(Xinhua Photo)

The weevil's head

This "big head" picture of a boll weevil was one of the winners in this year’s Wellcome Image Awards. The head, which measures just millimeters across, was imaged using a scanning electron microscope.

(Xinhua Photo)

Spooky slice

These skull-shaped objects are actually a vital part of the papyrus plant -- cyperus papyrus imaged at 200 times life size. The plants use these vascular bundles to transport fluids through their tissues.

(Xinhua Photo)

Going viral

It took hundreds of 2D snapshots of the large virus that infects Acanthamoeba polyphaga to produce this 3D structure. Researchers showed that powerful X-ray free-electron lasers could reconstruct a single particle of the giant virus despite its not being amenable to crystallization.