Images Dated 24th February 2004

Artwork of a space station around planet Earth

Star city. Computer artwork of part of a ring around the world space station in geostationary orbit. The space station known as Star City is linked to Earth by towers at the equator (not seen here). The concept of Star City is outlined in chapter 4 of Arthur C. Clarke's novel 3001: The final odyssey. The concept is based on the theoretical possibility of laying a cable between the Earth and a satellite hovering over the same spot on the Equator. The Moon can be seen at centre left and space ships which are servicing the space station can be seen at lower centre, at centre, and centre right

© VICTOR HABBICK VISIONS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Death of the dinosaurs

Death of the dinosaurs. Artist's impression of a pair of Tyrannosaurus rex succumbing to the savage onslaught of a global winter brought on by a comet impact with Earth. The dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago, along with thousands of other life-forms, at the end of the Cretaceous Period. The theory that the mass extinction was caused by a cometary impact has recently received support from geological evidence, though numerous other explanations for the death of the dinosaurs have been put forward. It is suggested that a comet hitting Earth would have thrown millions of tons of dust & rocks into the atmosphere, blocking the Sun's light & causing a global cooling

© JULIAN BAUM/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Technician checks earthquake equipment: Parkfield

Parkfield earthquake prediction experiment. A U.S. Geological Survey field technician checks on equipment installed in one of the 18 water wells located around Parkfield. Seismologists have predicted that an earthquake of around magnitude 6 will occur on the San Andreas fault at Parkfield before 1993. Dozens of researchers have made the village the most heavily instrumented earthquake region in the world. Instruments in the wells record the level of ground water as the rock beneath reacts to the strains associated with seismic activity. The antenna, at top, transmits data to a satellite for relay to the Parkfield Experiment headquarters. 05 -- damaged

© DAVID PARKER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY