Images Dated 12th January 2005

Biometric scans

Biometric scans. Computer artwork of a human eye and fingerprint. Biometrics is the identification of individuals by measuring and analysing their physiological characteristics, such as fingerprints, and eye retinas and irises. Each has unique features which can be used to identify an individual. Biometric data can be combined with personal information to form the basis of identity card systems

© DAVID NICHOLLS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

COBE observation of dust ring in Earths orbit

Earth's dust ring. All-sky map showing dust clouds trailing (large area, left) and leading (right) Earth in its orbit around the Sun. The colours represent infrared intensity at a wave- length of 12 microns, from purple (lowest) to red (highest). The red areas at top right and bottom left are signals from the Milky Way. The clouds are part of a ring of asteroidal dust which orbits the Sun with the Earth. It is thought that the dust came from the zodiacal cloud which envelops the inner Solar System, and has become locked in a gravitational resonance with the Earth. The data were gathered by the Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment on NASA's COBE satellite

© W.T.REACH/NASA GSFC/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Acupuncturist carries out moxibustion on abdomen

Moxibustion. Female acupuncturist examining burning moxa wool on acupuncture points on a female patient's abdomen. Moxa wool is made from dried mugwort leaves (Artemisia vulgaris). Sticks of moxa can also be used to heat the skin directly at acupuncture points. Moxibustion is used to warm the body's Qi (life force), mainly in the treatment of conditions characterized by coldness and dampness. Acupuncture was developed in China on the theory that Qi flows along the body's meridian lines. It is believed that diseases are due to a blockage of this flow. Warming the points along the meridians is thought to restore normal flow

© MAURO FERMARIELLO/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY