Jornadas CICECO 2024 Art in Science competition showcases a stunning collection of the most captivating scientific photographs, all created through diverse material imaging techniques. These images not only capture groundbreaking research but also explore the artistic potential of science, featuring everything from detailed results of modeling and simulation to imaginative compositions that fuse multiple visual elements. Whether driven by pure scientific inquiry or creative expression, these works push the boundaries of what can be seen—and imagined—through the lens of scientific discovery.
This live-dead imaging of a solid multicompartment capsule reveals a sun-like structure, with green representing live cells and red indicating dead cells. The spontaneous alignment of cells into this radiant pattern showcases the remarkable organization and complexity within the capsule.
From Microstructure to Skyline: Iron's Dendritic Patterns Reflected in The Gherkin’s Design
A DNA Coil Made of Itself: 3D-Printed Structure from G-Quadruplex-Derived Hydrogels. Using extrusion bioprinting, this DNA double helix—obtained from G-quadruplex supramolecular structures, ubiquitous noncanonical four-stranded structures of DNA—showcases the extraordinary ability to print life’s molecular essence using its own building blocks.
Hidden Depths: Metallic 'algae' clinging to a grid suggesting a micro-scale illusion of ocean plants encrusting a sunken structure. Electrodeposited iron on a nickel grid mimics marine life, merging nature and metal, revealed through scanning electron microscopy.
This photo captures the valorisation of chicken feather waste using a sustainable process that turns feathers into an innovative 3D-printed material rich in keratin with potential for biomedical applications.
This photo aims to evoke both the visual abundance and potential valorisation of chicken feathers waste.
The Giant Shark lurking!
Sunset over the Aveiro Lagoon
Red fracture: The strength of the spider web filaments prevents the nest from collapsing. The union of the arachnid community, represented by the yellow precipitates, which, with the strength of the extremely thin silk threads produced by the invertebrates, prevent the collapse of the nest, represented by the fracture of the geopolymer.
“Crossing Worlds: Real and Imagined” - This SEM image reveals a vertical slice of a micro landscape, showcasing three layers: - Bulk Material, resembling the earth crust, supporting all that lies above. - Strontium carbonate formations, rising like skyscrapers, inviting visions of an imaginative metropolis. - Iron oxide above, swirling like a sandstorm, bringing an exciting energy to this hidden landscape.
Spider-Man’s Web: The Science Behind Super Tough Hydrogels” This hydrogel, combining chitosan and PLMA, has enhanced mechanical properties but remains biocompatible, allowing cells to stretch and thrive in comfort—like superheroes lounging in their own web. With red actin filaments and blue nuclei, this gel is where strength meets cellular bliss.
Captured through a STEM microscope, this incredible nanoparticle—made from human-derived proteins called PLMA—uncannily resembles the shape of a human brain. What makes this microscopic structure truly fascinating is its potential role in developing breakthrough treatments for glioblastoma multiforme, a highly aggressive brain cancer. Could this tiny brain-shaped particle hold the key to a cure?
CICECO no Âmbar
Honeycomb
"When being different becomes an unforgettable challenge". In a pore on the surface of a brushite cement, the singularity of the morphology of this porous formation arouses curiosity about what caused it.
Drawing inspiration from Neil Armstrong's historic words, this research marks a small step in the development of magnetic scaffolds but a giant leap for bone regeneration and hyperthermia therapy. The innovative scaffolds feature pore structures reminiscent of lunar craters, which enhance vascularization and ion exchange between bone and scaffold, facilitating multimodal bone healing.
Game of Nano-Thrones: Ice Structures Beyond the Wall
Can someone find the cinderela that microsteped the 3Dprint!!
Discover the secrets hidden beneath the waves and at the sea floor of Aveiro.
Chitosan aerogels have a surface area equivalent to a tennis court per each gram of material (~200 m²/g). Due to their ultra-low density and lightweight properties, it is possible to suspend a aerogel in Pennisetum feathers. Aerogels show exceptional properties for adsorption (e.g. CO2) and thermal insulation (used by NASA in the Stardust spacecraft, Mars rovers, spacesuits, etc).
Lava Glass
A Portuguese saying: “Mais vale um pássaro na mão do que dois a voar”. Unrevealing the mysteries of producing hollow shapes with cork powders residues by binder jetting, an additive manufacturing technique.
"The Microscopic Mystery of Jellyfish" - Scanning electron microscope (SEM) image of a starch based blend with graphene nanoplatelets
