Tyler O'Neal, Staff Editor GOVERNMENT

Beauty of science displayed in annual PNNL calendar

A magnified view of a microbe on Arabidopsis plant roots seemingly provides a "window" into the rhizosphere, or root zone. In fact, that's exactly what a multi-institute research campaign is trying to frame — a view into the world of soil, roots and microorganisms. The image was obtained at EMSL, the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science national scientific user facility located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The campaign includes scientists from EMSL, PNNL, DOE's Joint Genome Institute, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the Universities of Minnesota and Missouri. Funded by DOE's Office of Biological and Environmental Research, the study examines carbon presence and distribution within the root zone, and impacts to rhizosphere microbial community diversity and functions. Results could surface climate and environmental solutions.
A magnified view of a microbe on Arabidopsis plant roots seemingly provides a "window" into the rhizosphere, or root zone. In fact, that's exactly what a multi-institute research campaign is trying to frame — a view into the world of soil, roots and microorganisms. The image was obtained at EMSL, the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science national scientific user facility located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The campaign includes scientists from EMSL, PNNL, DOE's Joint Genome Institute, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the Universities of Minnesota and Missouri. Funded by DOE's Office of Biological and Environmental Research, the study examines carbon presence and distribution within the root zone, and impacts to rhizosphere microbial community diversity and functions. Results could surface climate and environmental solutions.

A dozen colorful images captured during research are featured

Enjoying the beauty of science year-round is easy with a new digital calendar and computer wallpaper containing captivating images that illustrate research at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. 

The 2016 calendar and wallpaper feature 12 colorful images, including close-up views of materials under a microscope and visualized computational modeling results. The images — which showcase everything from bacteria to batteries — are the result of PNNL's diverse research, including biofuels, energy storage, cybersecurity and biological threat detection.

For example, the month of November shows a magnified microbe growing a on a plant root. The image was collected while PNNL scientists studied the carbon cycle among soil, roots and microogranisms. The research could one day lead to solutions for climate and environmental challenges.

PNNL chose the dozen images from more than 60 nominations that were submitted in 2015 by its staff. This is the fifth year in a row the national laboratory has produced a scientific art calendar.

To download a calendar or wallpaper, go to the 2016 Science as Art Calendar website. The images can also be seen on PNNL's Flickr account.

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