Best Science Pictures of 2010 Announced

HIV in 3-D
Image courtesy Konstantinov/Stefanov/Kovalevsky/Voronin, Visual Science Company
The most detailed 3-D model yet of the HIV virus won first place for illustrations in the 2010 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge.
Sponsored jointly by the journal Science and the National Science Foundation, the annual competition awards entries that "engage people worldwide and convey science close up in novel and visually stimulating ways," according to a statement. Judging criteria include visual impact, effective communication, freshness, and originality. (See some of the 2009 winners.)
A Russian team led by Ivan Konstantinov analyzed data from more than a hundred scientific journals to digitally depict HIV as close to the real thing as possible. The two-tone color scheme shows HIV (orange) attacking and fusing with an immune cell (gray). The triangular cut-away shows how the virus integrates itself to turn the cell into a virus factory. (Get the facts on AIDS.)
"We consider such 3-D models as a new way to present and promote scientific data about ubiquitous human viruses," Konstantinov, of the Visual Science Company, said in a statement.
Published February 17, 2011
"Horror" Virus
Image courtesy Jonathan Heras, Equinox Graphics
In a 3-D image, a bacteriophage aggressively attacks a bacterium "B-movie horror style," according to creator Jonathan Heras of Equinox Graphics, Ltd. The digital ambush snagged an honorable mention in the illustrations category of the 2010 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge.
Bacteriophages are viruses with "alien, spindly legs" and sucker-shaped mouths used to "relentlessly pursue their prey," Heras said in a statement. The viruses hijack bacteria's biology and use the victims as virus "replication factories," he said. (See "'Zombie Virus' Possible via Rabies-Flu Hybrid?")
Overall, the 2010 entries were "exceptional," communicating science "in a way that the public can understand and appreciate," Monica M. Bradford, Science's executive editor, said in a statement.
"The international competition highlights the innovation and technical expertise of scientists who are able to visually attract a wide audience and engage them to experience the complex nature and beauty of science."
Published February 17, 2011
Rough Waters
Image courtesy Seth B. Darling/ANL and Steven J. Sibener/U-Chicago
Snagging first place for photography, this micrograph—a photograph taken through a microscope—shows the rippling surface of a single layer of molecules.
"The layer is actually comprised of two different molecules that tend to separate something like oil and water, and in this image we've captured what that separation looks like at a very early stage," said Seth B. Darling, who collaborated with Steven J. Sibener from Argonne National Laboratory on the photograph.
Each of the millions of molecules in the image has sulfur at its head, but one type has carbon and hydrogen at the tail whereas the other has carbon and fluorine. The heights of the two molecule types differ by about 0.2 nanometers. The image is featured on the cover of the February 18 edition of Science.
(Also see "Pictures: Best Micro-Photos of 2010.")
Published February 17, 2011
Tomato-Seed "Hair"
Image courtesy Robert Rock Belliveau
A microscope-enabled closeup of hairs on the seed of the common tomato won an honorable mention in the photography category.
The hairs secrete a mucus that appears as a clear membrane at the edge of the seed, according to photographer Robert Rock Belliveau, a retired pathologist. This mucus has several purposes: killing predators with a natural insecticide, preventing the seed from drying out, and anchoring the seed to the soil.
(Also see "Giant, Mucus-Like Sea Blobs on the Rise, Pose Danger.")
Published February 17, 2011
Plant-Gene Map
Image courtesy Insuk Lee, Michael Ahn, Edward Marcotte, and Seung Yon Rhee, Carnegie
What looks like a fireworks display is really a portion of AraNet, a gene map of the mustard plant Arabidopsis thaliana, which earned an honorable mention in the illustrations category. (Get a genetics overview.)
A Carnegie Institution for Science team built Aranet from more than 50 million experimental observations of the plant and other organisms. Genes involved in the same biological processes are linked by lines, and color shows the strength of the link.
"It's not unlike a social network," co-creator and biologist Seung Yon Rhee said in the Science article.
Published February 17, 2011
Fungus Poster
Image courtesy Kandis Elliott and Mo Fayyaz, University of Wisconsin-Madison
All manner of fungi sprout in a detail from an educational poster that won first place in the Informational Graphics category. Depicted species include those found in cheese, beer, bread, and even hibernating bats.
"Fungi is a very complex subject," Kandis Elliot, senior artist in the Department of Botany at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, said in a statement. "It's not just about mushrooms anymore."
For instance, fungi are now being used to make natural fuels, medicine, and many other beneficial products, Elliot said.
Published February 17, 2011
Centipede Robot
Image courtesy Katie L. Hoffman and Robert J. Wood, Harvard University
A photograph of a centipede-inspired robot won an honorable mention in the photography category. The bug-size robot's design may inspire better models for movement, according to Harvard University experts.
The multisegment millirobot offers insight into how flexibility and body undulations can enhance movement, and whether there is an ideal number of legs for efficient and stable walking. (See "Robot Fish to Detect Ocean Pollution.")
All the winning entries in the 2010 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge will be posted online Friday on Science's website and on NSF's website.
Published February 17, 2011