The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the journal Science have announced the winners of the 2013 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge.
The event is sponsored to recognize the best photograph combining science and art. The effort is being made to help popularize other branches of science, the same way Hubble photographs built public support for the space program. The contest, now in its 11th year, feature photographs meant to show the complexity and beauty of nature.
"We asked contestants to provide visualizations that illustrate powerful scientific concepts. We were delighted by this year's entries. These visualizations are both beautiful and captivating; they connect scientists with citizens in a way that excites popular interest of subjects normally reserved for academic rigor," Judith Gan, NSF's director of Legislative and Public Affairs, said.
More than 225 entries came in from 17 U.S. states and Canadian territories, in addition to ten other nations. The submissions were first judged by a committee selected from staff members working for Science and the NSF. These were passed onto a panel of experts on scientific visualization, who determined the winners. More than 2,000 votes from the public were recorded to be selected as the People's Choice winners.
Awards were announced in five categories, including photography, illustrations, posters and graphics, games and apps, as well as videos.
Invisible Coral Flows, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology took first place for photography. This is a composite photo showing movement in hairs with coral. The University of South Florida entry Polymer Micro-structure Self-assembly was the People's Choice winner. Photographer Steve Lowry earned an honorable mention for Stellate leaf hairs on Deutzia scabra.
In the category of illustrations, Cortex in Metallic Pastels, produced by Gregg Dunn Design took the top prize. The picture shows the delicate, intricate nature of nerves within the human brain. The People's Choice winner was Human Hand controlling Bacterial Biofilms, a look at how microbes have become resistant to antibiotics. Security Blanket, by Lorrie Faith Cranor of Carnegie Mellon University took home honorable mention. This work features the 1000 most common computer passwords, sized by how often they are used.
NASA took part in the contest as well, producing the winning video, Dynamic Earth. The four-minute production (watch below) was created from a full-length movie, currently playing in 60 planetariums around the world. Narrated by actor Liam Neeson, the short film details how the Sun interacts with the Earth, through solar wind and massive coronal mass ejections. Spherical Nucleic Acids by Quinton Anderson was named the People's Choice award winner for best video.
Award committees and the public both named Wearable Power (pictured) the best among Informational Posters and Graphics. Eyewire: A Game to Map the Brain was named the best game or application, while the people chose Meta!Blast: The Leaf.
