Science Meets Art

Reported February 2010

URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Take a look at the world of science through the eyes of what scientists see everyday. You'll see some surprising things in the art of science.

In the world of art, there are artists.

"I really enjoyed creating art probably around 10 or 12 years old," artist Justin Farkas told Ivanhoe.

In the world of science, there are scientists.

"I've set a vacuum in the microscope and now I'm about to turn on the electron beam," Adam Steele, an aerospace engineer graduate student at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, Ill., described of his work.

The two worlds have more in common than you might think. Now, Steele has made art out of science, and discovered some amazing images.

"A lot of the images that we find look a lot like a coral reef," Steele said.

Steele develops highly water repellent surfaces with tiny nano-particles that are one thousand times smaller than the width of a human hair. The particles can only be seen with a powerful tool called a scanning electron microscope, bombarding the surface with a beam of electrons. The microscope revealed some surprising and recognizable objects -- a donut, a seahorse, and Santa Claus … also known as nano-Santa.

"Surprise, we see things on the surface that don't look like what we're expecting," Steele said. "Rather than just being nano-particles and things like that, it might look like a face."

Steele's nano-santa image earned him second place in the materials research society's, science as art competition. Now he continues to search for more nano art projects.

"It's not much extra work as we're looking at it from an engineering perspective just to take a few images here or there that we think are cool, from an artistic perspective," Steele said. " It makes it a little more fun."

Adding a little science to art of any size might make it better.

To see more winners of the science as art competition, go to www.mrs.org.

The Materials Research Society contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Adam Steele
Contact Person
University of Illinois
asteele4@illinois.edu

Materials Research Society
Warrendale, PA 15086-7573
(724) 779-3003
http://www.mrs.org
webmaster@mrs.org

Fr most of us, losing a limb would be devastating, but imagine losing both arms and both legs. Meet a woman who is not only surviving, but thriving, using the latest in prosthetic technology. A new bionic hand is helping amputee's regain control and independence.

1.8 million people rely on walkers to get around, and 1.7 million people use a wheelchair. While mobility devices improve independence, navigating some spaces is still difficult. Now researchers are developing new intelligent tools that cater to the disabled.

1.8 million people rely on walkers to get around, and 1.7 million people use a wheelchair. While mobility devices improve independence, navigating some spaces is still difficult. Now researchers are developing new intelligent tools that cater to the disabled.

From spinach to tomatoes, contaminated produce has made headlines … and a lot of people sick. When this kind of problem is discovered, one of the challenges is finding the source of the contamination. Now the Food and Drug Administration is looking at new technology to help the produce industry track and trace the fruits and vegetables we eat, from the field to the produce aisle.

When it comes to space travel, man has made leaps and bounds, but one thing they haven't conquered yet is living in space. With frozen water on it, mars is a likely planet to inhabit, but it takes nine months to get there from earth, making it difficult to supply astronauts with adequate supplies.

It's estimated one out of every 150 babies born in the United States will develop autism. A new case is diagnosed every 20 minutes.

Not getting enough sleep at night can sap most of your energy during the day. About 60 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders, causing a lot of sleepless nights, but your cell phone may be able to help you sleep better.

It's one of the most common medical problems -- eight out of ten people experience back pain at some point in their lives. Despite medical advances, most cases have no known cause.

If you work in an office, a cubicle, a coffee shop, or in an airport, privacy and your computer is a big deal, especially when working with confidential documents. Now there's a new way to protect your PC's privacy.

Video games are a part of growing up for most kids in the U.S. In a recent survey, 97 percent of children age 12 to 17 said they play video games, whether it's on their computer or on an Xbox, PlayStation or other device.

Computer crime has been a growing problem since it first showed up on the scene in the 1980s. While criminals keep coming up with new ways to break the rules, now law enforcement is better at cracking these crimes thanks to a new way to reveal evidence hidden by criminals.

Take a look at the world of science through the eyes of what scientists see everyday. You'll see some surprising things in the art of science.