Zinc oxide grown on a nanoporous substrate. The exterior morphology gives the bump a tortoise shell look, but a gap on the left side shows that these are pillars growing in a hemispherical pattern, more like a cluster of toadstools. Credit: Bendall; UC.
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the beholder holds the power to find it. And, when it comes to finding beauty, few do it better than those who make images in the course of their daily work.
The folks at Carl Zeiss, well-known for their microscopy tools, agree, and for the past nine years have sponsored a photography competition at the Department of Engineering at Cambridge University in the UK.
The winners of the 2012 competition have just been announced, and the images are available for viewing. These are amazing. Here are a few materials science images that caught my eye.
A colored SEM image of a rose-like nano-structure formed during unusual growth of graphene on nickel membranes. Credit: Goldberg; UC.
Fracture of glass-polymer laminate viewed through polarizing filters. Credit: Butchart; UC.
A CNT ribbon self-organizes into a question mark morphology. Credit: Chen; UC.
There were plenty of macroscopic images submitted to the competition, too.
As long as there are engineering students who know how to make good use of the bounty of a winter sky, the future is in good hands. Credit: Ronay; UC
