2017 Scientific Images Contest Winners Open Access (recommended)

Institutional Collection

The same scientific research that generates new understanding and innovation also brings unexpected and often breathtaking beauty. Submitted by Northwestern University researchers, these images represent advances across a wide range of disciplines, including astronomy, medicine, chemistry, engineering, and nanotechnology. Judged by an interdisciplinary panel of local artists, scientists and community leaders, the winning images have been displayed throughout the Chicagoland area, including Evanston Township High School and Evanston Public Library.

Keyword: Scientific images contest
Science in Society
Rights: All rights reserved
Creator: In Society, Science
Related URL: http://scienceinsociety.northwestern.edu/initiatives/scientific-images-contest
Publisher: Science in Society
Date Created: 2017
Language: English
Total Items: 12
Size: 561 MB

Member of:

Science in Society Scientific Images Contest

Items in this Collection

1. 3-D printed copper or air?

Title:: 3-D printed copper or air?
Description:: This image originally appeared as part of Northwestern's Scientific Images Contest. The contest and subsequent exhibitions are organized by Science in Society, the university's research center for science education and public engagement. Further information and opportunities to participate are available on their website. Prints and canvas editions of these Northwestern research images can also be purchased online (with the small net profit going to science education and outreach programming in the Chicago area)., 2017 Second Place
Abstract:: This 3D-printed copper salt structure can be used in many ways. Here, it floats in a jar of water. The water dissolves the copper salt, resulting in a blue color, and transforming the structure into a very porous sponge-like material. When the salt has been completely dissolved, a polymer skeleton remains. This skeleton resembles the original 3D-printed shape but is incredibly light, like air.Creating materials like these is important because the "polymer skeletons sponge" can be used to implant all kinds of potent gel and liquid biomaterials during surgery. These fragile gels are currently being used to regenerate parts of tissues and organs.
Keyword:: 3-D printing, Copper, liquid biomaterials, tissue regeneration, polymer skeleton
Subject: MESH:: Copper, Printing, Three-Dimensional, Water
Creator:: Jakus, Adam Edward
Publisher:: Science in Society, DigitalHub. Galter Health Sciences Library
Date Created:: 2017
Rights:: All rights reserved
Resource Type:: Pictorial Works

2. Accidental beauty

Title:: Accidental beauty
Description:: This image originally appeared as part of Northwestern's Scientific Images Contest. The contest and subsequent exhibitions are organized by Science in Society, the university's research center for science education and public engagement. Further information and opportunities to participate are available on their website. Prints and canvas editions of these Northwestern research images can also be purchased online (with the small net profit going to science education and outreach programming in the Chicago area).
Abstract:: This image shows tiny purple ropes, dotted with turquoise and yellow sugar bubbles. These ropes are a fibrous material that mimics tissue in the body. Many ropes together can weave a custom-made tissue band-aid. This new material can then help heal damaged organs. Scientists create these bio-compatible ropes by pushing the fiber material through microscopic molds. The bubbles are a residue from a lubricant which helps the fibers flow through the mold.
Keyword:: Biocompatible ropes, microscopic molds, fibrous material
Subject: MESH:: Tissue Engineering, Biocompatible Materials
Creator:: Edelbrock, Alexandra
Publisher:: Science in Society, DigitalHub. Galter Health Sciences Library
Date Created:: 2017
Rights:: All rights reserved
Resource Type:: Pictorial Works

3. Black hole encounter

Title:: Black hole encounter
Description:: This image originally appeared as part of Northwestern's Scientific Images Contest. The contest and subsequent exhibitions are organized by Science in Society, the university's research center for science education and public engagement. Further information and opportunities to participate are available on their website. Prints and canvas editions of these Northwestern research images can also be purchased online (with the small net profit going to science education and outreach programming in the Chicago area)., 2017 First Place
Abstract:: This image shows three black holes and one normal star dancing in the heart of a dense star cluster. The very strong gravity near black holes bends the (normally straight) paths of starlight. This dramatically distorts the nearby star, causing these swirls and streaks. Computer simulations like these help us understand how black holes form and interact. This work is particularly timely because LIGO first discovered gravitational waves in 2015, confirming Einstein's century-old prediction and winning the 2017 Nobel Prize. Those gravitational waves came from the merger of two very distant black holes; black holes which may have been paired up in a dance like the one shown here.
Keyword:: Black holes, dense star cluster, gravitational waves, gravity, binary black holes
Subject: MESH:: Stars, Celestial, Gravitation, Astronomical Phenomena
Subject: LCSH:: Black holes (Astronomy), Stars--Clusters
Creator:: Geller, Aaron M
Publisher:: Science in Society, DigitalHub. Galter Health Sciences Library
Date Created:: 2017
Rights:: All rights reserved
Resource Type:: Pictorial Works

4. Brain butterflies

Title:: Brain butterflies
Description:: This image originally appeared as part of Northwestern's Scientific Images Contest. The contest and subsequent exhibitions are organized by Science in Society, the university's research center for science education and public engagement. Further information and opportunities to participate are available on their website. Prints and canvas editions of these Northwestern research images can also be purchased online (with the small net profit going to science education and outreach programming in the Chicago area).
Abstract:: This image shows three slices of a stained mouse brain. Each slice is about the size of your pinky fingernail. Colored stains help scientists pinpoint the location of particular brain cell types. In this image, only the cells that carry the protein RBP4 show red (all other cells in this sample are blue). Scientists study how these RBP4 cells create new connections to other brain cells. This could lead to new treatments that help neurons repair damaged networks.
Keyword:: Brain, RBP4, Neurons, Neural networks
Subject: MESH:: Brain, Mice, Retinol-Binding Proteins, Cellular, Neurons
Creator:: Salvo, Joseph James
Publisher:: Science in Society, DigitalHub. Galter Health Sciences Library
Date Created:: 2017
Rights:: All rights reserved
Resource Type:: Pictorial Works

5. Dispersing the seeds of life

Title:: Dispersing the seeds of life
Description:: This image originally appeared as part of Northwestern's Scientific Images Contest. The contest and subsequent exhibitions are organized by Science in Society, the university's research center for science education and public engagement. Further information and opportunities to participate are available on their website. Prints and canvas editions of these Northwestern research images can also be purchased online (with the small net profit going to science education and outreach programming in the Chicago area)., 2017 Third Place
Abstract:: This is a photograph of a plant called Pitchers thistle that is on the brink of becoming endangered. This seed head is in its final stage of development, dispersing seeds like a dandelion. The species plays an important role in the sand dune ecosystems around the Great Lakes. Habitat destruction (by humans) and seed pillaging (by non-native weevils) are reducing the range and population of this species. Conservation biologists study the thistle and its growth cycle to inform conservation and restoration efforts for it and other endangered plants.
Keyword:: Pitchers thistle, Great Lakes, sand dunes, conservation biology, dispersing seeds
Subject: MESH:: Seeds, Endangered Species, Cirsium
Subject: LCSH:: Thistles
Subject: Geographic Name:: Great Lakes (North America)
Creator:: Gijsman Kelemu, Finote Aster
Publisher:: Science in Society, DigitalHub. Galter Health Sciences Library
Date Created:: 2017
Rights:: All rights reserved
Resource Type:: Photographs

6. Dry & cracked

Title:: Dry & cracked
Description:: This image originally appeared as part of Northwestern's Scientific Images Contest. The contest and subsequent exhibitions are organized by Science in Society, the university's research center for science education and public engagement. Further information and opportunities to participate are available on their website. Prints and canvas editions of these Northwestern research images can also be purchased online (with the small net profit going to science education and outreach programming in the Chicago area).
Abstract:: This is a photo of failure. In this experiment, nanoparticles were suspended in water. Scientists then painted it onto a microscope slide, hoping to make a sturdy membrane that could be peeled off in one piece. But the coating cracked as it dried, like desert mud. Here, the cracks are lit up, showing the defects through a microscope. The colors come from iridescence, like what you see in soap bubbles.
Keyword:: Nanoparticles, iridescence, Darkfield microscope
Subject: MESH:: Nanoparticles, Water, Iridescence
Creator:: Koltonow, Andrew Robert
Publisher:: Science in Society, DigitalHub. Galter Health Sciences Library
Date Created:: 2017
Rights:: All rights reserved
Resource Type:: Photographs

7. Light on the mind

Title:: Light on the mind
Description:: This image originally appeared as part of Northwestern's Scientific Images Contest. The contest and subsequent exhibitions are organized by Science in Society, the university's research center for science education and public engagement. Further information and opportunities to participate are available on their website. Prints and canvas editions of these Northwestern research images can also be purchased online (with the small net profit going to science education and outreach programming in the Chicago area).
Abstract:: This video shows a mouse brain thinking (click "download the file" link to see the looped file play in full). Your brain is made up of 100 billion cells called neurons. Neurons send messages to each other here, neurons glow green when they are sending messages. Normally, brain cells don't light up when they communicate. In this video, they contain special proteins engineered to glow when messages are fired off. Using high powered lasers and a trick of quantum physics, researchers can see the cells glow through layers of brain. These researchers study the hippocampus, the part of the brain that helps us navigate. In this video, we're watching a mouse's hippocampus as it runs a virtual-reality maze. This research helps us understand how our brains navigate and form memories.
Keyword:: Mouse brain, Neurons, hippocampus, memory formation, high powered lasers
Subject: MESH:: Brain, Mice, Neurons, Hippocampus
Creator:: Climer, Jason Robert
Publisher:: Science in Society, DigitalHub. Galter Health Sciences Library
Date Created:: 2017
Resource Type:: Animation

8. Superdeep diamond

Title:: Superdeep diamond
Description:: This image originally appeared as part of Northwestern's Scientific Images Contest. The contest and subsequent exhibitions are organized by Science in Society, the university's research center for science education and public engagement. Further information and opportunities to participate are available on their website. Prints and canvas editions of these Northwestern research images can also be purchased online (with the small net profit going to science education and outreach programming in the Chicago area).
Abstract:: This is a rough diamond weighing nearly one third of a carat (about the size of a pea). Diamonds, a form of pure carbon, are formed under immense pressures found 100 miles underground. Ancient volcanic eruptions carried diamonds to the surface worldwide. In western Brazil, diamonds like this one have superdeep origins they formed below 500 miles depth. Scientists study these superdeep diamonds because mysterious water-rich minerals are trapped inside them; minerals found nowhere else on Earth.
Keyword:: Superdeep diamonds, Volcanic eruptions, Pure carbon, Water-rich minerals
Subject: MESH:: Diamond
Creator:: Wenz, Michelle Dawn
Publisher:: Science in Society, DigitalHub. Galter Health Sciences Library
Date Created:: 2017
Resource Type:: Pictorial Works

9. Switching nanofibers

Title:: Switching nanofibers
Description:: This image originally appeared as part of Northwestern's Scientific Images Contest. The contest and subsequent exhibitions are organized by Science in Society, the university's research center for science education and public engagement. Further information and opportunities to participate are available on their website. Prints and canvas editions of these Northwestern research images can also be purchased online (with the small net profit going to science education and outreach programming in the Chicago area).
Abstract:: The image shows a brain cell known as astrocyte (shown in blue) on a newly-created synthetic material (shown in green and orange). The large orange structures resemble those in an injured spinal cord. These stimulate changes in the blue brain cells structure and function. Materials like this could help the body repair itself after trauma to the central nervous system.
Keyword:: Nanofibers, Astrocytes, central nervous system, spinal cord, synthetic materials
Subject: MESH:: Astrocytes, Brain, Nanofibers, Spinal Cord Injuries
Creator:: Freeman, Ronit, McClendon, Mark Trosper
Publisher:: Science in Society, DigitalHub. Galter Health Sciences Library
Date Created:: 2017
Resource Type:: Pictorial Works

10. The fungal jungle

Title:: The fungal jungle
Description:: This image originally appeared as part of Northwestern's Scientific Images Contest. The contest and subsequent exhibitions are organized by Science in Society, the university's research center for science education and public engagement. Further information and opportunities to participate are available on their website. Prints and canvas editions of these Northwestern research images can also be purchased online (with the small net profit going to science education and outreach programming in the Chicago area)., 2017 Fourth Place
Abstract:: New medicines are very challenging to discover, but they may lay in waiting in the least expected places. This image shows Aspergillus Fungi, otherwise known as common bread mold. Scientists at Northwestern University study organisms like this to come up with new breakthroughs in the field of drug discovery.
Keyword:: bread mold
Subject: MESH:: Aspergillus, Drug Discovery
Creator:: Roth, Eric Wayne
Contributor:: Kelleher Research Group
Publisher:: Science in Society, DigitalHub. Galter Health Sciences Library
Date Created:: 2017
Resource Type:: Pictorial Works

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