Light Pollution over Lake Carnegie, 1:45 AM, March 31 2024

16″x20″ Silver Gelatin Print from 8″x10″ Black and White Negative

Jasper Waldman ’25

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Visual Arts

This print is a 5 minute long exposure taken with an Intrepid 8”x10” view camera, enlarged on a Fotar 10”x10” Vertical Enlarger. The silver gelatin process directly records the photons that struck the film over the period that the image was exposed: photons split silver halide crystals embed on the film, forming deposits of metallic silver, which are then grown to be visible through the developing process.

FeFlora

Beth E. Jarvie (Staff)

Keller Center

I walked past this outcropping of rust growing on a dumpster parked outside the E-Quad for several days. Each day, my eye was drawn to the amazing patterns created by the rust and paint. Finally, I stopped to truly appreciate the beauty in the reaction between iron, water, oxygen, and pigment. I wondered how many people walked past and ever noticed the beautiful interaction of these simple elements.

Haiku Numbers

Luke Shannon ‘24 (Alumni)

Computer Science, Visual Arts

Some numbers, when spoken aloud in English, are haikus. The smallest such number is 127,177.

one hundred twenty
seven thousand one hundred
seventy seven

This image presents all of the haikus under 2^24 (16,777,216), positioned on a continuous fractal space-filling line known as a Hilbert curve.

NGC 1499 The California Nebula

Rupesh Varghese (Staff)

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Resembling the U.S. state it’s named after, the California Nebula is a vast cloud of glowing hydrogen gas about 1,000 light-years away in the constellation Perseus. Its striking glow comes from ionized hydrogen illuminated by nearby hot stars.

Captured under the light-polluted skies of South Jersey, with Philadelphia’s glow on the horizon, this image was made possible using specialized astrophotography cameras and narrowband filters to reveal the nebula’s colors.

Eclipse Over Maine

Simon Ji (Graduate Student)

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Vivek Vijayakumar ‘25

Astrophysical Sciences

This image captures the progression of a total solar eclipse, showing the path of the sun as the moon slowly moves across it. In this moment of totality, the sky takes on the characteristics of twilight.

This photo was taken at Jackman, Maine in April 2024, following a hectic three-day journey chasing the clearest weather along the eclipse path.

The Science of Escape: Zebras in Flight

Isla Duporge (Postdoc)

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Erin Flowers (Professional Specialist)

Craig Marshall (Professional Specialist)

Council on Science and Technology

Kelly Billman, Ajay Donthula, Alex Frias, Steven Messiah, Julianna Mokaya, Enrique Nuño, Michael Olakkengil, Patricia Palanik, Ana Maria Pantoja Alfaro, Alejandro Pliego, Mateo Schneider, Livia Shneider, Darren Tsai, Aishwaryaa Udeshi, and Aiden Vilo (Class of ’28)

FRS 129: Visualizing Nature

This series captures a zebra herd’s instinctive response to a pseudo-predator. The first photo shows them grazing peacefully, their black-and-white stripes stark against the golden plains. In the second, sensing danger, they fracture into linear formations. The final image captures their full-speed escape, racing in coordinated motion toward safety. This series offers an intimate look at the dynamics of animal flight, a movement that blends the beauty of nature with the urgency of survival.

These images were captured using an aerial drone at Mpala Research Centre, Kenya.

Atlantic Puffin: Wings of Resilience

Yiming Zuo (Graduate Student)

Computer Science

An Atlantic puffin is taking off, holding a fresh catch in its mouth.

Though once nearly extinct along the Maine coast due to hunting and habitat loss, Atlantic puffins have made a comeback thanks to dedicated conservation efforts. Eastern Egg Rock is at the heart of this revival, where researchers carefully monitor the colony. By applying identification bands to birds like this one, scientists can
track migration patterns, survival rates, and breeding success.

Existence Series: I will be here

Audrey Zhang ‘25

Art and Archaeology

Inspired by synaptic transmissions, I will be here envisions a future where we store information at the event horizon of black holes. Having transcended flesh and bone, we become digital entities who intimately understand the universe’s secrets. We construct spaceships, societies, and star-powered devices that shape the cosmos. Communication is seamless, and art is transmitted as light from one mind to another.

Sea of Life

Chenyue Cai (Graduate Student)

Computer Science

This image is a rendering of a simulation where fluid transport and diffusion shape dynamic forms that resemble figures dancing within a vector field. This interplay between microscopic motion and macroscopic patterns reveals the fluidity of movement and the emergent beauty of complex systems.

From Forever to Now

Matthew Sima (Graduate Student)

Chiara Smorada( Graduate Student)

Shan Huang (Professional Specialist)

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Xiaohui Xu (Senior Researcher)

Chemical and Biological Engineering

Peter Jaffé (Faculty)

Civil and Environmental Engineering

This scanning electron microscope image depicts the first isolated bacteria able to break down perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), otherwise known as “forever chemicals.” The bacterium, Acidimicrobium sp. strain A6, is highlighted in red. It is surrounded by rough solid iron attached to smooth hydrogel. The iron is key to the growth of A6 as it acts as an electron acceptor, while the hydrogel acts as a carrier for both the A6 and iron. This discovery is a breakthrough in the field of pollution remediation.