A University of Wisconsin-Madison professor won top honors in a national science image contest hosted by the National Science Foundation and Science, a renowned journal, for her picture of magnified sea urchin teeth.
Pupa Gilbert, a physics professor at UW-Madison, was recognized in the 2012 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge.
“This is a prestigious award,” Gilbert said in a statement released by the university. “The panel of judges is a very impressive, internationally-known group, and I’m honored they appreciated our image.”
Gilbert took the picture while researching sea urchins’ ability to chew holes in rock to create hiding places, according to a statement released by the university.
Sea urchin teeth are primarily able to sharpen themselves, an ability inventors would like to use to create self-sharpening tools, according to the statement.
Gilbert’s image also won the 2012 UW-Madison WhyFiles Cool Science Image Contest.
