Visualization Challenge winners show spectacular science

It's not always easy to explain a complex idea in words, but sometimes an picture can help – especially if it's beautiful and compelling. The 2011 Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge picks the best photographs, illustrations, graphics, interactive games and videos that engage viewers by conveying the complex substance of science through images. Caroline Morley

Metabolomic Eye
It's not just a squishy ball: this image of a mouse eye shows all the onion-like layers inside. Made using computational molecular phenotyping, we can clearly see the optic nerve at top right and the outer sclera (in green) enclosing the other layers. Despite its cringe-inducing subject matter, this image won first place in the photography category.

(Image: Bryan William Jones, The University of Utah, Moran Eye Center)

 

 

 

 

 

The cliff of the two-dimensional world

A red sandstone cliff against the Arizona sky – or not. This is in fact stacked two-dimensional layers of Ti₃C₂, where a layer from the original compound has been selectively etched away by acid. Inspired by the name of the Nobel-winning material graphene, the researchers who invented this layered material named it "mxene". This striking image won the People's Choice category for photography.

(Image: Babak Anasori, Michael Naguib, Yury Gogotsi, Michel W. Barsoum, Drexel University)

 

Death receptors on breast cancer cell

The undulating sea monster in this computer graphic illustrates death receptors (DR5) on breast cancer cell surfaces as they are targeted by the antibody TRA-8. These receptors prompt a cell to self-destruct when it is damaged or malfunctioning. The process is part of a therapy developed at the Birmingham School of Medicine at the University of Alabama, and the image won an honourable mention in the illustration category.

(Image: Emiko Paul and Quade Paul, Echo Medical Media/Ron Gamble, UAB Insight)

 

 

Variable-diameter carbon nanotubes

Another honourable mention in the illustration category went to this 3D image of variable-diameter carbon nanotubes, which are produced using lasers to precisely control their proportions and properties. The real nanotubes are highly electrically and thermally conductive and were made by Yongfeng Yu of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, who sees them being used to improve computers.

(Image: Joel Brehm, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Office of Research and Economic Development)

Foldit

Crowdsourcing gained scientific kudos when more than 57,000 gamers authored a paper in the journal Nature last year. Players of Foldit compete to score points by folding proteins in new ways, which has allowed researchers to tap into human creativity and problem-solving on a large scale. Foldit's innovative design won it first place in the interactive games category.

(Image: Seth Cooper, David Baker, Zoran Popović, Firas Khatib, Jeff Flatten, Kefan Xu, Dun-Yu Hsiao and Riley Adams, Center for Game Science at University of Washington)

Powers of Minus Ten

Zooming down from the visible to the cellular and even molecular levels, Powers of Minus Ten gives users the opportunity to explore the science of the human hand. The iPhone and iPad app also includes mini-games to reinforce what you have learned. Judges gave the app a high-five and an honourable mention in the interactive games category.

(Image: Laura Lynn Gonzalez/Green-Eye Visualization)

 

 

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