4 April 2020 | New Scientist | 29Natural shine
Olympus Global Image of
the Year Life Science Light
Microscopy Award 2019
Photographers Tagide deCarvahlo,
Nathan Renfro, Justin Zoll
THESE colourful, fluorescent,
almost hypnotic images look like
the product of a powerful artistic
imagination, but in fact they show
nature in all its magnified glory.
The three photographs are
among the regional winners
and honourable mentions in
the Olympus Global Image of the
Year Life Science Light Microscopy
Award 2019 announced last week.
The kaleidoscopic swirls and
shards in the large image show
L-glutamine and beta-alanine,
two amino acids. Photographer
Justin Zoll crystallised them out of
solution in ethanol and used filters
to add contrast and to remove
reflections from the image.
In the lab, amino acids such
as L-glutamine are crystallised
to obtain a purer form for use
in making pharmaceuticals.
Top right is the winning
image for the Americas. Taken
by researcher Tagide deCarvalho,
it uses fluorescence to show the
insides of a tardigrade, one of
Earth’s toughest organisms. These
creatures are 0.05 to 1 millimetre
long, yet can withstand cold of
-200°C and heat of 150°C, radiation
and pressure that would kill us,
and even the vacuum of space.
The final image might look
like a stunning coastal scene,
but it is in fact a close-up of a prase
opal, a gem coloured green by
nickel. Nathan Renfro, a geologist
and mineralogist, magnified it
to mimic a shot of a shoreline. ❚
Gege Li