Science as Art: Stunning images picked for calendar, national magazine

(Nanowerk News) A dozen stunning science images, representing cell structures, microorganisms, polymer films, degraded metals and more, have been selected by the voting public as winners in Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Science as Art contest.
The photos are representative of research projects at the Department of Energy laboratory and will appear in a 2012 "Discovery in Action" calendar. Winning images will also be used in laboratory websites, printed materials, building lobbies and conference rooms.
Designing Nano-Potteries: CdS Hollow Spheres
Designing Nano-Potteries: CdS Hollow Spheres. Imaging bio-molecules and cells over extended periods of time is critical to understanding cellular processes and the causes of pathogenic diseases. Cadmium sulfide quantum dots are widely used for highly sensitive cellular imaging. The extraordinary photostability of these probes are highly attractive for the real-time tracking of bio-molecules and cells over time. PNNL scientists are exploring quantum dots with varying morphologies and trying to understand the variation of their spectroscopy associated with the morphological changes. The goal is to design probes that can be used to monitor cellular processes over extended periods.
The photos were selected from about 40 nominations during a late summer contest on PNNL's Facebook site.
Additionally, two of the photos have been selected by the American Chemical Society as winners in their "Science as Art" contest. One — an image taken by a high-powered microscope showing mineral buildup as carbon dioxide reacts with rock, for deep underground storage of carbon dioxide — was named the top image submitted and will be featured in the Oct. 31 issue of the Society's prestigious Chemical & Engineering News magazine.
"Great science art that is representative of the laboratory's discovery and innovation is created here at PNNL every day," said John LaFemina, PNNL's director of Institutional Strategy. "Through PNNL research, we have acquired unique photos, graphics and renderings, as well as images that were created on laboratory instrumentation. This is a small but outstanding selection of those images."
Acid Etched Nickel Base Weld Metal
Acid Etched Nickel Base Weld Metal. A paramount issue impacting the performance, safety, and life extension of current light-water reactors is the environment-induced cracking of metallic structural components. Understanding their structure and chemistry, as well as how they react to various aqueous environments, is important to determining their real-world behavior. Metallography is one of the tools in determining microstructure. Using a light etching technique, the crystallographic orientation of the metal can easily be observed. This scanning electron microscopy image taken in backscatter mode illustrates how crystallographic pits are formed on the metal surface when exposed to acid. (Imagery provided by PNNL researcher Matthew Olszta)
Source: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory