Micrography

Colored scanning electron micrograph of a water bear, or tardigrade

How Are Tardigrades So 'Indestructible?' Scientists Finally Have an Explanation

The tiny animals nicknamed "water bears" can endure extreme conditions by entering a deep hibernation with a switch at the molecular level, a new study finds

This image of an axolotl highlights components of its nervous system

Stunning Images Reveal the Complex Beauty of Life Under a Microscope

Nikon’s Small World Photomicrography contest winners captured a gecko hand, breast tissue cells and dozens of other minuscule moments

"Yellowknife Flurry," a photograph by Nathan Myhrvold, captures the intricate structure of snowflakes.

These Are the Highest-Resolution Photos Ever Taken of Snowflakes

Photographer and scientist Nathan Myhrvold has developed a camera that captures snowflakes at a microscopic level never seen before

Alvin, a remotely operated submersible, drills for samples of the deep sea floor in 2014.

Deep-Sea Microbes Exert the Least Amount of Energy Possible to Survive

Giving a whole new meaning to doing the “bare minimum”

With fluorescent dye, biologist Tagide deCarvalho beautifully illuminated the insides of a tardigrade.

Colorful Image Lights Up Microscopic Guts of 'Water Bear'

Biologist Tagide deCarvalho created this award-winning image of the tardigrade using fluorescent stains

A rock samples collected during a 2010 drilling expedition in the South Pacific that found microbes in the sea floor.

Microbes Living in Deep Sea Rocks Spawn More Hope for Life on Mars

Starved of resources, these hardy bacteria still eke out a living, suggesting life forms could survive in the harsh habitats on other planets

Every few days, the crew of the Challenger would dredge the ocean floor for sediment and specimens.

Museum’s 150-Year-Old Plankton Have Thicker Shells Than Their Modern Counterparts

The HMS Challenger’s expedition in the 1800s provides a baseline for ocean health as the climate changes

"Tardigrades are definitely not the almost indestructible organism,” says Ricardo Neves.

High Temperatures Might Be Water Bears’ Achilles Heel

Tardigrades are known for their resilience, but a new study shows they can’t bear hours in the heat

Scientists filmed a pair of rhenium atoms (simulated here in green) as they bonded over a carbon nanotube (grey)

Watch First-Ever Footage of Atoms Forming and Breaking Bonds

The team used transmission electron microscopy to film the atoms dancing down a carbon nanotube

Some of the charred Cheerios.

Ancient, Inedible 'Cheerios' Found in Austrian Archaeological Site

Made from wheat and barley, researchers believe the dough rings were likely ritual objects, not breakfast cereal

Brown Recluse Silk Is Stronger Than Steel Because It's Constructed Like a Cable

Thousands of nanotendrils come together to form the flat, super-strong spider silk

“The white sea urchin (Lytechinus pictus) is found below the tide line,” writes marine biology graduate student Julia Notar in her submission. “I study how these animals see, and what they can see. They usually live in flat, sandy areas, where there aren't many places to hide from fish predators. Different species of sea urchins, which live in rocky areas, usually hide from fish in dark crevices in, between, or under rocks. Those urchins can use their blurry, but still useful vision to find those hiding spots. Does this species, which doesn't live in an environment with many hiding spots, do the same thing?”

Scientific Images Make Dazzling Art In a Duke University Exhibit

Three graduate students set out to show that the scientific and artistic processes are more similar than many imagine

Watch Cells Move Within Living Animals in This Breathtaking Footage

The new microscope technique incorporates cutting-edge technology to capture spectacular imagery of cellular activity

The structure of herpes virus simplex 2, aka genital herpes

Herpes Is Kind of Beautiful, On the Molecular Level

This detailed visualization of the herpes virus is a step toward finding new treatments

How Do Tiny Chicks Crack Out of Their Eggs?

The secret is in the egg shells' nanostructure

The mummified remains of a small child that bears evidence of an ancient Hepatitis B infection.

16th-Century Child Mummy Had Oldest Known Case of Hepatitis B

Long thought to suffer from smallpox, the genome of the 500-year-old mummy shows signs of HPB

A graphic showing the high image resolutions achieved with cryo-electron microscopy

Method for Capturing the Smallest Details of Life Nabs Chemistry Nobel

With cryo-electron microscopy, tiny living molecules can be seen in their natural states

The glowing end of a tapeworm took fourth place in the competition. 200x magnification

Revel in the Big Details of Tiny Things With These Prize-Winning Images

Skin cells, tape worms and fuzzy mold are among this years top photos

This is an illustration, not a picture, of a virus, because viruses are super small. But a new "VirusCam" promises to be able to see and track individual viruses, potentially leading to breakthroughs for human health.

"VirusCam" Can Watch Individual Viruses to (Someday) Keep You From Getting Sick

Viruses are tiny and hard to see, but a new microscope can track them individually to try to better prevent disease

The image shows a 6 mm long, 12.5 day old mouse embryo obtained with the Mesolens. The inset shows a blow-up of the eye region revealing the individual cell nuclei. It is possible to identify fine structures throughout the embryo such as the developing heart muscle fibers and fine details in the eye such as the corneal endothelium using the Mesolens.

Let Us Now Praise the Invention of the Microscope

Early scientists wielded this revolutionary tool to study the invisible world of microbes, and even their own semen

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