10 Stunning Science Visualizations.

The 2010 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge released its top stunning entries today. They appear in the Feb. 18 issue of Science, which together with the National Science Foundation sponsored the event.

Stunning indeed. For those who love science and see the beauty in it, you should enjoy these as much as I did.

Huge amounts of time were invested in studying these to try and get an accurate artistic rendering while some have a clear artistic spin included. And we get to see them a day before the publication is released.

This shows beauty can be found in some of the weirdest places. I hope some will enjoy it as much as I did. I know art lovers like me abound on ats.

All too often, the beauty of scientific knowledge gets trapped in monotone graphs and jarring acronyms. The touch of talented artists, however, can set it free.

From GPS-tracked trash and nanoscale ripples to colliding quasars and hairy tomato seeds, dig into our favorite science visualizations in this gallery.

I have to say that they did an awesome job. The renderings are very beautiful.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/559386e6a2d6.jpg[/atsimg]

T4 Bacteriophage

Like a miniature robot from a sci-fi thriller, tiny viruses known as bacteriophage inject their genetic goods into unsuspecting Escherichia coli bacteria. In short order, the bacteria’s innards are hijacked and begin pumping out viral clones.

This extremely detailed visualization shows one such virus, called an enterobacteria phage T4. It earned an honorable mention in illustrations.

This is my favorite out of the bunch I think. Reality mixed with a little sci-fi produced a thought provoking picture IMO.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/921026106e6b.jpg[/atsimg]

Human Immunodeficiency Virus

The HIV virus, a menacing genetic script that lethally infects more than 33 million people worldwide, looks more like a splotch under the planet’s most powerful microscopes.

By scraping for details of the virus’ structure from more than 100 studies in three different scientific fields, however, four focused artists summed it up into one intricate 3-D structure.

The model is now considered the most detailed ever created for the contagion, and won the competition’s 1st-place prize in illustrations.

Hard to believe that something so catastrophic and deadly can be rendered so perfectly.


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/d812bcaf93a6.jpg[/atsimg]

Fungus Among Us

From the fuzz on leftover food to the base of a multi-billion-dollar beer industry, fungi is everywhere.

Putting the enormous branch of multicellular life into perspective with a highly detailed guide, artists picked up Science and the NSF’s first-place prize in informational graphics.

An extraordinary collage of many different fungi. Pizza anyone?

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/752c4183e154.jpg[/atsimg]

Tomato Seed Hairs

On each tomato seed, tiny hairs called trichomes secrete the goo that encases them. The sticky substance not only protects would-be seedlings from drying out, but also glues them to soil so they don’t blow away.

This stunning photo earned an honorable mention in the photography category.

This was one of my favorites. It looks somewhat mystical and very beautiful. Though I must confess that I am no fan of this fruit.

There are more images and some videos on the website if you want to check it out.

Here...www.wired.com...

Wow, that's beautiful. Thanks for sharing this with us.

Just goes to show you beauty can be found anywhere.

Wonderful stuff That Human Immunodeficiency Virus is just crazy looking! Who could make up a better monster than that, on any scale?

Peace,
spec

Is that HIV knitted?

Loved your post!

reply to post by chr0naut


It looked the same way to me, but all I could find is that it is an intricate 3D structure. If it is, then it took quite a bit of time to put together.

Holy smokes! That virus is unreal. That and some pictures of snowflakes are the craziest natural things iv ever seen! Seriously....... That... That looks like a robot. More specifically a nano-bot.

reply to post by TuXXXeR


I think that is one of the renderings that contained the artist's interpretation as well. I hope...

Unless of course you were being sarcastic and I am being dull?

reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe


I looked it up first and most of the pics were mechanical looking too...

This in particular ..

reply to post by TuXXXeR


I see now. I wasn't sure if you thought that was a real virus or not. You can't be too sure these days...