Art of Science

The 'Art of Science' is an annual competition that the Faculty of Medical and Veterinary Sciences at the University of Bristol hold. Researchers in the Faculty submit the coolest of images to be judged this year by our very own Dean, George Banting and Sabrina Taner from Wellcome Images.

Check out some of the images from the competition held in December that are on display in the @Bristol Cafe.

Rachel Curnock

Laura Senior

Ilona Aylott

Nicole Antonio

Sasha Woods

Happy grass cells!

Festive or Digestive?

This image may look like some kind of neon winter wonderland, but it is actually a microscopic view inside a human intestine. More specifically, the image represents the cells that make up intestinal tissue. They just so happen to look like Christmas trees, together with a bit of snow from Photoshop! Dr Alex Greenhough and Paloma Ordonez Moran from the School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Bristol created the image.

Your Brain by the Numbers

Dwayne Godwin is a neuroscientist at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Jorge Cham draws the comic strip Piled Higher and Deeper at www.phdcomics.com.

Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2012

Naomi Farren

Here are some highlights from this year’s Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the year competition, check out these stunning images.

‘Bubble-jetting emperors’ Paul Nicklen 

This fantastic underwater shot was taken when photographer Paul Nicklen submerged himself under the Antarctic ice into the Ross Sea, remaining motionless so as not to disturb the imminent arrival of the emperor penguins. The colony soon emerged from the depths of the ocean in order to catch food for their young, creating this beautiful image. In fact, it is believed that the emperor penguin can dive up to 875 feet to catch their dinner! 

‘Ice Matters’ Anna Henly 

The winner of ‘The World in Our Hands’ topic, Anna Henly, has captured an image which powerfully portrays the devastating effects of the anthropogenic influences on our natural environment. The use of the fisheye lens makes the polar bear appear insignificant and vulnerable, as it seemingly tiptoes across the broken ice in an attempt to find food. The polar bear’s distress is a result of rising sea temperatures, reducing the amount of time the bears have to hunt for food. 

‘Life in the border zone’ Vladimir Medvedev 

Vladimir Medvedev was in Jasper National Park, Canada, when he spotted the silhouette of a deer and quickly pulled over his car. He was hoping to ‘show how the natural world often exists so close to us, yet is so often unseen.’ The shutter speed was set low, hoping that the stag would stay still enough and the car headlights would leave behind a long light trail. 

See some more winners here.

The Art of Science 2012

Louisa Cockbill

The Art of Science is a creative arts competition run every year by the Faculty of Medical and Veterinary Sciences at Bristol University; it is open to all researchers within the Faculty, including students. Can you capture the beauty within science? If so it’s not too late to enter, so give it a go, click here for more information. There are a bunch of great prizes and entries are displayed at @Bristol café and have the opportunity to be selected for the Wellcome trust bio-images collection, check out their page here. Competition entries are also placed in the popular Art of Science calendar. Entries from this year’s competition will be exhibited on Wednesday 21st November 9am - 6pm in D3 Medical Sciences Building.

Check out these great entries from previous years:

Harry Jepson, Alan Leard & Mark Jepson - 'Antenna Base'

Richard Hulse - 'Skinny fibres'

Emma Vincent - 'The Platelet Factory'

Chrissy Hammond - 'Jaws'

Louise Hickey - 'The Great Wave of Neurone'

Find out more about the competition, click here  

Reach for the stars

NASA astronaut and flight engineer Sunita Williams appears to touch the Sun in this amazing photograph snapped from space. It was taken during the 32nd expedition to the International Space Station after an epic 6 hour spacewalk on September 5th 2012. The astronauts had been making routine repairs and installing a Main Bus Switching Unit (MBSU). Earlier this week two astronauts at the international space station were forced to make repairs with a $3 toothbrush, they saved around $100 billion of damage. The Space Station is currently home to six astronauts: Sunita Williams and Joe Acaba of NASA, Aki Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka, Yuri Malenchenko and Sergei Revin.

Glorious gas giant

Tom Stubbs

This spectacular photo shows Saturn’s legendary rings and two of its moons. The photo was snapped by NASA's Cassini spacecraft as it orbited the gas giant. It allows scientists to get up-close and examine the shifting motions and intricacies of Saturn's rings. The Cassini spacecraft arrived at Saturn in 2004, it recently changed orbit gaining this new perspective. Saturn is currently shining bright in the night sky so see if you can spot it.

For more information on the Cassini mission:

NASA - http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/