These beautiful and mysterious pictures were taken by a scientist and photographer. Happy Frankel in her daily life. Before you read any further, see if you can tell what they show – we'll reveal everything underneath each photo.
The images will appear in Frankel's new book. Phenomenal Moments: Revealing the Hidden Science Around Us. Each close-up, many of which were shot on her phone, is accompanied by an explanation of the scientific processes depicted. “It’s like a guessing game,” she writes.
So, the answers… The main image at the top of the article is a piece of opal – the blue lines are veins in the mineral. Light bends as it passes through the stone, and the diameter of the small spheres of silica that make up its layers, as well as the distance between these spheres, determines what colors we see.
The image just above was taken while Frankel was roasting the peppers due to condensation forming on the pan lid. These tiny droplets acted like lenses and transferred the color of the pepper through the lid and into the chamber.
The photo above is a snapshot of a 5cm sample of the mineral agate. The image was acquired at high resolution using a desktop scanner. The patterns represent layers of silica.
Frankel was drawn to the colors of the copper pan in the image above. When copper is exposed to heat and air, it oxidizes and forms brightly colored copper compounds.
Oil dripping from the car has formed a thin layer on top of the puddle in the last image above. Light is reflected from the top and bottom of the oil layer, which varies in thickness. These reflections create waves of different colors.
