protein filaments are red; membrane cofactor protein is green; and cell nuclei are blue. Magnification: x63 when printed 10 centimetres wide.

Mississippi Delta. True colour Landsat satellite image of the Mississippi River Delta, Louisiana, USA. North is at top. The Mississippi River is seen running from top left into the Gulf of Mexico at bottom left. A delta is an area of sedimentation (deposition) at the mouth of a river. It is transitory and new channels are constantly forming while others become blocked. Image taken on 9th April 1976.

Chromosomes. Computer illustration of human chromosomes. Chromosomes are composed of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and contain sections, called genes, which encode the body's genetic information. Each chromosome consists of two chromatids joined at their centres by the centromere, which is involved in cell division. At the tip of each chromatid are the telomeres, whose function is to protect the ends of the chromosome from degrading.

Map of London. 16th-century map of Tudor London, titled 'Londinum Feracissimi Angliae Regni Metropolis'. In the top corners are Tudor (left) and City (right) coats-of-arms. Latin inscriptions (bottom corners) describe the city economy. Manor houses link the city with the royal court at Westminster (left). London Bridge (centre right) leads to Southwark. The spire of St Paul's Cathedral (destroyed 1561) is visible. The vignette (lower centre) shows local dress. This is a 1612 edition of a map first published in volume 1 (1572) of the city atlas 'Civitates orbis terrarum'. This atlas was edited by Georg Braun (c.1540-1622) and largely engraved by Franz Hogenberg.

Cremation, conceptual illustration.

Airport at sunset. Inbound, outbound and taxiing aircraft at an airport at sunset.

Black hole, artwork. A black hole is a point in space where gravity is so strong that all surrounding matter, including light, is drawn in and densely compressed. Black holes are thought to be formed from the remnants of a large star that has died in a supernova explosion.

Antibody. Computer illustration of an antibody, or immunoglobulin, molecule. These Y-shaped molecules have two arms that can bind to specific antigens, for instance viral or bacterial proteins. In doing this they mark the antigen for destruction by phagocytes, white blood cells that ingest and destroy foreign bodies. Antibodies can also kill some pathogens directly and can neutralise toxins.

Grey whale (Eschrichtius robustus). This whale is found in coastal waters, migrating with the seasons from Arctic waters to tropical equatorial waters. It can grow up to 15 metres in length and weigh 16 tonnes. It has over 150 large bristly baleen plates (white) hanging down from its jaws. It feeds by swallowing sediment from the sea floor and then pressing its tongue against the plates, pushing the water out and trapping crustaceans and worms. Photographed in the Gulf of California, Mexico.

Active senior couple walking bicycles in park.

Coloured transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of Escherichia coli O157 bacteria. E. coli are Gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria that are part of the normal flora of the human gut. The O157 strain produces a toxin that can cause bloody diarrhoea and kidney failure. It can be fatal, especially in the very young or elderly. E. coli O157 is found in the intestines of some cattle, and can spread to contaminate beef and milk. Its transmission can be prevented by thoroughly cooking meat and through the pasteurisation of milk. Magnification: x12,750 when printed at 10 centimetres wide.

Creative business people working in open plan office.

Archaeopteryx. Fossil of Archaeopteryx, a crow-sized flying reptile with feathers. The bones (orange) are surrounded by feathers (rippled areas). The head is at centre left, with the wings at upper left and centre right. The legs are at lower centre, and the tail is at lower left. Less than ten specimens of Archaeopteryx have been found, all from the Solenhofen limestones of the late Jurassic period (195-135 million years ago), in Bavaria, Germany. Archaeopteryx shows that birds evolved from dinosaurs. The claws seen on its wings are a combined reptilian and avian characteristic. This is the Berlin Specimen, discovered in 1876/7.

Respiratory epithelium. Transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of a section through the respiratory epithelium of the lung, showing microvilli (large, hair-like), cilia (small, hair-like) and the basal bodies that are the anchoring sites for the cilia. The basement membrane (bottom) can also be seen. The respiratory epithelium is the lining of the respiratory tract, which moistens and protects the airways. Mucous and cilia act to trap potential pathogens and foreign particles, preventing infection.