The Best Science Visualizations of the Year

The International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge from Science Magazine and the National Science Foundation award honors to the best images, illustrations, videos, games, and graphs of the past year that clearly communicate scientific information. Smithsonian magazine is proud to present a gallery of the winners, with an explanation of what each represents. This illustration looks like a rendering of Cthulhu, but is actually something scarier: a breast cancer cell, as it is being attacked by the green antibodies. Link

(Image credit: Emiko Paul, Echo Medical Media)

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@Jimbo the stopping distance is irrelevant. At that distance it's your reaction time that matters. If the truck's brakelights come on at that distance you've hit it before you could even squeeze the brake lever.

I recall some idiot trying to draught the bus I was on a few years ago. He probably wasn't even as close as this guy, the bus driver didn't even brake hard and the cyclist hit the back of the bus. Now he didn't hit it hard, but hard enough to take him down. Whereupon he slid under the rear of the bus. He lost a fair amount of skin, was battered and bruised and received minor burns from the exhaust, but he was lucky. Sliding under the back of a stopping bus is probably preferable to being run over by the following car.

And of course you should always remember that if you can't see the driver of the truck, he can't see you. So he won't be making any allowances for you.

Then there's the other problem with draughting too close. You can't see what the guy in front can see. I recall riding along once at speed when I swerved to miss a serious pothole, only to hear a clattering and swearing behind. A rider of whom I was completely unaware had been slipstreaming me and had hit the pothole good and hard. He lost skin and teeth. And all to take a little effort out of riding.