The Most Jaw-dropping Science Pictures Of 2013

Journalist Justin Catanoso accompanied tropical biologist Miles Silman and his team on a hike through Manu National Park to experience the wonders of Peru's tropical forests. A breathtaking 13,000 feet above sea level, they started their hike above the clouds. Justin Catanoso Source: Hiking Through Peru Showed One Journalist The True Dangers Of Climate Change This composite image, taken in November during a solar eclipse, shows the sun behind the moon, combined with the outflow of the solar corona the charged particles flowing out of the sun's surface that we see during the eclipse when the actual mass of the star is obscured. Firefighters put out a raging fire in a Chicago warehouse on Jan. 23, but the bitter cold temperatures turned it into an ice castle. Scott Olson/Getty Images Eruptions at Mount Etna this year have changed the shape of its vent, causing it to blow perfect 100-meter-wide (328 feet) smoke rings. Tom Pfeiffer The Strokkur geyser in Iceland erupts every four to eight minutes, blasting water up to 130 feet into the air. Hot magma under the Earth heats water until it spews out of a hole in the ground. ABG/Getty Images In May, scientists captured the first images of the hydrogen bond, which holds our DNA together and gives water its unique properties, including surface tension. Zhang, et. al, Science Express, 2013 Source: See The World's First Images Of Actual Hydrogen Bonds "A cafe outside of Aquas Calientes in the Cuzco region of Peru has perches for wild parrots that come and feed on seed and fruit left out for them," said photographer Adam Lichtcsien, who entered this image into the National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest. "This curious little fella was peeking out from behind a leaf to get a better look at me. Apparently he was entertained by the odd human with the camera because he let me get only a few inches away, where my ring light could better illuminate his beautiful feathers." Sleep researchers found that channels (seen in blue in the image below) are created by shrinking neurons to allow waste to be flushed out of the brain during sleep. The resulting image was a beautiful network of colors. MAIKEN NEDERGAARD Source: Scientists Have Finally Found The First Real Reason We Need To Sleep Giant mirrors installed on a Norwegian mountainside will be used for the first time to bring sunlight to the town of Rjukan during winter. Rjukan, shaded by mountains, doesn't receive direct sunlight between September and March; the mirrors adjust to follow the sun and reflect light down onto the town. REUTERS/Tore Meek/NTB Scanpix Source: These Massive Mirrors Will Bring Winter Sunlight To A Norwegian Town For The First Time Using two sets of data from the European Space Observatory's (ESO) VISTA telescope, scientists were able to make the most accurate 3D map yet of the bulge of the Milky Way. The three-dimensional location in the map resulted in this fabulous artist's impression. ESO The Olinguito was the first new carnivorous mammal discovered in the Americas in the last 35 years. A relative of the raccoon, the Olinguito is super adorable. Mark Gurney Source: Scientists Just Discovered An Adorable New Mammal Species Chilling Out In Ecuador Recording-breaking blooms of the algae Enteromorpha prolifera washed up on China's beaches in Shandong province over the summer. It's not toxic to people, but it is to other marine life, hogging most of the oxygen in the ecosystem and doing a fair amount of damage. REUTERS:China Daily This satellite picture of China from October shows just how bad its smog problem is. Monitors say that air pollution reached up to 40 times the standard set by the World Health Organization in some parts of the country. NOAA/NASA Source: China's Smog Is So Bad You Can See It From Space "This picture was taken on a game drive in the Addo Elephant National Park, the third largest national park in the Eastern Cape, South Africa," photographer Natalie Murray, who entered the photo in this year's National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest, said. "The park contains a wide diversity of fauna, flora and landscapes and incorporates semi arid landscapes all the way to a marine reserve.
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