Princeton Art of Science Competition 2006.

The winners of the 2006 Art of Science Competition held by Princeton University have been announced! The microscopic art above, titled Easter Bonnet by Qiangfei Xia, won third prize:

A laser pulse melted a tiny piece of metal on a silicon chip, resulting in an unexpected shape that looks like a very, very small Easter bonnet. An unintended dust particle serves as a decorative flower on its top. The size of the bonnet in this photo, measured from left to right, is about 45 micrometers, half the diameter of a human hair.

Link – via Boing Boing. Previously on Neatorama: 2005 Winner: Plasma Table