Science Seen | A Comic Genius Courtesy of The American Philosophical Society  Lab picnics can be notoriously unfun affairs--the same faces, the same conversations, the same everything, save for the venue and missing white lab coats. That expectation, perhaps, makes photos like this all the more special: geneticist Barbara McClintock, in this photo from the 1980s, doing her best Groucho impression. function sendData() { document.frm.pathName.value = location.pathname; result =

Science Seen | Jelly Belly Courtesy of Claudia Mills, University of Washington, Friday Harbor Laboratories  Most molecular biologists use GFP today. Likewise, most of them know that the original source of the green fluorescent protein is a jellyfish. But how many are aware that the Aequorea victoria really is a beautiful creature? function sendData() { document.frm.pathName.value = location.pathname; result = false if (document.frm.score[0].checked) result = true; if (docum

Science Seen | No Pumpkin Here ©2003 Eye of Science/Photo Researchers Inc.  This electron micrograph, taken by the German science graphics firm Eye of Science, shows the surface of a lavender leaf. The herb's thistly hairs protect the oil sac, but when stressed enough, they pierce the sac and release the fragrant oils. function sendData() { document.frm.pathName.value = location.pathname; result = false if (document.frm.score[0].checked) result = true; if (document.frm

Science Seen | How the Visionless Dream Courtesy of Helder Bertolo  A congenitally blind person drew this scene, which was taken from a paper about visual dreaming.1 Up until now, such images were considered the sole domain of the sighted. 1. H. Bertolo et al., "Visual dream content, graphical representation and EEG a activity in congenitally blind subjects," Brain Res Cogn Brain Res, 15:277-84, 2003. function sendData() { document.frm.pathName.value = location.pathname; result

Science Seen | Arabidopsis in Blue Courtesy of James Hayden  Researchers at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia gave this photo some aesthetic forethought: It shows the dramatic difference in growth when a gene that detects blue light is removed from the Arabidopsis thaliana genome. function sendData() { document.frm.pathName.value = location.pathname; result = false if (document.frm.score[0].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[1].checked) result = true; if (document

Science Seen | Drug Potential Courtesy of David Scharf  Researchers study marijuana primarily to find a drug that blocks its effects and as a source for potential pharmacological compounds. This electron micrograph of a Cannabis sativa leaf shows the pustules of tetrahydrocannibinol (THC)--the actual psychoactive substance. function sendData() { document.frm.pathName.value = location.pathname; result = false if (document.frm.score[0].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score

Science Seen | Cabbage Patch Doll Courtesy of Rick Amasino  The University of Wisconsin's Rick Amasino found a graphic way to explain the effect of vernalization (the promotion of flowering by winter) to his students. He had his five-year-old daughter pose with these two, five-year-old cabbages. The one she's holding endured the Wisconsin winters. The other, greenhouse-kept, never flowered and grew out of control. function sendData() { document.frm.pathName.value = location.pathnam

Science Seen | Incredible Voyager Courtesy of Parmabase  Tired of boring database interfaces? This might resemble just another cellular diagram, but it's actually a navigation device for Pharmabase, a physiology and pharmacology database (www.pharmabase.org). Although still under construction, users eventually will be able to click on any organelle and go directly to a site that will provide its relevant pharmacological properties. function sendData() { document.frm.pathName.value =

Science Seen | R2DADA Courtesy of University of Western Australia  This robotically drawn artwork took some doing to produce. First, scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology cultured individual rat neurons and attached anodes to them. Then, the random nerve impulses were sent directly to a robot at the University of Western Australia in Perth, which drew lines with each impulse. These drawings were entered in numerous art exhibits. But no robot should quit its day job. Not yet,

Science Seen | Dengue Junior Image: Ying Zhang, Richard Kuhn, Tim Baker, Michael Rossmann, Purdue University  This image, assembled by Purdue University researchers and others from cryoelectron micrographs of immature dengue viral particles, shows the 60 or so trimers, or three-pronged protein spikes, on its surface. Each protein molecule contains a fusion peptide that the virus uses to attach itself to a potential host. A mature dengue particle, in contrast, has a smooth surface. f