Every day, scientists work to understand the aspects of the world that are completely unknown to the rest of us. Some study the way blood vessels provide oxygen to an African Grey parrot, others follow tiny bobtail squid that light themselves up while hunting for shrimp, and others try to understand the pain and physical symptoms of diseases like Crohn's.
Most of the time, we can't "see" this work in a way that helps us understand it and shows how fascinating and even beautiful it can be. In the images below, showing the winners of the Wellcome Image Awards 2017 contest, first established in 1997, you can see all this — and it's beautiful indeed.
The winners include photos, illustrations, paintings, and more.
They're all supposed to uncover or "open up a world of science often hidden to the naked eye," according to BBC Medical Correspondent Fergus Walsh, a member of the judging panel. "There is a spectacular array of images here which will draw the public in, make them wonder and make them ask questions about things they’ve never even imagined," he says in a press release emailed to Business Insider.
The overall winner will be announced on March 15. We've republished the winning collection below, along with some information about what each image depicts and how it was created.
This image shows how an ‘iris clip’, also known as an artificial intraocular lens (IOL), is used to treat conditions such as myopia (nearsightedness) and cataracts (cloudiness of the lens), is fitted onto the eye. (Clinical photography)
This image shows a 3D reconstruction that details the highly intricate system of blood vessels in the head and neck of an African grey parrot, post euthanasia. (Computed tomography (CT) and digital imaging)
This image shows a 3D-printed reconstruction of the pathways connecting the areas responsible for speech and language in the brain. (Tractography)
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