Science Images

Rights Managed Scientific Images

Our Rights Managed images are renowned for their quality and suitable for both editorial and commercial use. Just like science, we cover all areas of life: be it an ultrasound image of a foetus, a satellite image of earth, an x-ray of a brain or a portrait of Charles Darwin.

Royalty Free Scientific Images

Our Royalty Free images combine high quality with the flexibility of royalty free licensing. Our Royalty Free healthcare images are particularly in demand including microscopic images of cancer cells, bacteria, viruses and photos of doctors treating patients. Likewise, our Royalty Free Science & Technology, Environment, Space, History, Animals and Flowers collections feature such popular subjects as: scientists at work, supernovas, babies and even dinosaurs!

Most Popular Images

Our top 50 images include MRI scans, insects, cancer cells, dna, viruses, the northern lights, x-rays, dinosaurs, blood, satellite images and happy women.

Collections

We source images from institutions, expert photographers and organisations, taking images from many household names.

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Our free expert research service will save you time and money. Our scientific researchers can give you insight that could prove invaluable for your project and allow you to concentrate on other things.

Subject Index

Stuck for words? Not sure what bacteria, tree or galaxy you need? Just drill down through the entire database of images using our Subject Index.

Feature Stories

We produce regular feature stories covering latest developments and interesting stories in science, technology and medicine. These are available for purchase or simply for you to spend some of your own time reading.

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You can buy our stunning images for private display as framed prints, canvases or even jigsaw puzzles via our website www.sciencephotogallery.com.

Clostridium botulinum bacteria. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of Clostridium botulinum bacteria (rod-shaped), the cause of botulism in humans. Botulism is a type of food poisoning caused by the powerful neurotoxin that these bacteria produce. C. botulinum occurs naturally in soil, but can also flourish in badly-preserved canned meat. The neurotoxin poisons the central nervous system and can cause lethal heart or lung failure. It is destroyed by thorough cooking, but the bacterial cells can survive heat in the form of spores. Magnification: x8000 when printed 10 centimetres wide.

Clostridium botulinum bacteria, SEM · EYE OF SCIENCE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Stone age burial remains. Fossilised skeletons of two stone age (palaeolithic) humans showing evidence of a ceremonial burial. The upper skull at left has been adorned with headgear made of shells. These fossils were found at Balzi Rossi, in Liguria, Italy. This is a cave site that has yielded numerous fossils and tools from the late stone age.

Stone age human skeletons · PASCAL GOETGHELUCK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

European Extremely Large Telescope. Computer model of the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), an optical/infrared telescope with a 42 metre diameter primary mirror, the largest on Earth. The E-ELT will be used to study extrasolar planets, super-massive black holes and dark matter. It will be located in Cerro Armazones, Atacama Desert, Chile, and should be operational by 2018.

European Extremely Large Telescope · EUROPEAN SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Wild boar (Sus scrofa) juvenile in winter snow storm. Photographed in Austria.

Wild boar · LOUISE MURRAY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

European larch (Larix decidua) cones forming in spring. Photographed, in Dorset, UK, in April.

Larch (Larix decidua) cones · COLIN VARNDELL/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Flap-necked chameleon crossing sand, Chamaeleo dilepis dilepis, Makgadikgadi Pans, Botswana.

Flap-necked chameleon crossing sand · FRANS LANTING, MINT IMAGES / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita). This jellyfish, also known as the common jellyfish, is found in coastal waters throughout the world. Photographed in the White Sea, Russia.

Moon jellyfish · ALEXANDER SEMENOV/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Stromatolites at dawn, Shark Bay, Western Australia.

Stromatolites at dawn, Shark Bay · FRANS LANTING, MINT IMAGES / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Bush plane over glacier, aerial view, Wrangell-St Elias National Park, Alaska, USA.

Bush plane over glacier, aerial view, USA · FRANS LANTING, MINT IMAGES / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

12 week foetus, 3-D ultrasound scan. Three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound scan of a human foetus. The image was produced by a 3-D ultrasound scanner called Voluson E8 utilising software called HDLive. 3-D scanning enables physiological disorders such as harelip and spina bifida to be diagnosed before birth. Ultrasound is a diagnostic technique which sends high-frequency sound waves into the body via a transducer. The returning echoes are recorded and used to build an image of an internal structure. HDLive renders the ultrasound data in real time with realistic lighting and surface detail.

12 week foetus, 3-D ultrasound scan · BERNARD BENOIT/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Aurora Borealis. Man photographing the Aurora Borealis. The aurora borealis (northern lights) is a coloured light display that is visible in the night sky at high latitudes. It occurs when charged and energetic particles from the Sun (the solar wind) are drawn by Earth's magnetic field to the polar regions. Hundreds of kilometres up, they collide with gas molecules and atoms, causing them to emit light. Photographed in Lapland, Sweden

Aurora Borealis, Lapland, Sweden · BABAK TAFRESHI/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Activated macrophage. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of an active macrophage white blood cell. Macrophages are cells of the body's immune system that are found in the tissues rather than in the circulating blood. They recognise foreign particles, including bacteria, pollen and dust, and phagocytose (engulf) and digest them. In the active state the cell surfaces have numerous cytoplasmic extensions (thread-like), which are used for locomotion within the tissues as the cell seeks out and engulfs the foreign particles. Magnification: x2700, when printed 10 centimetres wide.

Activated macrophage, SEM · STEVE GSCHMEISSNER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Hands, X-ray · KTSDESIGN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Discover scientific images

Photography is never a simply case of point and shoot. Our photographers capture remarkable images using some incredible photographic techniques. Explore this sample of their work in our image collection here including both rights managed and royalty-free images.

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