Images Dated 3rd January 2003

Karbala, Iraq

Karbala, Iraq. Satellite image of Karbala, the capital city of the Al Karbala province, Iraq. Shi'a Muslims consider it to be one of the holiest places in the world. It is also one of the wealthiest city's in Iraq, owing to its religious visitors and agricultural produce, which includes dates. Image taken on 3 January 2003 by Space Imaging's Ikonos satellite

© GEOEYE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Human respiratory system

Digestive system. Illustration showing the human digestive system on a female figure. Food from the mouth passes down the oesophagus (tube going through the chest to the abdomen). The liver (dark brown) and stomach (at right of the liver) are two organs of the upper abdomen. Food passes from the oesophagus into the stomach. Here it is churned up for further digestion and nutrient absorption in the small intestine (coiled, lower abdomen). Bile from the liver is released to aid the breakdown of fat in the small intestine. Water is reabsorbed in the large intestine or colon (shown circling the small intestine). Finally, faeces are expelled through the anus (base of abdominal cavity)

© DAVID GIFFORD/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Photograph of Charles Darwin in 1881, aged 72

Charles Darwin. Photograph of English naturalist Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882) in 1881, aged 72. As a young man Darwin briefly studied medicine then trained in the clergy, but his interest was in natural history. In 1831 he set sail as naturalist on HMS Beagle, which was to provide the fieldwork for his famous book: Origin of Species (1859). His theory of natural selection suggested that natural variation in a species creates a wide range of individual traits, some more useful than others. Competition to survive provides a driving force for evolution in the form of natural selection. His theory fuelled bitter controversy. Darwin is buried in Westminster Abbey

© SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY