Images Dated 17th April 2003

Malaysian forest scorpion

Malaysian forest scorpion (Heterometrus spinifer). This burrowing scorpion is native to the rain forests of Malaysia. It is mainly nocturnal, feeding on spiders and insects. The long, curled abdomen bears a sting (upper left) that is used to paralyse or kill prey held in the large pincers (upper right and lower centre)

© LAWRENCE LAWRY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Optical image of M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy

Pinwheel galaxy. True-colour optical image of the spiral Pinwheel galaxy M101 (NGC 5457) in the constellation Ursa Major. This large and bright spiral galaxy lies around 20 million light years away. It is much larger than our own Milky Way; around 200, 000 light years in diameter, and having a mass of about 300, 000 million solar masses. The Milky Way is about 110, 000 light years across, and has a mass 100, 000 million times that of the Sun. The bright regions in its arms are huge star birth areas of glowing hydrogen gas, some over 3000 light years across. This image was produced by digitally combining photographs taken by the Palomar Schmidt Telescope in blue and red light

© CELESTIAL IMAGE CO./SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Researchers sequencing human DNA in a laboratory

Human genome research. Researchers carrying out DNA sequencing at the Joint Genome Institute (JGI). Computers sit between the large automated sequencers. The JGI is part of the international Human Genome Project (HUGO) that aims to map the entire human genome, the three billion base pairs that form human DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), by 2003. DNA fragments, copied using PCR (polymerase chain reaction) equipment, are sequenced to find the order of their bases. HUGO will allow the genetic cause of many diseases to be discovered. The JGI, in Walnut Creek, California, is a collaboration between three of the US Department of Energy's National Laboratories

© DAVID PARKER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY