Announcing the 2005 Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge Winners

Sometimes the best way to express a scientific idea is through an image that grabs the eye. Nine entries, each telling a scientific story with a careful balance of accuracy and beauty, have won the 2005 Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge, sponsored

The Synapse Revealed. Credit: Graham Johnson, Graham Johnson Medical Media

jointly by the National Science Foundation and the journal Science, published by the nonprofit science society, AAAS. Currently in its third year, the contest recognizes outstanding achievement in the use of visual media to promote understanding of research results and scientific phenomena. The judges’ criteria for evaluating the entries included visual impact, innovation and accuracy. The winning entries communicate information about the brilliant spectrum of fluorescing molecules, the fleeting moment when one neuron prepares to signal another, the spectacular emergence of the 17-year cicada, and more. A news story in the Sept. 23, 2005 issue of Science presented all of the entries. Winning entries may also be viewed on the magazine’s Web site and on the NSF Web site. The winning entries are in five categories: ILLUSTRATION First Place: Graham Johnson, Graham Johnson Medical Media, The Synapse Revealed INFORMATIONAL GRAPHIC First Place: Cheryl Aaron, Omega Optical, Inc., Fluoressence: The Essence of Fluorescence PHOTOGRAPHYFirst Place: James S. Aber, Emporia State University, Autumn Color, Estonian Bog INTERACTIVE MEDIAHonorable Mention: Tracy M. Sterling, New Mexico State University, Transpiration: Water Movement Through Plants NON-INTERACTIVE MEDIAFirst Place: Roger Hangarter and Samuel Orr, Indiana University, Return of the 17-Year Cicadas. Note: A Web version of this movie, plus a “Science News for Kids” story about this entry, is available online at the EurekAlert! Kids Portal. Honorable Mentions: Mogi Massimo Vicentini, Civico Planetario Di Milano, Planetary Motion From Euxodus to Copernicus Steve Deyo, Kevin Fuell, Katherine Olson, Dan Riter and Seth Lamos, UCAR/COMET, Rip Currents: Nearshore Fundamentals Evan Ricks and Tim Sassoon, National Geographic TV & Film, Forces of Nature Nina Amenta, University of California, Davis, Evolutionary Morphing: Statistical Interpolation of Ancestral Morphology