2014 Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition winners revealed
comments
From the mysteries of how life starts to the intricacies of how animals things, microscopic photography has opened up a whole new world for researchers.
Today, the best images of the year were honoured in the 2014 Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition.
First prize went to an extraordinary movie of a fruit fly developing from a trembling bars of cells.
Scroll down for videos
First Prize went to an extraordinary movie of a fruit fly developing, captured by a team including William Lemon, Fernando Amat and Philipp Keller of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn
Second Prize was a brilliant photo of a rat cerebellum, part of the brain, captured by Thomas Deerinck of the University of California San Diego's National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research.The image, captured using multiphoton imaging, was captured at 300x.
Barnacle appendages that sweep plankton and other food into the barnacle's shell for consumption. Confocal microscopy, 100x
From algae to zebrafish, life under the microscope can be beautiful, surprising and mysterious.
This week, amazing glimpses of the unseen universe earned top prizes in the 2014 Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition®, the world's foremost forum for showcasing microscope images of life science
subjects.
First Prize went to an extraordinary movie of a fruit fly developing, captured by a team including William Lemon, Fernando Amat and Philipp Keller of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia.
In the fascinating video, a trembling ball of cells turns into a fully developed fly larva that actually starts to crawl off screen by the movie's end.
It was selected from among nearly 2500 entries to earn $5,000 worth of Olympus equipment.
'For 11 years, Olympus has sponsored this competition to shed light on the importance of research and draw attention to the amazing intersection of science and art,' said Hidenao Tsuchiya, Chairman of Olympus Scientific Solutions Americas, part of Olympus Corporation.
'Olympus BioScapes movies and images have spurred public interest in and support of microscopy, drawn attention to the vital work that goes on in laboratories worldwide, and inspired young people to seek careers in science.'
The First Prize movie is a good example, say organisers of the contest.
High-speed videos like this allow researchers, almost for the first time, to follow the fate of individual embryonic cells from shortly after fertilization to the time the fly larva hatches; the cells divide, migrate, diversify and eventually become the varied organs and systems of the fly.
Understanding exactly how an animal develops and how different cells develop separate functions can lead to a better understanding of life processes, and ultimately may contribute to disease research.
Phyllobius roboretanus weevils up close, captured using Stereo microscopy
Rat brain cerebral cortex (left) depicting cell nuclei (cyan), astrocytes(GFAP, yellow), and blood vessels (EBA, red). Taken by Csaba Pintér,Keszthely, Hungary. On the right, aMagelonid polychaete worm larva from a plankton samplecollected in Southampton Water off the south coast of the UK.Actual specimen size approx 2mm, and it weas taken by David Johnston, Southampton General Hospital
A Butter daisy (Melampodium divaricatum) flower at 2xmagnification. Fluorescence. Oleksandr Holovachov, Ekuddsvagen,Sweden.
The movie, captured using a custom-built simultaneous multi-view light sheet microscope, includes more than two million images in the complete data set; its true potential is extracted by using complex mathematical models to learn the fate of every cell.
Second Prize was a brilliant photo of a rat cerebellum, part of the brain, captured by Thomas Deerinck of the University of California San Diego's National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research.
The image, captured using multiphoton imaging, was captured at 300x.
Other images offer additional eye-opening glimpses of life on a microscopic scale as captured by scientists, hobbyists and students.
Igor Siwanowicz, another researcher at HHMI Janelia Research Campus, earned Third Prize for his colorful confocal image of the parts of a barnacle that sweep food into the barnacle's shell for consumption.
Fourth prize was an amusing image of two weevils staged and captured by Csaba Pintér of Keszthely, Hungary. 3 4
One of the most interesting images this year was the Ninth Prize image of the gears of a green coneheaded planthopper (Acanalonia conica) nymph.
The insects are accomplished jumpers, able to accelerate at staggering 500 times the force of gravity.
To synchronize the movement of their hind legs, their trochanters are coupled with a pair of cogs. Images such as this one help demonstrate that gears, which until recently were thought to be a human invention, exist in the natural world.
The confocal image was captured by Igor Siwanowicz, HHMI Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn,in Virginia.
Proboscis (mouthparts) of a vampire moth (Calyptra thalictri). Themoth was captured by Jennifer Zaspel in Russia. The probosciswas imaged at 10x and shows the dorsal legulae, tearing hooks,and erectile barbs that facilitate the acquisition of fruit juices andmammalian blood when feeding. Confocal microscopy. Matthew S.Lehnert and Ashley L. Lash, Kent State University
Green coneheaded planthopper (Acanalonia conica) nymph with its gears. The insects are accomplished jumpers, able toaccelerate at staggering 500 times the force of gravity (500xg); tosynchronize the movement of their hind legs, their trochantersare coupled with a pair of cogs. Image shows dorsal view ofthese trochanteral gears. The insect demonstrates that gears,which until recently were thought to be a human invention, existin the natural world. Confocal microscopy, magnification ca.200x. It was taken by Igor Siwanowicz at the HHMI Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia.
Tenth Prize this year went to a fascinating video of the neural activity in an entire living zebrafish brain captured by Philipp Keller, Fernando Amat and Misha Ahrens of HHMI Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, Va. The video shows fast 3D recordings of the entire larval brain (about 100,000 neurons) and depicts, for the first time, an almost exhaustive view of single-neuron activity in the brain of a vertebrate.
Put the internet to work for you.
0 comments:
Post a Comment