Best Science Pictures of 2010 :)
A microscope-enabled closeup of hairs on the seed of the common tomato won an honorable mention in the photography category.
The hairs secrete a mucus that appears as a clear membrane at the edge of the seed, according to photographer Robert Rock Belliveau, a retired pathologist. This mucus has several purposes: killing predators with a natural insecticide, preventing the seed from drying out, and anchoring the seed to the soil.
Plant-Gene Map
What looks like a fireworks display is really a portion of AraNet, a gene map of the mustard plant Arabidopsis thaliana, which earned an honorable mention...