Photography contests showcase the wonder of science with precision and clarity

The photographs that accompany most scientific papers may be politely referred to as “functional.” However, this collection of images from the Research Photography Competition at Imperial College London proves that research is beautiful.

The image above by the strict rasy of the Faculty of Physics shows optical fibers connected to a diluted refrigerator. This is a device that creates a temperature of one thousandth of a vacuum in space. By observing how light interacts with sound waves at this incredibly low temperature, researchers can explore the unique properties of matter at the quantum level.