Content by The Scientist

Wing scales of the butterfly Prola Beauty (Panacea prola)

Scientists are using video games to tap the collective intelligence of people around the world, while doctors and educators are turning to games to treat and teach.

January 2013's selection of notable quotes

Image stacking allowed scientists to capture a full body micrograph of this small, planktonic crustacean (Daphnia), commonly known as a water flea.

This false-colored confocal micrograph shows a cluster of spore-filled sporangia with specialized protective hairs called paraphyses from the fern Polypodium virginianum.

When bushcrickets mate, the male attaches a sticky, protein-rich package called the spermatophore to the female's abdomen, which provides a snack and some sperm for later.

Red algae (Scagelia), adorned with reproductive tetraspores and golden diatoms

Red blood cells show off their biconcave disc shape in this scanning electron micrograph.

The science images and videos that captured our attention in 2012

A maize mutant that can't produce brassinosteroids—a plant hormone—develops female kernels where male tassel flowers would normally occur.

With legs that resemble flower petals, the Malaysian orchid mantis (Hymenopus coronatus) blends in perfectly with its floral platforms, catching its insect prey off-guard.

The biting, parasitic lousefly (Crataerina pallida) spends its entire life on its host, the common swift (Apus apus).

Red, fluorescent algae surround the green polyps of the coral, Montastraea annularis.

Due to warming climates, the glacier lily (Erythronium grandiflorum) now flowers before the arrival of migratory hummingbirds that depend on their nectar.
 

Blood vessels (arteries in green and veins in red) in the retina of a healthy mouse are helping researchers study the proteins that make up the blood-brain barrier.