2004 Winners Category 2: Science close-up

Winner

Enlarged view Photographer: Miranda Waldron Title: Life on a sundew Description: This is an image of a small fly caught in the sticky covering on a sundew leaf.

Highly commended entries

Enlarged view Photographer: Hugh Napier Title: Goldeneye Description: Scanning electron microscope (SEM) image of an adult mouse eye showing the intricate network of intersecting ciliary processes. Enlarged view Photographer: Prof. Rudolph van Aarde Title: Elephant molar Description: The top surface of one of the mandibular molars of an African elephant. The tooth is all that withstood years of natural weathering after death. The worn-down surface of tooth shows islands of dentine surrounded by enamel embedded in dentine.

Enlarged view Photographer: Miranda Waldron Title: Shark skin Description: A magnified image of shark skin showing a remarkable similarity to fabric used in swimming costumes for top swimmers. Enlarged view Photographer: Prof. Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan Title: Within a dinosaur bone Description: A thin section of a Late Cretaceous ornithomimid dinosaur from China. Although the bone is about 90 million years old, the microstructure reveals details about how the bone grew and processes that it underwent when the animal was alive. The bone section has not been stained. The colour in the bone is a result of the orientation of apatitic crystals in the bone and give an indication of how collagen was once oriented in the living bone.