Have you ever wondered what spider silk looks like up close? Keep, really at close range? The winner of this year’s Royal Society Publishing Photography Competition is sure to satisfy your curiosity.
The image above, aptly titled “Mesmerizing Spider Threads,” showcases the intricate, looping threads of an Australian web-throwing spider (File subrufa) silk with fine details. Unlike typical web-building spiders, web throwers hold a special, sticky web between their four front legs and then throw it over their insect prey. Their silk has evolved to be very strong and flexible to support this movement.
“If we observed the behavior, we knew there was something amazing,” photographer Martín Ramírez, a CONICET (Argentina National Council for Scientific and Technical Research) researcher at the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences, said in a Royal Society news release. “The web is incredibly flexible; no normal silk can stretch like that to return to its original shape.” The silk sample was obtained by Jonas Wolff, a zoologist at the University of Greifswald in Germany.
As jaw-dropping as this picture is, it faced some stiff competition. Every year, the Royal Society asks scientists from around the world to submit their best images in the fields of astronomy, behaviour, earth science and microphotography. Read on to see the incredible category winners of this year’s competition.
Astronomy Winner: Dancing on the edge of the fire
Imran Sultan, an astrophotographer and researcher at Northwestern University’s Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA), captured the intricate details of the sun’s surface in this stunning photograph. He observed the Sun in July 2024, near the peak of its 11-year solar cycle.
“I looked at the Sun in hydrogen-alpha light, revealing the dynamic solar chromosphere and the complex protrusions that dance along the limb,” Sultan explained in the release. “To see the rich details of the chromosphere, imaging in a narrow band of red alpha-hydrogen-alpha light (0.3-0.5 angstroms) while rejecting all other sunlight.”
Behavioral Winner: Prairie Chicken Jump Off
Check out this action photo of two greater prairie chickens (Tympanuchus Cupido) squared in northern Colorado. Peter Hudson, a professor of biology at Penn State University, captured a typical aerial battle between males competing for a mate.
During these ritualistic fights, one male will launch into the air and attempt to strike his opponent before landing and launching a reciprocal jump attack, according to Hudson. Biologists previously interpreted this as direct male-male competition, reminiscent of medieval tournaments where the winner gets the female, but further research revealed that females actually choose their mates based on a number of behavioral and morphological traits.
Earth science and climate science winner: Scanning glaciers in Antarctic winter
The glaciers of Börgen Bay, located on the Antarctic Peninsula, are retreating rapidly as the global temperature rises. Michael Meredith, Joint Director of the UK National Climate Science Partnership (UKNCSP) and Chief Science Officer of the British Antarctic Survey, captured this image during a winter research campaign in this volatile region.
“The image was taken during the polar night when we were studying ocean conditions in the Antarctic Peninsula in front of the glaciers to better understand how they are affected by climate change,” Meredith wrote in a LinkedIn post. He and his colleagues guided the ship near William Glacier, using its searchlight and ocean images to gather information about its features. Later that evening, a significant chunk of the glacier fell into the sea.
Winner of Ecology and Environmental Science: The Amphibian Galaxy
(Guibemantis liber) © Filippo Carugati, courtesy of the Royal Society
Filippo Carugati is a wildlife photographer and PhD candidate in biology at the University of Turin in Italy. He spent six months in the Maromizaha rainforest in Madagascar, exploring its rivers and wetlands at night to collect data for his dissertation.
On one of these expeditions, he came across a large egg, probably laid by a free-ranging Madagascar frog (Guide book), hangs on a small frame next to a small pond. Sleepers swim through the jelly-like substance, and Carugati photographed them by lighting an egg holder from behind, creating a cosmic effect.