A LEGO TELESCOPE, CRUMPLED GRAPHENE, AND OTHER AMAZING IMAGES OF THE WEEK

Skin Cell Jimmies

To better understand how cells heal, researchers created a transgenic zebrafish in which its skin cells have been engineered to express certain proteins. The result is a combination of reds, greens, and blues that look like sprinkles atop an ice cream cone. Following these individual skin cells over time could reveal how they recover from injury.

Dario Carugo/EPSRC

Sound Bubble

When sound hits a bubble in a fluid, it creates a pressure change inside the bubble, making the volume of the bubble change as well. This movement forces the fluid surrounding it to move as well, causing the flow patterns seen here. To make the flow patterns more visible and striking, Dario Carugo from the University of Oxford placed fluorescent microparticles into a fluid before he captured this image.

Terry Whittaker / Naturepl.com

Pine Marten Selfie

In New Scientist this week, we got a close-up look at a European Pine Marten, a ravenous predator about the size of a domestic cat, as it attempts to acquire a midnight snack. The sly animal was trying to raid a feeder box when its head broke a laser beam, activating the camera that took this photo.

Ayutthaya Elephant Village

Pandelephants

The Elephantstay, an elephant sanctuary in Thailand, painted its elephants to look like pandas. The makeup job was done in support of the “1600 Panda World Tour”, a worldwide exhibition of 1600 panda sculptures, currently in Thailand, whose aim is to raise awareness for the mere 1600 pandas left in the wild. According to China’s People’s Daily Online, this stunt triggered criticism among some groups who think elephants have their own threats and deserve individual recognition.

NASA

Southern Texas Nightlife

This arc of light (highlighted by pink dashes) across southern Texas, seen through nighttime satellite imagery, is the result of the Eagle Ford Shale Play, an area of active oil drilling. The light comes from drilling equipment, worker camps, and gas and oil infrastructures. It is wedged in between two cities, San Antonio and Austin. The image was captured this past February.

Y.Beletsky/ESO/F. Snik/M. Zamani

Legoscope

While you won’t see the European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) in all its colossal glory until 2024, you could build your own miniature models out of Legos. The ELT Lego design has been out since 2014, but a design for its sibling, the Very Large Telescope (VLT) just came out. You can vote for both of them on Lego's website and with enough votes, the company may come out with both--but not for cheap. The VLT will cost around 600 US dollars.

Jeff Williams via Twitter

Patagonia From Space

Scott Kelly may no longer be on the International Space Station, but we're still getting great pictures from the floating laboratory. Astronaut Jeff Williams, who has been back on the station for about a week now, snapped this striking photo of lakes and glaciers in South America’s Patagonia.

Tyler Th, U.S. Navy

Break The Ice

The USS Hartford and USS Hampton, nuclear attack submarines, emerged from below frozen Arctic sea ice as part of a military exercise. In the photo above, sailors and civilians from the Arctic Submarine Lab help clear the ice from the Hampton’s hatch.

Brown University

Crumpled Graphene

A team of researchers from Brown University figured out a way to make the super material graphene even more super. By crumpling the one-dimensional layer of carbon atoms, the material appears to be much more water repellant than its smooth version and has better electrochemical properties. The researchers used a polymer membrane that shrinks when heated up. If placed atop graphene, the graphene compresses as the material shrinks. This technique could pave the way for new hydrophobic materials, and better stretchable batteries for wearables.

GE Renewable Energy

Blowing In The Wind

This week General Electric showed off its 6-megawatt direct drive generator to be used in America’s first offshore wind farm that’s currently being built off the coast of Rhode Island. The 150-ton, 24-feet wide generator will hold a monstrous 500-foot wide rotor that will turn the beast. According to Gizmodo, GE says the farm is planned to be able to generate enough electricity to power 5,000 homes.