Photos: Amazing Photos From the Royal Society Photography Competition 2017
The photo, taken in early 1995 during a flight over the English Coast (southern Antarctic Peninsula) at about 74 degrees south, illustrates the scale of unusual bi-directional crevassing as an ice sheet is stretched in two directions over an underlying rise, with a Twin Otter aeroplane as scale. It was named as Overall winner and winner in the Earth Science and Climatology category. (PA)
[Yahoo! News}- From bear-shaped embryos to Antarctic glaciers and sleepy polar bears, the Royal Society photography competition shows the wonders of science like never before.
The annual competition saw a record-breaking 1,100 entries this year.
‘Icy sugar cubes’ by Peter Convey was judged the overall winner, as well as claiming first place in the Earth Science and Climatology category.
Mr Convey said: ‘It’s been an incredible privilege to work in the Antarctic for nearly 30 years now, every time I go there it takes my breath away.’
The aim of the competition is to use images to make science accessible to a wide audience.
Entrants could put forward their images for six different categories: Astronomy, Behaviour, Earth Science and Climatology, Ecology and Environmental Science, and Micro-imaging.
Judge Ulrike Muller said: ‘The winning image epitomises the aims of this competition – celebrating the power of photography to communicate science.
‘The image shows the stunning beauty of a rare geological phenomenon, bi-directional crevassing in an ice sheet, and invites the viewer to wonder at the scale and the mechanisms creating such patterns.’
The photo, taken in early 1995 during a flight over the English Coast (southern Antarctic Peninsula) at about 74 degrees south, illustrates the scale of unusual bi-directional crevassing as an ice sheet is stretched in two directions over an underlying rise, with a Twin Otter aeroplane as scale. It was named as Overall winner and winner in the Earth Science and Climatology category. (PA)
Killer whales suddenly enter a small bay at Subantarctic Marion Island, surprising a small huddle of King Penguins busy preening themselves in the water. This image was named as the winner in the Ecology and Environmental Science category. (PA)
The skies above ESO’s Paranal Observatory resemble oil on water as greens, yellows and blues blend to create an iridescent skyscape. The rocky, barren landscape below evokes an alien world, complementing the cosmic display above. This photo was given an Honorable mention in the Astronomy category. (PA)
The American Eclipse of 2017 seen from the part of the path of totality that went through northern Georgia. This is the diamond ring lighting up some very thin cloud structures, looking almost like space clouds (i.e. a nebula). It was named as runner up in the Astronomy category. (PA)
Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants, which draw nutrients from trapped and digested insects. The species shown here (Nepenthes bicalcarata) secretes sweet nectar on the rim and fang-like structures, which are very slippery for most insects except for one specialised ant (Camponotus schmitzii). The ants live in the curled hollow tendrils of the plant and manage to climb in and out of the pitcher without any difficulties to steal a bit of nectar, as shown here. This image was named as runner up in the Ecology and Environmental Science category. (PA)
The image shows the 61G lava flow at the Pu’u O’o eruption site of the active Kilauea volcano in Hawaii’s Volcano National Park. It was given an honorable mention in the Earth Science and Climatology category. (PA)
This photograph was taken while crossing the Fram Strait near the eastern Greenland coast. The polar bear found a portion of fast ice which rapidly became his home. It was named as the winner in the Behaviour category. (PA)
Ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere create a rare optical phenomenon: a light pillar underneath the Moon. Daniel Michalik which was named as the winner in the Astronomy category. (PA)
This simple shot of yellowy droplets was the winning image in the Micro-imaging category. (PA)
The Russian research vessel Akademik Tryoshnikov leans the bow against the Mertz Glacier’s snout in Eastern Antarctica. The photo was taken moments before deploying ROPOS, a Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle (ROV) under the glacier tongue to investigate the melting of the ice-sheet after a piece of ice protruding 100 kilometres (62 miles) out into the Southern Ocean broke away from the main body of the tongue in 2010. It was named as runner up in the Earth Science and Climatology category. (PA)
