Brightly Coloured Gallery

Bose-Einstein condensate simulation

Bose-Einstein condensate simulation. Computer simulation of vortices forming within a spinning Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). A BEC is a state of matter that can arise at very low temperatures. Atoms are trapped using laser beams and magnets, and supercooled almost to absolute zero. At these temperatures, the atoms all have the same quantum energy state, and are indistinguishable. They coalesce, behaving as if they were one single super atom. During the process, two laser beams are rotated rapidly around each other, causing a stirring action that generates vortices in the atom cluster and facilitates the formation of the condensate. This simulation helped to confirm that BEC's are superfluids - a kind of liquid/gas that flows without friction

© NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

BIC01342

Panther chameleon
(Furcifer pardalis),
a species native to Madagascar and introduced to Reunion. Photographed near Grand Galet waterfall.
Reunion, Indian Ocean, overseas department of France

© Attila Bicskos/AUSCAPE All rights reserved

Arboreal, Brightly Colored, Brightly Coloured, Chamaeleo Pardalis, Chamaeleonidae, Chameleons, Climbing, Cold Blooded, Colored, Colorful, Colour Change, Coloured, Colourful, Diurnal, Exotic Pets, Furcifer, Furcifer Pardalis, Fused Toes, Ground, Guentheri, Independently Moving Eyes, Lizards, Madagascar Wildlife, Malagasy Wildlife, Reptiles, Reptilia, Sexual Dimorphism, Sexually Dimorphic, Squamata, Wildlife Trade, Zygodactyl

BIC01337

Panther chameleon
(Furcifer pardalis),
a species native to Madagascar and introduced to Reunion. Photographed near Grand Galet waterfall.
Reunion, Indian Ocean, overseas department of France

© Attila Bicskos/AUSCAPE All rights reserved

Arboreal, Brightly Colored, Brightly Coloured, Chamaeleo Pardalis, Chamaeleonidae, Chameleons, Cold Blooded, Colored, Colorful, Colour Change, Coloured, Colourful, Diurnal, Exotic Pets, Furcifer, Furcifer Pardalis, Fused Toes, Ground, Guentheri, Independently Moving Eyes, Lizards, Madagascar Wildlife, Malagasy Wildlife, Reptiles, Reptilia, Sexual Dimorphism, Sexually Dimorphic, Squamata, Wildlife Trade, Zygdactyl