article｜Shen Qiuyue
htmlOn December 13, the editorial department of " Nature " selected 12 best scientific pictures of the year, from black holes to volcanic eruptions, from ecosystems to cells, presenting a colorful scientific beauty. It is worth mentioning that 2 of the annual pictures are from Chinese photographers.
Image source: Li Ling
A picture is from Li Ling, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech University and his team. This is a super close-up view of the skeleton part of a steamed bun starfish under , a scanning electron microscope of . Under the scanning electron microscope, you can see that the steamed bun starfish has rows of highly ordered lattice structures growing on the surface, which makes its bones light but strong and resistant to damage. This picture is on the cover of Science magazine in February this year for its scientificity and artistic nature. After the paper was published, a reporter from China Science Daily conducted an exclusive interview with Li Ling and his team on this research. Click to read: Chinese scholar research is on Science cover: Discover the unprecedented "crazy" structure .
Image source: Li Ping/TNC Photo Contest 2022
Another picture is "Tree of the Earth" by Chinese photographer Li Ping. This photo stands out from more than 100,000 entries and won the first prize in the 2022 Nature Conservation Association photography competition.
The picture shows a lonely highway in the China Tibet Autonomous Region from a high altitude perspective. The gullies naturally formed on both sides of the highway due to rainwater erosion and sedimentation converge into the shape of a big tree. In order to take pictures of this magnificent view, the photographer slept overnight in the parking lot on the roadside and took this amazing photo in the early morning using the drone .
The following are some photos selected for the 2022 scientific pictures of Nature:
Picture source: Grigorii Timin and Dr. Michel Milinkovitch/Nikon Small World 2022
Five. evolutionary biologist Grigorii Timin used microscope and artistic techniques to create a detailed image of the foot of the gecko embryonic.
Image source: Ben Prather, University of Illinois at Champagne/EHT Theory Working Group
Galaxy Abyss. This is the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* located in the center of Milky Way galaxy, and it is also the direct photo of the second black hole in the world. Astronomers used radio wave observations taken by the Vision Telescope to create the photo.
Image source: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. DePasquale (STScI), A. Pagan (STScI), AM Koekemoer (STScI)
Dust tendrils. In this picture of " Pillars of Creation " (located in Eagle Nebula ) taken by James Webb Space Telescope , towering interstellar dust extends into the universe. This magnificent scene took place 6,500 light years away from the earth.
Image source: Tony Wu/2022 Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Meteor. When a giant starfish lays eggs, it stands up with its limbs and shakes it to sweep the sperm and eggs into the water. Photographer Tony Wu cleverly captured the scene, which won the 2022 Wildlife Photography Award, hosted by UK Museum of Natural History .
Image source: Roberto García-Roa (CC BY 4.0)
Zombie Fruit fly . This image was taken in the Tambopata National Reserve in , Peru, and a parasitic fungus "breaks out" from a fruit fly. The spores of this "zombie" fungus penetrate into the fruit fly's exoskeleton and brain, forcing the fruit fly to migrate to places that are more conducive to fungal growth. Evolutionary biologist Roberto García Roa took the photo and won this year's BMC Ecology and Evolution Picture Competition.
Image source: GOES-West NOAA/RAMMB/CIRA
Huge explosion. In January this year, seismometers around the world "hear" the huge eruption of the Tonga volcano eruption.Complex Earth observation satellites capture the highest volcanic plume ever created by the extraordinary power of the explosion.
Image source: Aurélien Roux
Expanded cells. When this flat cell sheet is curved into a curve, the cells expand and become dome-shaped. Molecular biologist Aurélien Roux believes that understanding how cells respond to bending may help develop a 3D tissue model called an organoid.
Reference link:
https://www.nature.com/immersive/d41586-022-04372-2/index.html
