Images Dated 29th November 2004

Richard Byrd, US aviation pioneer

Richard Byrd (1888-1958), American polar explorer and aviation pioneer. Byrd commanded the naval flying unit attached to Donald MacMillan's expedition of Greenland in 1925. On May 9 1926, Byrd and co-pilot Floyd Bennett possibly became the first people to fly over the North Pole, although their claim is controversial. In 1928, Byrd commanded his first mission to the Antarctic and in 1929, with three others, made the first flight over the South Pole. Byrd organised several further visits to Antarctica and explored vast areas of land; his discoveries included the Edsel Ford mountain range and Marie Byrd Land (named after his wife)

© SCIENCE, INDUSTRY & BUSINESS LIBRARY/NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Cobra Lily

Cobra Lily (Darlingtonia california). This insectivorous plant produces a sweet smelling nectar to attract insects. Once an insect enters the mouth of the lily, it is unable to find an exit. Instead, the insect is forced to the back of the head of the lily by backward-pointing hairs, where the wall of the plant is smooth and slippery. The insect falls into a liquid at the bottom of the lily which contains digestive juices. Insects provide the plants with nitrogen, which is lacking from the soils that the plants grow in. The Cobra Lily is so called because the adult plants look like a cobra about to strike its prey

© DUNCAN SMITH/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Blue Lilies flowers

Blue Lilies (Agapanthus praecox ssp. orientalis Mooreanus') flowers

© DUNCAN SMITH/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Agapanthus Praecox, Biological, Biology, Blue Lily, Botanical, Botany, Flower, Flowers, Leaf, Leaves, Multiple, Nature, Petal, Petals, Pla Nts, Plant