Art Meets Science

Is Jupiter the "Star" in Lord Byron's Famous Poem?

According to astronomer Donald Olson, the brilliant star described in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage is actually a planet

A selection of foraminifera, tiny marine creatures that form elaborate shells of calcium carbonate or silica.

These Fanciful Microbes Need Your Coloring Skills

A vast microscopic world writhes around you. Now a coloring book lets you bring wee beasts and beauties to life

Researchers used facial reconstruction software to paint a vivid portrait of one Dubliner that lived 500 years ago.

3-D Reconstruction Reveals Face of 500-Year-Old Irishman

The image offers a rare portrait of an ordinary Dubliner

Art Installation Recreates the Smell of Cities Around the World

The Pollution Pod project emphasizes the unequal air quality divide between rich and poor cities

Mad Max: Fury Road offers a dystopian look at the future.

What Happens to Fiction When Our Worst Climate Nightmares Start Coming True?

Movies, books and poetry have made predictions about a future that could be rapidly approaching

This celestial chart from 1687 is one of many illustrations from books, charts, and maps showing artists’ imaginings of polar bears.

How Polar Bears Became the Dragons of the North

Renaissance maps depicting the “white bears” say more about our own fears and fantasies than about the predators themselves

A cyanotype photogram from "Photographs of British Algae."

How the First Female Photographer Changed the Way the World Sees Algae

The groundbreaking photo book by Anna Atkins, a 19th-century British botanist, is going on display in the Netherlands

Magnetic field strength throughout the Milky Way in present day

Supercomputers Create Breathtaking Simulations of Spiral Galaxies

The simulations took months of modeling to complete—and the results can help scientists learn about the formation of galaxies

Lizard image produced by light-sensitive bacteria

Researchers Create Color Images With Bacteria

The art is done by inserting 18 genes into E. coli

New App Makes It Easier to Colorize Old Photos

The software combines human input and a sophisticated neural network to make historical images pop

The Mona Lisa's sparse setting may help visitors better appreciate its beauty, according to a new psychology study.

Distraction May Make Us Less Able to Appreciate Beauty

Truly experiencing the beauty of an object could require conscious thought, vindicating the ideas of Immanuel Kant

White plastic horse, 3. Plamacina retroversta ic. III. Specimen collected from Cobh shoreline, Cove of Cork, Ireland

These Haunting Photographs Call Attention to Plastic Trash Swirling in the Ocean

Award-winning photographer Mandy Barker explores the beauty and tragedy of marine plankton and plastic waste

Photograph of YInMn Blue as synthesized in the laboratory.

Crayola to Debut Crayon Inspired by New Shade of Blue

The YInMn pigment was accidentally discovered by a chemist in 2009

Submerged Beach, 1400 Fathoms, Else Bostelmann, Bermuda, 1931. Watercolor on paper, 11 1/2 x 14 1/2 inches.

In the Early 20th Century, the Department of Tropical Research Was Full of Glamorous Adventure

A new exhibition features 60 works by artists the New York Zoological Society department hired to help communicate field biology

Henry Bates (Calum Finlay) was a self-taught field biologist and note taker. He created remarkable drawings and watercolors of his collections and observations. Several of his original notebooks are in the archives of London's Natural History Museum.

How Filmmakers Distill Science for the Big Screen

The new film <i>Amazon Adventure</i> turns decades of research into 45 minutes of visual majesty

A permanent exhibition at Micropia in Amsterdam, the world’s only museum dedicated to microbes, called “A Fungal Future” showcases an array of everyday objects made from fungi.

Is Fungus the Material of the Future?

Scientists in the Netherlands have found a way to make slippers and other household objects using fungi

A fern repeats its pattern at various scales.

Fractal Patterns in Nature and Art Are Aesthetically Pleasing and Stress-Reducing

One researcher takes this finding into account when developing retinal implants that restore vision

The heroes of the movie Kong: Skull Island prepare to encounter the 104-foot-tall ape King Kong.

How Big Can a Land Animal Get?

King Kong's biggest enemy isn’t humans—it’s the laws of physics

Most regular visitors of Chicago's Field Museum are on a first-name basis with Sue, the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton that adorns the museum's front hall.

From “T. Rex” to “Pantydraco": How Dinosaurs Get Their Names

The best monikers are “a way to link science and imagination.” Others are just obvious

Ada Lovelace, “The world’s first computer programmer.” In the mid 1800s, she predicted that machines would compose music and forward scientific progress, based on her experiences programming Charles Babbage’s “Analytical Engine,” to calculate Bernoulli numbers.

These Bold Illustrations Celebrate the Incredible Contributions of Women in Science

A designer's touch brings the achievements and faces of female pioneers to a wider audience

Page 15 of 23