Much like some of the brighter stars in our night sky, a closer look might reveal that the points of light scattered across this image are actually pairs of bright spots, not singular ones. They are created by attaching two dye molecules to specially designed DNA fragments that fold origami-like into a standardized structure. Being able to image the two bright spots distinctly on this “ruler” tells microscopists the resolution of their instrument.

Scales? Feathers? Iridescent fabric? These delicate patterns are skeletons of corals, composed of the mineral aragonite, which typically has needle- and fan-shaped crystals. Through an innovation in microscopy that looks at light in two different ways as it illuminates the same sample, these structures are revealed in colorful images like this one. The study of corals provides scientists with a sensitive indicator of past and present climate around the planet.

This stone, shown in cross-section, was formed with the aid of microbes in a warm, dark, salty hot spring—the inside of a human kidney. The multiple colors and sharp lines mark where the stone dissolved and recrystallized, fractured and reformed over time, trapping organic matter inside as it came back together. By comparing stone formation in geological and medical settings, researchers are gaining new insights into kidney stone treatment and prevention.

Honey bee pollination helps to ensure the availability of many agricultural crops. Food security is threatened by a worldwide decline in honey bee populations due to four main factors: parasites, pathogens, pesticides and poor nutrition. Researchers are learning how to use advanced robotics to rear honey bee larvae in the laboratory, like those seen in the background of this image, to produce new colonies and study how these four factors interact to affect bee health.

This image shows a piece of jasperoid, a rare type of rock made up of quartz and iron oxide crystallites. The varying colors seen here represent the presence of different elements within the rock; images like this one help researchers track the decay of different components and estimate a sample’s age. That information can help inform the search for useful minerals, the study of ancient environments, and even the understanding of geological events on other planets.

This amorphous clump of cells is actually a mouse embryo in one of the earliest stages of development. The rainbow of colors mark different cell components and types within the embryo; by visually identifying them, scientists can track the effects of exposure to MEHP, a chemical used in plastics manufacture that can interfere with hormonal signaling and might impact healthy development in utero.

A common bacterial species in both the human gut and biological laboratories is Escherichia coli, whose individual rod-like shapes can be seen here in extreme close-up and as tiny points of green light. The cells are flowing through a microfluidic chamber that allows researchers to observe how they respond to different concentrations of an antibiotic drug. Their dynamic responses reveal how bacteria in nature react when exposed to stresses and can help reveal the processes that lead to antibiotic resistance.

Much like some of the brighter stars in our night sky, a closer look might reveal that the points of light scattered across this image are actually pairs of bright spots, not singular ones. They are created by attaching two dye molecules to specially designed DNA fragments that fold origami-like into a standardized structure. Being able to image the two bright spots distinctly on this “ruler” tells microscopists the resolution of their instrument.

This mountain ridge in miniature was formed by calcium oxalate crystals found in a thin section of a kidney stone. Most kidney stones are made of calcium oxalate; not all calcium oxalate crystals are made alike. Each type of crystal will incorporate mineral and organic matter at different rates, making kidney stone formation much more complex than scientists originally believed it to be. Studying how these crystals form will help researchers develop new ways to prevent and treat this painful condition.

Multiple sclerosis is a progressive, disabling illness in which the body’s immune system attacks myelin, an important tissue of the nervous system. Myelin acts like insulation around nerve cells, helping them to conduct the electrochemical signals they use to communicate. Researchers use images like this one, which reveals the web-like structure of myelin in the mouse brain, to study how environmental factors such as viral infection might contribute to the disease process of multiple sclerosis and suggest better treatments.

This patchwork of colors is a thermal image of tobacco plants taken at noon during mid-July. The leaf veins dominate the image foreground, while the warm soil provides the image’s backdrop. These plants have very large leaves, which means the plant has more surface area in between the veins to transpire or “sweat,” keeping the leaves cooler. Researchers are interested in the processes that keep leaves cool and preserve more moisture to inform the development of water-efficient and drought-resistant crops.

This image shows the composition of the brain on a cellular level: one can see the half-pipe shape of a blood vessel wall and the smaller cross-sections of neurons and other brain cells. Researchers are investigating the anatomy of the pig brain to better understand how early-life nutrition affects brain development. By studying an animal model with very similar neuroanatomy as the human, researchers hope to improve upon infant formula and its ability to promote health.

New life could not be created without the process that happens inside these colorfully labeled structures. The small round shapes in this image of mouse tissue are formed by Leydig cells, which produce male steroid hormones within the testes. These are contained by the seminiferous tubules, seen here in cross-section, within which the process of spermatogenesis, the production of individual sperm cells, occurs. Understanding of healthy and disordered fertility is aided by anatomical studies that rely on images like this one.

The meandering tracks across this image trace the shape of an astrocyte, a specialized type of brain cell. Astrocytes were once thought to simply support neurons, but have recently become recognized as a more central player in regulating processes in the brain. The structural complexity of astrocytes is a possible factor that affects neuronal function; more complex astrocytes are more likely involved in complex neuronal functions.

This image might make you think of grains of sand, a boulder-strewn landscape, or a mountain range viewed from above. These shapes are actually found at the opposite end of the scale: they are microscopic calcite crystals in a hot-spring travertine deposit that grew from ancient melting glacier waters flowing through what is now Yellowstone National Park. By studying microbial influences on mineral depositions such as this one, researchers can gain information to improve energy production, human medicine, and even space exploration.

The central focus of this image is a 3D reconstruction of the connections between the two major cell types in the brain, neuron, and glia. As the brain develops, connections between cells are constantly forming, changing, and disappearing as new information and motor skills are learned. Difficulties with motor skill learning are common in children with autism and other developmental disorders; a close investigation of how these connections form and change during motor skill learning can help us better understand these disorders.

The seemingly subterranean glow seen here actually marks air cavities within the leaf of a maize plant, beneath the pores on the surface of the leaf that allow the plant to take in carbon dioxide and release water vapor. The more area within these cavities, the more the leaves can breathe. Images like this one help plant scientists explore the photosynthetic properties of different varieties of plants. 

Pectin may be familiar as the type of sugar that gives jams and candies their pleasantly gelatinous texture. In the background of this image, you can see what pectin molecules, which are often derived from citrus fruits, look like up close. These molecules link together to form the structure that makes foods gel. These molecules can also be modified to give foods different properties.

Our lungs expand and contract when we breathe. Surfactants, complex mixtures of chemicals produced by our bodies, allow lungs to inflate more easily after exhalation; they prevent the smaller air sacs from collapsing, and the larger ones from being distended during inhalation. With images like this one, which shows little bubbles made with surfactant, researchers are studying the composition of surfactant and how it functions in healthy and diseased lungs.

The single-celled green algae seen in this image have a special ability: they can photosynthesize, converting light into food as plants do, but can also eat and grow in the dark if provided with sugar. Researchers are studying how this versatile organism is affected by the chemical nature of the environment using new microfluidic technology. This will help throw light on the impact of human disturbances of ecosystems and how they can be mitigated.

Much like some of the brighter stars in our night sky, a closer look might reveal that the points of light scattered across this image are actually pairs of bright spots, not singular ones. They are created by attaching two dye molecules to specially designed DNA fragments that fold origami-like into a standardized structure. Being able to image the two bright spots distinctly on this “ruler” tells microscopists the resolution of their instrument.