{"id":175135,"date":"2025-12-04T17:43:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T17:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/175135\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T17:43:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T17:43:07","slug":"youll-never-guess-what-took-first-place-at-the-royal-societys-photo-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/175135\/","title":{"rendered":"You’ll Never Guess What Took First Place at the Royal Society’s Photo Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ever wonder what spider silk looks like up close? Like,\u00a0really\u00a0up close? The winner of this year\u2019s Royal Society Publishing Photography Competition<\/a> will surely sate your curiosity.<\/p>\n

The image above, aptly named \u201cMesmerizing Spider Threads,\u201d showcases the intricate, looping fibers of Australian net-caster spider (Asianopis subrufa) silk in exquisite detail. Unlike typical web-building arachnids, net-casters hold a specialized, sticky net between their four front legs, then throw<\/a> it over their insect prey. Their silk has evolved to be very strong and stretchy to support this maneuver.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust from observing the behavior, we knew something spectacular was going to be there,\u201d photographer Mart\u00edn Ram\u00edrez, a research scientist for CONICET (National Scientific and Technical Research Council\u2014Argentina) at the Argentinian Museum of Natural Sciences, said in a Royal Society release<\/a>. \u201cThe web is incredibly stretchy; no normal silk can extend in that way to then return to its original form.\u201d The silk sample was obtained by Jonas Wolff, a zoology researcher at the University of Greifswald in Germany.<\/p>\n

As jaw-dropping as this photo is, it faced some tough competition. Each year, the Royal Society asks scientists from around the world to submit their best images representing the fields of astronomy, behavior, earth science, and microimaging. Read on to see the incredible category winners<\/a> from this year\u2019s contest.<\/p>\n

Astronomy winner:\u00a0Dancing on the Edge of Fire\u00a0 \"AThe solar surface imaged in Hydrogen-alpha light on July 26, 2024, revealing the dynamic solar chromosphere and intricate prominences \u00a9 Imran Sultan, courtesy of the Royal Society <\/p>\n

Imran Sultan, an astrophotographer and graduate researcher at Northwestern University\u2019s Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA), captured the intricate detail of the solar surface in this stunning photo. He observed the Sun in July 2024, near the peak of its 11-year solar cycle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI observed the Sun in Hydrogen-alpha light, revealing the dynamic solar chromosphere and intricate prominences dancing along the limb,\u201d Sultan explained in a release. \u201cIn order to see the rich details of the chromosphere, imaging in a narrow band of red hydrogen-alpha light (0.3-0.5 angstroms) while rejecting all other sunlight is crucial.\u201d<\/p>\n

Behavior winner:\u00a0Prairie Chicken Jump Off \"TwoTwo male greater prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus cupido) compete to impress females \u00a9 Peter Hudson, courtesy of the Royal Society <\/p>\n

Check out this action shot of two greater prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus cupido) squaring off in northern Colorado. Peter Hudson, an endowed professor of biology at Penn State University, captured the characteristic aerial combat between males competing for mates.<\/p>\n

During these ritualistic battles, one male launches into the air and attempts to strike his opponent before landing and triggering a reciprocal jump attack, according to Hudson. Biologists previously interpreted this as straight male-male competition resembling medieval tournaments, where the winner claims the female, but further studies revealed that the females actually select their mates based on multiple behavioral and morphological traits.<\/p>\n

Earth science and climatology winner:\u00a0Scanning Glaciers in the Antarctic Winter \"ADuring a winter research campaign in B\u00f6rgen Bay on the Antarctic Peninsula, scientists shine a ship\u2019s searchlight on a huge glacier. \u00a9 Michael Meredith, courtesy of the Royal Society <\/p>\n

The glaciers of B\u00f6rgen Bay on the Antarctic Peninsula are retreating rapidly as the global temperature rises. Michael Meredith, joint director of the UK National Climate Science Partnership (UKNCSP) and science leader at the British Antarctic Survey, took this photo during a winter research campaign in this volatile region.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe image was captured in the polar night, while we were surveying ocean conditions in front of glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula, to understand better how they are affected by climate change,\u201d Meredith wrote<\/a> in a LinkedIn post. He and his colleagues maneuvered a ship close to the William Glacier, using its spotlight and oceanographic images to gather data on its characteristics. Later that same evening, a significant chunk of the glacier tumbled into the sea.<\/p>\n

Ecology and Environmental Science winner: Amphibian Galaxy \"MalagasyMalagasy frog tadpoles swim near a large egg clatch likely deposited by a free Madagascar frog
(Guibemantis liber) \u00a9 Filippo Carugati, courtesy of the Royal Society <\/p>\n

Filippo Carugati is a wildlife photographer and biology PhD candidate at the University of Turin in Italy. He spent six months in the Maromizaha rainforest of Madagascar, exploring its rivers and wetlands at night to collect data for his thesis.<\/p>\n

During one of these expeditions, he stumbled upon a large egg clatch, probably laid by a free Madagascar frog (Guibemantis liber), hanging onto a small trunk next to a little pond. Tadpoles were swimming through the gelatinous substance, and Carugati photographed them by lighting the egg clatch from behind, producing a cosmic appearance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ever wonder what spider silk looks like up close? Like,\u00a0really\u00a0up close? The winner of this year\u2019s Royal Society…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175136,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,908,14819,7644,308,93,61,60,3741],"class_list":{"0":"post-175135","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-astronomy","13":"tag-astrophotography","14":"tag-biology","15":"tag-design","16":"tag-entertainment","17":"tag-ie","18":"tag-ireland","19":"tag-nature-photography"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}