Images Dated 10th March 2005

Tsiolkovskys works on space conquest

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky's early works on space conquest. Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935) was a Russian rocket pioneer. Although he never built a rocket, Tsiolkovsky's work was highly influential in the development of Soviet rocket and space technology. He became deaf after contracting scarlet fever at around the age of 10 and from then on he schooled himself, mainly from books in his father's library. He determined that the Earth's escape velocity was 8 kilometres per second and showed that this could be achieved using liquid-fuel rockets. He predicted many aspects of space travel, including double-walled hulls for meteor protection and the problems of weightlessness

© RIA NOVOSTI/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Coloured SEM of an early blood clot forming

Blood clot. Coloured Scanning Electron Micrograph of an early blood clot. The red blood cells are forming rouleaux (rolls) as they become enmeshed in a tangle of fibrin fibres (yellow). Blood clots form when blood cells called platelets are activated by contact with damaged blood vessels. The platelets clump together and release chemical factors into the blood. These factors start a cascade of chemical reactions that turns the soluble protein fibrinogen into insoluble protein fibres called fibrin. The fibrin forms a dense network that enmeshes blood cells and eventually tightens into a solid clot. Magnification: x3, 150 at 5x7cm size. x10, 500 at 10x8ins

© POWER AND SYRED/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Kidney tubules, SEM

Kidney tubules. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of proximal convoluted tubules (dark brown) in the kidney. The proximal convoluted tubules function to reabsorb water, glucose and other small molecules from the filtrate, producing a concentrated urine. The tubules consist of a lumen (interior) lined with cuboidal epithelial cells. These cells are covered in many finger-like projections known as microvilli, which serve to increase the cell's surface area for reabsorption. The reabsorbed molecules move into the interstitial fluid of the kidney and are absorbed back into the blood. The liquid in the tubules passes to the bladder. Magnification: x420 when printed 10cm wide

© STEVE GSCHMEISSNER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY