IanWorld of Medicine
November 20th 2009 01:43
The Wellcome Trust is a charity that funds health research. For ten years it has awarded prizes for pictures that creatively explore the fields of medicine, social history, healthcare and biology. Thanks to the New Scientist here are some winning images from this year. See many more pictures here.
This plant is native to South Africa and has a distinctive orange and blue flower, which resembles an exotic bird. The seed was originally bought to become the study of a watercolour painting by Annie Cavanagh, but Dave McCarthy's interest in it produced this stunning image.
The ovum (brown) is much larger than the sperm and is surrounded by protective cumulus cells (yellow). The membrane surrounding the ovum is the zona pellucida. The head of the sperm carries enzymes to dissolve the zona pellucida, allowing it to fertilise the egg.
This light microscope image by Spike Walker is of blood capillaries in the ciliary body of an ox's eye: the tiny holes that secrete a liquid called aqueous humour are shown. This liquid provides most of the nutrients for the lens and cornea.
Sensory nerves respond to stimuli to communicate movement, pressure and pain. The colours in this image were created by treating the tissue with silver nitrate and then processing it like photographic film. The nerve axons are stained black.
Plankton are small organisms, plant or animal, that drift in the sea with little or no locomotive ability. They are split into two main categories: phytoplankton, which are plant plankton that drift close to the surface and rely on photosynthesis for energy; and zooplankton, which are animals and include small protozoans or metazoans that normally feed on other plankton.
Scanning electron micrograph of a seed from a bird-of-paradise flower.
The moment of human conception from an in vitro fertilisation (IVF) procedure.
Sensory nerve endings at the end of a hair follicle.
Another image by Spike Walker shows plankton. In this image he uses Rheinberg illumination, whereby coloured discs are used to provide vibrant colours, making fast-moving plankton visible against a brilliant blue background.
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