News

Wellcome Image Awards reveal the stories behind science

15 October 2009

The tenth Wellcome Image Awards were presented in London last night, celebrating the best new images acquired by the Wellcome Images picture library in the past eighteen months.

Nineteen extraordinary images have been chosen by a panel of judges based on the ability of the picture to communicate the wonder and fascination of science. From capillary networks and liver cells to summer plankton and bird of paradise seeds, miniature worlds are explored through microscopy and electron micrographs. Cutting-edge techniques reveal the intricate nerve endings around our hair follicles, and the beautiful patterns in compact bone and aspirin crystals. The selected images are now on display at Wellcome Collection, as well as on the Image Awards website, which explains the stories behind the pictures: how the images were created, what they add to scientific understanding and why the judges picked them out as the best images this year.

To mark the tenth Wellcome Image Awards, two additional categories were included this year in photography and illustration.

There were also two special awards, one given to the makers of animations showing the intricate structure of a mouse's head during development and the other for the unique capture of sensory nerve endings, both showing an astonishing level of detail and accuracy that has previously not been possible with conventional microscopy techniques.

Dr Alice M Roberts, anatomist, biological anthropologist, author and broadcaster, presented awards to the 13 successful scientists and artists behind the winning images.

Dr Roberts said: "Imaging and imagery can help scientists in many ways: to understand structures that are too small to be seen by the naked eye, or perhaps to elucidate the relationship between structure and function, or even to illustrate abstract ideas that are otherwise difficult to grasp. Images also form a bridge, a way in which non-scientists or indeed researchers in a separate discipline may be able to appreciate concepts that are otherwise quite esoteric.

"But as well as deepening understanding, the art of science can also be - in its own right - beautiful and awe-inspiring. I hope you will agree that this year's selection of Wellcome award-winning images are both stunning and thought-provoking."

www.wellcomeimageawards.org

Wellcome Image Awards 2009 exhibition

Dates: 15 October 2009 to 1 June 2010 Venue: Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE

Admission free

Opening times

Mon: closed

Tue, Wed: 10.00-18.00

Thu: 10.00-22.00

Fri, Sat: 10.00-18.00

Sun: 11.00-18.00

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