Blood and The Universe

Photo credit: Dongmei Liao/Anjali Patel/Garnett Kelsoe
University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Baltimore
USA
medschool.umaryland.edu

Cells are so tightly packed together in our bodies that telling one kind from another can be tricky. Scientists use fluorescent labels to tag different cells in a tissue. The coloured dots in this picture pin-point the various kinds of blood cell in a mouse spleen. Red and white cells made here help the body to fight infections. The mouse cells in this picture are reacting to a protein from a rabbit by clumping together.

Photo credit: Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe Team
USA
map.gsfc.nasa.gov

Scientists have measured the heat left over after the Big Bang to make this map of the Universe. Microwaves in the sky hold clues about how stars and galaxies formed as the Universe got bigger and cooler. A satellite called the WMAP (Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe) was sent into space by NASA to measure temperature changes. Now astronomers believe that the Universe is 13, 700 million years old.