The art of science
Images captured under microscopes by Queensland scientists are being turned into art prints to raise the pro. le of science, as well as funds for research.
In the movie Forrest Gump, the title character says life is like a box of chocolates. According to Dr Bronwen Cribb from the Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis at the University of Queensland, life really is like a box of chocolates for an insect invading a flower.
“An insect sees pollen as nature’s sweet shop and that’s the idea I wanted to represent in my art work,” Bronwen said. Bronwen is one of 10 Queensland research scientists whose colourful images created from electron microscope scans of natural phenomena are being marketed by the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) as the Angstrom Art Collection.
An Angstrom (0.000 000 0001 of a metre) is the unit of length most commonly used when measuring the size of cells and proteins.
Bronwen’s creation Sweetbox shows pollen from a pigeon pea flower. The image was taken as part of her research into investigating features that could distinguish pollen from different crops to help map the travel patterns of pest moths such as heliothis.
The IMB Angstrom Art prints are approximately 40cm x 60cm. They can be purchased online at www.imb.uq.edu.au
Last reviewed 19 January 2006
