The incredible photography of science [8 Pics]

From microscopic to macroscopic the wonders of science often sail past us as we twitter about the latest celeb faux pas or play some silly game on Facebook. Yet there are incredible things going on around us and it takes people like the ones responsible for these incredible photographs to make us stop if even for a minute and stare in awe at the beauty you’ll never see on a Kindle.

Focus Magazine has held a photography contest for the last four years that centers around research projects. These photographs aren’t all taken by pros but sometimes by the researchers themselves.

Fibrin – the protein created by the body that along with platelets make the scab that covers your wounds.

Zebrafish larva – these two day old larva will turn into adult fish in three weeks but have the interest of scientists because of their ability to regenerate fins, skins, the heart and the brain during the larval stage.

The delicacy of the human vascular system – this ‘living’ sculpture was created by injecting a liquid plastic into the bloodstream.

The firing of neurons in the human brain – using a substance that makes the nerve fluoresce scientists are able to take pictures of the brain in action.

Insect models at 60x – Julia Stoess makes exact models of insects with this one of a mosquito at 60 times it normal size.

Your muscles – this is a cross-section of muscle tissue that is surrounded by the extracellular tissue that acts as the connective tissue to make up the complete muscle.

Immune system leaps into action – this is an electron microscope capture of the immune system leaping into action. “A white blood cell (red) wraps itself around a mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of most cases of tuberculosis. Phagocyte, as a white blood cell is known as, comes from the Greek word phagein (to eat), and that’s what the cell does, rendering the infectious cell benign.”

You can see the rest of these great photographs at Spiegel Online.