• more about #nationalsciencefoundation
    Gann: I bumped into an unseasonal aurora borealis while driving through Canada one summer. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Photos really c... more »
    vuffiraa: Gorgeous, but at least inform us when the photos are 6 months old or more... according to the NSF site, at least a few if not all of these were taken ... more »
    twophrasebark: Never mind... more »
    Anekanta - Go Play!: Yeah, but are there any freaky little aliens running around taking over people's bodies? more »
    BadUncle: Those are amazing photos. They look concept watercolors for a movie. more »
  • #spaceporn

    Aurora Australis Warms Up the Antarctic Sky

    Photos of the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights, have become a common enough sight, but a less frequently seen phenomenon is their Southern cousin, the Aurora Australis, which create a spectacular light show over the Antarctic desert. More »
  • #scienceisawesome

    2008 Science Visualization Challenge Reveals the Teeth in a Squid's Suckers

    What you see above are actually the suckers on the arm of a squid, captured with an electron microscope. The color was added for the obvious effect. The National Science Foundation and the journal Science have announced the winners of the 6th annual International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge. Incredibly talented scientist/artists wielding electron microscopes and more esoteric methods created a bunch of exceptionally cool images, such as this shot of Yog-Sothoth gibbering madly as he tries to force his way into our dimension. More »
  • #spaceporn

    A Galaxy Unwinds, 140,000 Light Years From Its Core

    Baby stars spring to life at the supposedly desolate fringes of the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, also known as M83, in this new image from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer. Up to 140,000 light years from the galaxy's center, the outer arms of its "pinwheel" shape seem to flap away from the center like "giant red streamers," and these extended galaxy arms are giving birth to a surprising number of new stars. Want to see another image of the pinwheel galaxy extending itself? More »