BEST SCIENCE PHOTOS OF THE WEEK XIV

Best Science Photos of the Week
By Live Science, 5 May 2012.

1. Hotspot for Martian Life?

Glass sand on Mars may point the way to chemically-rich water ideal for hosting life. The newly discovered glass dune fields, spread across almost a third of the planet, likely formed from interactions between magma and ice, or water - interactions that could create the perfect environments for microbial life. [Read full story]

2. Zombie Ants!

A fungus that invades the brains of ants, turning them into zombies on a death march, may have met its match. Another parasitic fungus, it turns out, effectively castrates the zombie-ant fungus so it can't spread its spores, a new study finds. Shown here, the mature, fruiting body of a zombie fungus is growing through this zombie ant's neck. [Read full story]

3. Stonehenge Speaks

The stone slabs of England's Stonehenge may have been more than just a spectacular sight to the ancient people who built the structure; they likely created an acoustic environment unlike anything they normally experienced, new research hints. [Read full story] [Photo credit link: Gail Johnson | Shutterstock]

4. Albatross Breed Earlier

Some wandering albatrosses, the largest of seabirds, have begun breeding earlier than they did 30 years ago, research indicates. While environmental change may be responsible, it's not yet clear how, the scientists say. [Read full story]

5. Pucker Up!

This Atlantic scorpion fish made its way into our daily gallery of science images. Who could resist? Well, you may want to, as this fellow is part of the Scorpaenidae family, a group that includes the world's most venomous species. (The lionfish, with its venomous fin rays, is another family member.) This image was taken in 2002 during a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) expedition to explore the eastern coast of the U.S. from Florida to North Carolina. [See more amazing science images]

6. Where'd You Get Those Fair Tresses?

Residents of the Solomon Islands in the Pacific, including this cute-as-can-be boy, have some of the darkest skin seen outside of Africa. They also have the highest occurrence of blond hair seen in any population outside of Europe. Now, researchers have found the single gene that explains these fair tresses.[Read full story]

7. Mei Xiang Gets Inseminated

The "black-and-white rock star" of the Smithsonian's National Zoo, female panda Mei Xiang, was artificially inseminated with up to 800 million sperm this week. It may be a while before staff know if the technique worked. [Read full story]

8. Big, Bold Moon Rises

The biggest full moon of the year will rise Saturday (May 5) as Earth's only satellite swings into its perigee, or closest approach to Earth. This so-called "supermoon" will appear extra big and extra bright. Shown here, a supermoon that rose on March 19, 2011. [Read full story on maddening moon myths]

9. Swallowing a Star

For the first time, scientists have identified a stellar victim of a giant black hole - an unlucky star whose death may ultimately provide more clues on the inner workings of the enigmatic gravitational monster that devoured it. Shown here, this computer-simulated image shows gas from a tidally shredded star falling into a black hole. Some of the gas also is being ejected at high speeds into space. [Read full story] [Photo Credit: NASA, S. Gezari (The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.), A. Rest (Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.), and R. Chornock (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Ma.)]

10. My, What Big Eyes...

The fastest runners in the animal kingdom have some of the biggest eyes for their body size, researchers have found. Turns out, often the bigger the peepers the better the eyesight, which is beneficial when moving quickly. [Read full story] [Photo credit link: marcokenya | Shutterstock]

Top image: Stonehenge (left) and Supermoon 2011 (right)

[Source: Live Science. Edited. Top image added.]