Credit: Neil Hammerschlag.
Best Science Photos of the Week - March 10, 2012
Our Weird World
A bizarre tubular cloud, cosmic bubbles, bustling tubeworms and plenty of up-close shots of giant sharks, this week's photos reveal the awe, beauty and just plain weirdness of the world we call home. Take a look.
| 1. Bizarre, Giant Tubular Cloud Rolls Across the Sea |
 Credit: Capt. Andreas M. van der Wurff. |
A photo taken near Brazil captures a rare and beautiful "roll cloud," a tubular cloud that seems to tumble across the sky. The spectacular photo, captured last month, was just released this week by NASA's Earth Science Picture of the Day blog. [Read full story]
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| 2. The Beauty of Tiger Sharks |
 Credit: Jim Abernath. |
Strangest class picture of all time? Nope, just a little tourism. A 12-foot-long female tiger shark shows off her size above a row of SCUBA divers at Tiger Beach in the Bahamas, a popular eco-tourism spot. There have been worries that these eco-tourist spots disrupt sharks' natural wanderings by making them overly dependent on the chum that tour guides throw out to attract the giant, predatory fish. But new research suggests that's not the case. In fact, responsible eco-tourism may benefit sharks by encouraging local governments to protect them. [See more amazing science images]
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| 3. Meeting Sharks |
 Credit: Image courtesy Jim Abernethy. |
A pulse-quickening encounter is the whole point for visitors to Tiger Beach, in the Bahamas where eco-tourists can get up close and personal with tiger sharks - indiscriminate eaters known to devour everything from sea turtles to kegs of nails (and occasionally a few unlucky humans). Dive operators depend on this voracious appetite to lure tiger sharks in using free meals.
Some have argued that the free meals - and resulting close encounters between humans and sharks - could have bad consequences for both species. But new research suggests that's not the case. In fact, responsible eco-tourism may benefit sharks by encouraging local governments to protect them. [Read full story]
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| 4. Solar Storm Threats |
 Credit: NASA / LMSAL. |
The sun erupted in two powerful solar flares Tuesday (March 6), blasting a wave of solar plasma and energetic particles out into space. This radiation has proven dangerous to satellites - for example, some equipment on the European Space Agency's Venus Express spacecraft was blinded by the blast - and could even disrupt power grids on Earth. But the International Space Station and its crew aren't in a position to feel the sun's wrath this time, NASA officials said. [Read full story]
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| 5. Odd Creatures Found at Deep-Sea Vent |
 Credit: Lisa Levin/NSF/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. |
An exploration of a deep-sea vent ecosystem off Costa Rica's west coast reveals a thriving ecosystem with Volkswagon-size "bushes" of tubeworms. Researchers estimate more than 14,000 tubeworms make up this bush. [Read full story]
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| 6. Shy Fish Among Worms |
 Credit: Lisa Levin/NSF/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. |
A zoarcid fish peeks out from the safety of a tubeworm bush in the thriving vent system off Costa Rica. [See more image of the deep-sea seep-vent]
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| 7. Cosmic Bubbles |
 Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Oxford University. |
More than 5,000 space bubbles have been discovered in the disk of our Milky Way galaxy by a team of part-time citizen scientists. These bubbles are blown by young, hot stars into the surrounding gas and dust, and indicate areas of brand-new star formation, scientists said this week. [Read full story]
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| 8. Magnetic Moon Spots |
 Credit: Science/AAAS. |
A giant asteroid collision with the moon that created the solar system's largest known impact crater may have spawned the surprisingly strong magnetic anomalies seen on the moon, a new study suggests.
This image, released March 8, 2012, shows the biggest group of odd magnetic anomalies on the moon near the northern rim of the largest lunar crater. [Read full story]
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| 9. Fossilized Hunting Scene Discovered |
An ancient armoured fish was fossilized in the act of attacking and drowning a pterosaur in a toxic Jurassic lake, revealing that the winged reptiles were victims of a wide variety of carnivores, scientists reported this week. [Read full story]
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Credit: | 10. Mars Twister Caught in New Photo |
 Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona. |
A dust devil on Mars has been caught in the act of tearing across the Red Planet in a spectacular new photo by a NASA spacecraft. [Read full story]
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