A skydiver leaps, drawing a perfect silhouette against the surface of the Sun. Behind, sunspots are visible on the solar surface—regions cooler than their surroundings where strong magnetic fields block some of the heat rising to the surface. Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy and skydiver Gabriel Brown spent months planning to capture this dramatic scene using a specially designed solar telescope.
On the 15th, the international journal Nature selected and released "the best science photos of 2025." From lightning pouring down from distant galaxies to the Sun and sky, to images that capture the beauty of a microscopic world visible only through a microscope, the selected photos reveal nature's mysteries. Alongside them, amusing images in which animals' serious expressions elicit laughter were also chosen as this year's top science photos.
◇Red lightning pouring from the sky
Photographers captured a rare "red sprite" over New Zealand in October. Sprites are lightning that occur in the mesosphere, the upper atmosphere. The mesosphere is one layer of Earth's atmosphere, at altitudes of 50–80 km between the stratosphere and the thermosphere. Ordinary lightning occurs in thunderstorms a few kilometers above the ground, but sprites occur much higher, around 80 km. Right after a lightning strike, crimson flashes appear in various forms, then columns and tendrils seem to pour down from the sky. Photographer Tom Ray said it was "a very mysterious sight, like looking at something without substance."
On the 6th, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, run by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy (DOE), released its first observation images. It captured a star-studded sky spanning more than 4 degrees in the direction of Sagittarius, where the center of our galaxy lies. The image includes the famous nebulae Messier 8 (Lagoon Nebula) and Messier 20 (Trifid Nebula). This composite was created by combining hundreds of images taken with a 3,200‑megapixel digital camera that began operating in Chile this year.
Photographer Francisco Negroni regularly visited Chile's Villarrica volcano to take pictures. This image captured two clouds beautifully gathered into rings above the volcano as lava poured out. AFP photographer Marco Longari found a meeting point between astronomy and biology. He photographed a tiny mushroom sprouting against a backdrop of the retired KAT-7 radio telescope at South Africa's Meerkat National Park.
◇The world's toughest animal with a tattoo
Tardigrades, arthropods no longer than 1.5 mm, are considered the toughest animals on Earth. They withstand extreme cold of minus 273 Celsius and scorching heat of 151 degrees, and they have survived exposure to cosmic radiation. In March, Chinese scientists announced that they had etched the world's smallest tattoo on a tardigrade.
The researchers used an electron beam to dot the ice layer covering the animal. The beam converted material into compounds that adhered to the skin's surface. As the remaining ice evaporated, the final pattern appeared. The Chinese team said the method could be applied in bioengineering. The researchers are pursuing similar tattooing on smaller organisms, including bacteria.
Jan Rosenboom, a chemical engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), won second place at this year's Nikon Small World photomicrography competition for an image of Volvox spheres floating in a droplet. The green alga Volvox sphere forms from hundreds to thousands of individual cells. The view offers a glimpse of what early multicellular life may have looked like.
Costasiella kuroshimae, a sea slug, is an animal but can photosynthesize. It feeds on algae and absorbs chloroplasts into its body. These chloroplasts capture sunlight to produce energy through photosynthesis. The "sheep" in its Korean name comes from sensory organs on both sides of the head that resemble sheep ears. Giancarlo Mazzaresse photographed the slug laying eggs in a spiral. The image was selected as the winner of the "Ocean Photographer of the Year." A photo of a juvenile candy crab (Hoplophrys oatesii) by photographer Jade Hoksbergen was a finalist in the Ocean Photographer of the Year competition.
In September, a team led by Professor Zhongwei Li at the University of Southern California (USC) medical school reported in the journal Cell Stem Cell that it had "developed an organoid that combines the kidney's blood filtration and urine concentration functions." An organoid means an "organ mimic": stem cells that can grow into any human cell are cultured into a three‑dimensional structure resembling an organ.
The USC team created a kidney Organoid from stem cells. In particular, they did more than culture a single cell type in 3D; they grew other cells and consolidation them. The result was an organoid assembly, an assembloid. Organoids transplanted into mice filtered blood and absorbed proteins.
◇When rhinos spring back, people scatter
It is serious when you know the context, but the image alone is laugh‑inducing. Kenya's black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) has overcome the threat of extinction thanks to conservation efforts, but protecting them remains difficult work. In this prizewinning image from the 2025 BigPicture wildlife photography competition, people are seen running as veterinarians treat a sick rhino and release it. Because the animals are huge, extreme care is needed to handle a rhino safely even after it has been sedated.
Nature photographer Sandeep Guha shot a pair of dancing peacock spiders in Siliguri, India. The female is more than 60 times larger than the male. The image was a winner in this year's London Camera Exchange Photographer of the Year competition. After mating, the male may become prey for the female. A fatal embrace.
Frogs grappling as if in a headlock won at this year's Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards. The image shows male green frogs (Lithobates clamitans) fighting over territory. Thirteen‑year‑old American photographer Grayson Bell titled the picture "Forced baptism." He meant it felt like coerced conversion, imposing an unwanted baptism. Bell won both the junior award for ages 16 and under and the reptiles, amphibians and insects category award with this photo.
On a dusty hill near Patras, Greece, a man rides a scooter downhill holding a sheep in his arms. At a glance it looks absurd, but in fact the photo captures a desperate attempt to save a sheep as wildfire spread on the slopes above Greece's third‑largest city. AP photographer Thanassis Stavrakis took the image in the late afternoon in mid‑Aug.
So is the image of a sloth clinging to a barbed‑wire post. Nature wrote, "The sloth's serene face and calm demeanor, contrasted with the artificial wire, show how nature clings to life as wildlife habitat is destroyed around the world."
References
Nature (2025), https://www.nature.com/immersive/d41586-025-03935-3/index.html
Nano Letters (2025), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c00378
Cell Stem Cell (2025), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2025.08.013