Art in Science

You can see last year's art in science exhibit at http://scienceatcal.berkeley.edu/art_in_science_2011

Watch the video of the 2012 Art in Science exhibit by clicking below:

A visualization of a Higgs boson candidate decaying to 2 electrons and 2 muons in the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Beate Heinemann on behalf of the ATLAS collaboration

A visualization of a Higgs boson candidate decaying to 2 photons in the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Beate Heinemann on behalf of the ATLAS collaboration

The ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider during construction in 2005. Beate Heinemann on behalf of the ATLAS collaboration

One endcap of the silicon strip detector of the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. This part of the ATLAS detector is used for detecting electrically charged particles. Beate Heinemann on behalf of the ATLAS collaboration

Culture dish of differentiated adult rat neural stem cells at 10X magnification. Neurons (red) and astrocytes (green) are two of the main types of cells found in the brain. Cell nuclei are shown in blue. Anthony Conway, Schaffer Lab

Confocal image of a single colony of neuronally differentiated human embryonic stem cells at 10X magnification. Immature neurons (green) project axons throughout the colony as well as out into the surrounding area. Dopaminergic neurons (red), which are the neurons lost inParkinson’s disease, are also found throughout the colony. Anthony Conway, Schaffer Lab

Confocal image of an adult rat hippocampus, the area of the brain where new memories are formed, at 25X magnification. Astrocytes (green) signal to neural stem cells (white) to differentiate into immature neurons (red). Cell nuclei are shown in blue. Anthony Conway, Schaffer Lab

Confocal image of an adult mouse hippocampus, the area of the brain where new memories are formed, infected with lentivirus at 100X magnification. GFP+ infected neurons (green) in the granular cell layer of the dentate gyrus project dendrites into the molecular cell layer above and axons into the hilus below. Nuclei are shown in blue. Anthony Conway, Schaffer Lab

Confocal Image of adult mouse brain at 100X magnification. A mature neuron differentiated from a neural stem cell in the hippocampus expressing the reporter β-galactosidase. Anthony Conway, Schaffer Lab

The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search attempts to detect dark matter in our galaxy. In order to do this, we must calibrate and fully understand our detectors, which we partially do by shining a laser onto the detectors. These pictures come from the calibration of our laser beam. Nathan Earnest, Sadoulet Lab, Physics

Another laser beam calibration image. Nathan Earnest, Sadoulet Lab, Physics

A rainbow is an arc because it refracts light at a fixed angle for a fixed color. If you have the right conditions, you can see the entire circle around the sun. Zach Gainsforth, Space Sciences Lab

An electron image of aerogel showing the nanostructure of the material. Aerogel was used as a mitt for catching comet particles in NASA's Stardust mission. It gently captures particles that are traveling 5 km/s (here to SF in about two seconds). Zach Gainsforth, Space Sciences Lab

This microscopic image shows the hyphae of the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa taken with a dissecting microscope. A protein in the fungus was labeled with green fluorescent protein (GFP, which makes the fungal hyphae glow in false colors. This fungus can do sophisticated things that we cannot, for example, degrade plant biomass very efficiently—which is the focus of our research. J. Philipp Benz, Somerville Lab, Energy Biosciences Institute

Elongated green cells are sensory neurons – which sense smells and relay that information to the brain – that originated from olfactory stem cells in the nose. Cells labeled in red are immature cells in the process of differentiating into neurons and other mature cell types. This research offers hope for new therapies for people who have lost their sense of smell due to trauma or old age. Russell Fletcher, Harland Lab

In this image of a composite galaxy cluster, blue galaxies near the outskirts are actively forming stars and often show clumps and spiral features, while those in the dense inner regions tend to be redder and rounder with older stars. Characteristics of galaxies are sensitive to their environment. The images were taken by the Hubble Space Telescope of galaxies 2.5 to 7 billion light years away. Matt George, Astronomy Department

Art can be found in scientific failures. This is a microscope image of bubbles that appeared after polyacrylamide gels were formed inside a glass microdevice, rendering the devices unusable. As disappointing as it is for a day’s work to result in a failed device fabrication, at least the bubbles look cool. Augusto Tentori, Herr Lab, Dept of Bioengineering

Another view of the bubbles. Augusto Tentori, Herr Lab, Dept of Bioengineering

Newly born nerve cells (green) colocalizing with a neuronal marker which indicates immature nerve cells (red). Astrocytes are labelled in blue. The brain’s emotional center, the amygdala, induces the hippocampus, a relay hub for memory, to generate new neurons. This image shows how memories of fear are "burned” into the brain. Daniela Kaufer, Biology / Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute

Transmission electron micrograph of the stroma surrounding the mammary duct of a mouse. Within the stroma, beautifully organized collagen fibrils are seen in cross-section and longitudinally. Also present are unknown fibrillar proteins that organize into strange abstract shapes as viewed in cross-section. Danielle Jorgens, Manfred Auer Lab, LBNL

The Simpsons-like spikes on these cells found outside a mammary tumor always pique my interest when I come across this image. This is a scanning electron micrograph of a the mammary tumor found in a mouse. The goal of this study was to observe the collagen fibril organization surrounding the tumor, these are the strands that you see in the image. The spiky cells are likely some kind of immune system cell. Danielle Jorgens, Manfred Auer Lab, LBNL

The inside of an electron microscope as seen by a sample in the microscope. In the center is a view "up the barrel" of the electron source. Other objects are various sorts of detectors. In the lower right hand is a slice of meteorite. Zach Gainsforth, Space Sciences Lab

High-altitude hazes in Jupiter’s atmosphere are shown in this image taken in 2008 using an advanced adaptive optics technique at the Very Large Telescope in Chile. Data in three different infrared filters were taken over a time span of 18 minutes, re-mapped to a common timestep to compensate for Jupiter’s rotation, and combined to create a false-color image. Mike Wong, Astronomy Department

Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) image of a mouse embryonic stem cell grown on silicon nanowires. The nanowires can be potentially utilized as a powerful tool for studying intra- and intercellular biological processes. Peidong Yang, Chemistry

Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) image of InGaN (indium-gallium-nitrogen) nanorods grown on the tip of patterned silicon wire arrays. The top pink color indicates InGaN nanorod clusters. InGaN is a semiconductor material used in the light-emitting layer in modern blue and green LEDs and is suitable material for solar cell arrays for satellites. Yun Jeong Hwang, Chris Hahn and Peidong Yang, Chemistry

The ratio of two image frames is shown here using a custom color table. The two frames are an infrared image of Neptune taken by Prof. Imke de Pater using the Keck II telescope, and a synthetic image used to determine the latitude and longitude of cloud features. Mike Wong, Astronomy Department

Two Milky-Way-sized spiral galaxies colliding. In this frame, they have already passed through each other once, and will eventually slow down (due to friction) and merge into an elliptical galaxy. Corwin Wray, Astronomy Department

The positions of the planets in our solar system plotted over the next few thousand years, showing the precessions of their orbits during that time. Earth is the blue circle near the middle, and the diagonal stripe in the upper right is Pluto. Corwin Wray, Astronomy Department

A "small" globular cluster of about 7,000 stars. This simulation used the Barnes-Hut method to divide up the space and simplify calculations, displayed here as a grid of gray squares surrounding the cluster. Brighter areas of the grid have tightly-packed groups of stars in them. Corwin Wray, Astronomy Department

A female stomatopod from Indonesia, Gonodactylaceus ternatensis, flashes a threat at a passing male. Roy Caldwell, Integrative Biology

A large (11 inch) California stomatopod scrubs down its eyes using brushes mounted on a pair of cleaning appendages especially suited for the task. Roy Caldwell, Integrative Biology

First discovered by divers in Indonesia 30 years ago, this octopus’s dramatic coloration and fluid motion soon made it a favorite of underwater photographers who dubbed it “Wunderpus”. A few years ago, it was given the official scientific name Wunderpus photogenicus! Roy Caldwell, Integrative Biology

Blue-ringed octopus, common on the reefs of Indonesia, contain enough tetrodotoxin, a powerful neurotoxin also found in puffer fish, to kill a human in a matter of minutes. When disturbed, they display their brilliant blue rings as a warning. Roy Caldwell, Integrative Biology

This is a thin slice of a meteorite (about 200 nanometers thick) that has experienced a collision in space producing a split second pressure of a few hundred thousand atmospheres. This resulted in cracking and melting of the crystal seen in the center of the photo. Zach Gainsforth, Space Sciences Lab

Cal astronomers discovered an exploding star (called a supernova), PTF11kly a mere 11 hours after it exploded, allowing the earliest observations of a supernova ever. It occurred in the Pinwheel Galaxy, a mere 21 million light-years away) making it the closest supernova of its kind in 25 years. This “instant cosmic classic” has already led to multiple ground-breaking results and will continue to be an object of astronomical interest for years to come. Jeffrey Silverman, Astronomy Department

Most of the matter in the universe is mysterious dark matter, which shapes the large scale structure of the universe and provides most of the force holding together galaxies like our own Milky Way. This image shows the result of one of the highest resolution dark matter simulations ever performed, of a galaxy similar to our own Milky Way. Michael Kuhlen, Astronomy Department

An electron microscope view of a quartz crystal with a glass core (center). As the crystal is tilted, electrons are preferentially deflected from those areas where the crystal structure interacts with the electron. At three such tilts (varying by 1/2 degree each) you can see a different pattern of these reflections indicating a different orientation of the crystal. Zach Gainsforth, Space Sciences Lab

Radiolaria is a type of zooplankton that builds its shell out of glass. This one was found while filtering samples in October 2010 off the coast of San Diego at 910 meters. Gabrielle Weiss, Earth and Planetary Science

The “happy bunny” (lower right) is an artifact in this pre-flight image taken by the WFC3/UVIS detector, an instrument now installed on the Hubble Space Telescope. The detector was illuminated in the laboratory by light at a wavelength of 977 nm, and “fringe” patterns of high (yellow) and low (blue) signal result from multiple reflections within the detector. Mike Wong, Astronomy Department

This image shows a runaway star called Zeta Ophiuchi plowing through space dust at 54,000 miles per hour. It’s from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft, which took images of the entire sky in infrared light. WISE reveals details that are invisible to most telescopes, including colorful clouds of gas and dust seen here, which show the direction the star is travelling (bottom to top). Kyle Fricke, Space Sciences Lab

Stimuli used in a computational experiment, sorted (and color-coded) by the amount that a simulated visual neuron responded to each. The cell appears to "like" (fire more in response to) curved lines. Mike Oliver, Gallant Lab

Microneedles are long enough to penetrate the skin but too small to trigger any nerves. These needles are made of protein that will dissolve after insertion, delivering drugs in a pain-free way. Brendan Turner, Luke Lee Lab, Bioengineering

This is a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) image of etched silver nanoparticles, which are currently used in catalysis, optics, electronics, antibacterial/antifungal and textile engineering. Marty Mulvihill and Peidong Yang, Chemistry

The PbS (lead-sulfur) nanowires shown in this SEM image make freestanding arrays in which all the wires are either perpendicular or parallel to one another, consistent with their intrinsic crystal structure. PbS nanowires are mainly applied in new generations of solar cells. Melissa Fardy and Peidong Yang, Chemistry

This is a Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) image of platinum / palladium cubes. This alloy has been mainly used in catalysis. Catalysis is the change in rate of a chemical reaction due to the participation of a substance called a catalyst. Susan Habas and Peidong Yang, Chemistry

Images assembled and video produced by Steve Croft, Dept. of Astronomy

http://scienceatcal.berkeley.edu/art_in_science