See if you can find the 8 differences in each set of images.

Facehugger

This image was obtained by synchrotron-radiation high-resolution x-ray diffraction. It shows the (004) reciprocal lattice point of an ion-irradiated 3C-SiC single crystal. This reciprocal space map looks like the terrifying “facehugger” in the movie Alien. The “legs” of the alien are due to native stacking faults lying in the {111} planes, whereas its “tail” reveals irradiation-induced damage. SiC is a strong candidate for use under severe ion irradiation conditions such as structural components in fusion reactors or as cladding material for gas-cooled fission reactors.

Aurélien Debelle, Université Paris-Sud 11, France

figure 1

Grassland sunrise

This landscape is a high-resolution scanning electron micrograph of germanium-silicon core-shell heterostructure nanowires (diameter ~10 nm) synthesized by a two-step chemical vapor deposition method on a layered Si/SiO2 substrate.

Yongjie Hu, Harvard University, USA

figure 2

Answers will be in the August 2011 issue.

Images on the left were submitted to the Materials Research Society “Science as Art” competition. Images on the right were modified in Adobe Photoshop for this “Look Again” activity.

April 2011 answer key

figure 3