Pacific Northwest National Laboratory gets artistic

There are some very pretty pictures from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) that appear in a new calendar featuring science as art. From the Nov. 1, 2011 news item on Nanowerk,

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 (available for high- and low-resolution download). Winning images will also be used in laboratory websites, printed materials, building lobbies and conference rooms.

You can find out more about the competition in the news item and/or you can also view the images on the PNNL’s Flickr site. I downloaded a couple samples from the Flickr site,

Electro-Polymerization of Pyrrole

Electro-Polymerization of Pyrrole
Organizations like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rely on field sensors that can detect traces of anionic water-soluble pollutants, like arsenate, chromate, perchlorate and pertechnetate. At PNNL, scientists are experimenting with modified polymer films that can recognize—and therefore be used—to detect pollutants. These polymers could potentially be incorporated into devices that would make detection rapid and economic. Shown here is a microscopic image of a polymer film generated through electro-polymerization of pyrrole from a water solution. PNNL researchers Dev Chatterjee, Thao Bui and Sam Bryan are working on this project.

and here’s the second one,

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. PNNL researcher Dev Chatterjee provided the image. Others who contribute to the project include Matthew Edwards, Paul MacFarlan, Samuel Bryan and Jason Hoki. Image colored by PNNL graphic designer Jeff London.

I quite enjoyed the images.

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