This work has been selected for exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall in May 2008. Listen to the Virus soundtrack created by students from Park View Community School, Durham Community Business College and Sion-Manning RC Girls School with composer Duncan Chapman.

Viruses are much smaller than the smallest of bacteria cell...

Around five cosmic rays pass through your head every second. Cosmic rays are high-energy particles from outer space. Exploded stars like this one – Tycho’s supernova, named after the Danish astronomer that discovered it, allow scientists to study places where cosmic rays are produced.

What are stem cells? Inside your body every time cells die, they are replaced. The continuous supply of new cells comes from stem cells. They are still flexible enough to develop into several different kinds of tissue. An embryo is a ball of the most flexible cells, which can be used to make cells for the brain, liver and lots of other organs.

This work has been selected for exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall in May 2008. Listen to the Turtle Shell Nebula created by students from Park View Community School, Durham Community Business College and Sion-Manning RC Girls School with composer Duncan Chapman.

My drawing looks like a shell of a turtle, I imagine that this could be out in space, a group of stars and dust, in the shape of a turtle shell, pulled together to create this beautiful sight...

All over the surface of your skin are squashed keratinocytes (care-ah-tin-oh-site), cells that make the protein keratin, the stuff of your hair and nails. These cells are an important protection against the outside world. You shed them daily. Within a month your body has made a new layer.

This work has been selected for exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall in May 2008. Listen to the Supergiant Star created by students from Park View Community School, Durham Community Business College and Sion-Manning RC Girls School with composer Duncan Chapman.

the telescopic image I chose was a supergiant star illuminating dust...

A close relative of the hamster the Mongolian gerbil is a popular pet. Cells from gerbils are also useful research tools for studying cancer, ageing and infectious diseases. Within the tiny sacs of gerbil lungs are cells that look like the one pictured. GeLu (Jell-Ooo) cells make collagen and other materials that help cells gel together.

This work has been selected for exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall in May 2008. Listen to the Universe as a Tube created by students from Park View Community School, Durham Community Business College and Sion-Manning RC Girls School with composer Duncan Chapman.

Your lungs can spread out across a tennis court and have around 1500 miles of tiny air sacs. As cells die they are replaced. Across the massive surface area of your lungs, there is considerable opportunity for the repair system to mess up. The CAT scan here pictured displays growths (top left hand side of the image) which are quite rare but can develop into cancer.

This work has been selected for exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall in May 2008. Listen to the New New Earth created by students from Park View Community School, Durham Community Business College and Sion-Manning RC Girls School with composer Duncan Chapman.

Around 500 years ago Spanish astronomer Ceanne Thompson, spotted this new planet...