Science Visualized
- Earth
Stunning images reveal glacial landscapes under the oceans
The most detailed atlas of the seafloor ever compiled offers colorful imagery and ghostly glimpses of Earth’s glacial past.
- Animals
The scales of the ocellated lizard are surprisingly coordinated
The mazelike patterns of the ocellated lizard’s skin follow a set of rules from computer science.
- Life
Cells’ stunning complexity on display in a new online portal
A new online explorer tool from the Allen Institute for Cell Science shows 3-D models of cell interiors.
- Animals
Colorful pinwheel puts a new spin on mouse pregnancy
Among the winners of the 2017 Wellcome Image Awards is a rainbow of mouse placentas that shows how a mother’s immune system affects placental development.
- Paleontology
Under lasers, a feathered dino shows some skin
Laser-stimulated fluorescence reveals detailed images of soft tissue in a feathered dinosaur from 160 million years ago.
- Ecosystems
Mapping rainforest chemistry from the air reveals 36 types of forest
Aircraft analysis of tree chemicals reveals new biodiversity in the Peruvian rainforest.
- Astronomy
Observers caught these stars going supernova
Thirty years ago, astronomers witnessed a nearby stellar explosion, but it wasn’t the first. Humanity has been recording local supernovas for nearly two millennia.
- Life
Map of Zika virus reveals how it shifts as it matures
A cryo-electron microscopy map of immature Zika virus offers a never-before-seen glimpse of remodeling of the virus’s protein and RNA core.
- Paleontology
Bony head ornaments signal some supersized dinosaurs
Bony headwear, like bumps and horns, is tied to bigger bodies in the theropod dinosaur family tree.
- Life
Shimmering soap bubbles have a dark side
Merging dark spots are indicators that a bubble is about to burst.
- Tech
Rise of reusable rockets signals a new age of spaceflight
Successful landings by SpaceX and Blue Origin raise the prospect of cheaper and more efficient spaceflight.
- Animals
Plant-eating mammals sport bigger bellies than meat eaters
Mammalian plant eaters have bigger torsos than meat eaters, a new analysis confirms, but the same might not have held true for dinosaurs.
