High-tech bee hives, bull sharks and our very own black hole: May’s best science images

By James Cutmore

Published: Sunday, 29 May 2022 at 12:00 am

Sometimes science throws up some mind-blowing sights. For instance, we now finally have photographic evidence that there is a black hole right in the middle of our galaxy, and it only took a telescope the size of a planet to see it.

In our monthly round-up, we also feature a man who has decided to carry all of the waste he has generated in one month on his back (no, not that kind of waste), a sugar-powered fuel cell, and some bees that have their very own high-tech lab to play in.

So here are the best images in science we’ve seen this month.

Ammonite pavement

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This ammonite fossil is embedded in the new pavement of a shopping area in Bangkok on 3 May 2022. Experts from Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment told the AFP news agency that it had verified dozens of fossil structures found on a shopping street in Bangkok, laid down apparently as decorations by the building contractors, were the genuine remains of ammonites. Photo by Alex Ogle/AFP/Getty Images

Anyone for tennis?

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A robotic dog which brings balls to the court before tennis matches, is pictured during the 2022 ATP Tour Madrid Open tennis tournament at the Caja Magica in Madrid, Spain on 3 May 2022. Photo by Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images

Huskey do

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A sled dog named Alaska is pictured resting on 4 May 2022, near Longyearbyen, located on Spitsbergen island, in Svalbard Archipelago, northern Norway. Photo by Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/via Getty Images

Shark bait

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Bull sharks circle the bait box that Jordan Lempke sits on as she takes photos and watches the sharks during an eco-tourism shark dive off of Jupiter, Florida, USA on 5 May 2022. Photo by Joseph Prezioso/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Return of the Dragon

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The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft is seen shortly after it landed, with NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Kayla Barron, Tom Marshburn, and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer aboard. The capsule landed in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Tampa, Florida, USA, on 6 May 2022. Maurer, Marshburn, Chari, and Barron are returning after 177 days in space as part of Expeditions 66 and 67 aboard the International Space Station. Photo by NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

High and dry

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Local residents walk near a formerly sunken boat resting on a section of dry lakebed from the drought-stricken Lake Mead on 9 May 2022 in  Nevada, USA. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation reported that Lake Mead, North America’s largest artificial reservoir, has dropped to about 320 metres above sea level, the lowest it has been since being filled in 1937 after the construction of the Hoover Dam. The declining water levels are a result of a ‘megadrought’, coupled with increased water demands in the southwestern United States. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

Taking a stroll

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Visitors walk on the Sky Bridge 721, the world’s longest suspension pedestrian bridge in Dolni Morava, the Czech Republic on 9 May 2022. Sky Bridge 721, the longest pedestrian bridge in the world with a length of 721 metres and an elevation of 95 metres above the ground, is located in the Pardubice region (a break between the Eagle Mountains and the Jesenice). Photo by Lukas Kabon/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Tree house

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A picture taken on 10 May 2022 from the botanic park ‘Library of Trees’ shows flowers and the Vertical Forest high-rise complex in the modern district of Porta Nuova in Milan, Italy. Photo by Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images

Reading loud and clear

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Telecommunication domes of KSAT, Kongsberg Satellite Services, are pictured on a mountain top near Longyearbyen, in Svalbard Archipelago on 10 May 2022. Photo by Jonathan Nackstrand/ AFP/Getty Images

Fire fight

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Firefighters are pictured battling the Coastal Fire near the intersection of Vista Montemar and Coronado Pointe in Laguna Niguel, California, USA, on 11 May 2022. More than a dozen homes overlooking the ocean in Laguna Niguel were engulfed in flames as a fast-moving brush fire spread rapidly amid strong winds. Photo by Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register/Getty Images

Sugar power

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Engineers at MIT have developed a glucose power source that could fuel miniature implants and sensors. As seen in this image released on the 12 May 2022, a silicon chip with 30 individual glucose micro fuel cells can be seen as small silver squares inside each grey rectangle. Photo by MIT/Kent Dayton

A black hole of our very own

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This is the first image of Sgr A*, the supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy, and is the first direct visual evidence of the presence of this black hole. It was captured by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), an array which linked together eight existing radio observatories across the planet to form a single Earth-sized virtual telescope. The new image captures light bent by the powerful gravity of the black hole, which is four million times more massive than our Sun. Photo by ESO/EHT Collaboration

Ask me anything

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A photo shows the humanoid robot R1, designed by the Italian Institute of Technology, serving as a virtual guide for visitors at the Palazzo Madama museum in Turin on 12 May 2022. The experimentation is part of the European Union-funded project 5G Tours which aims to test and use 5G technologies to provide useful, efficient and reliable services to citizens and tourists. The robot is able to describe the works and answer questions relating to the author or the historical period to which they belong. Photo by Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images

High-tech honey

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A beekeeper works on new high-tech beehives, part of the Beehome project, in Israel’s Kibbutz Bet Haemek in northern Galilee, on 14 May 2022. These new hives function just like normal beehives, but apiaries built by Beewise are decked out with high-tech artificial intelligence systems. These help to ensure longevity for these vital pollinators by monitoring their health at all times, and allowing their habitat to be controlled remotely if required. Photo by Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images

Blood moon rising

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Locals and tourists watch the moon rising by the Temple of Poseidon at the cape of Sounion, some 70km south of Athens, Greece, on 15 May 2022. Photo by Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images

Rubbish fashion sense

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Environmental activist Rob Greenfield walks around Beverly Hills, California, USA on 16 May 2022 wearing a suit filled with every piece of trash he has generated by living and consuming like a typical American for one month. He did this to raise awareness about how much waste just one person generates. Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

No hot air

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A picture shows a non-pneumatic tyre (NPT), an airless tyre, during a presentation at Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, on 17 May 2022. No punctures and no need to check tyre pressures make the concept of airless tyres a dream for drivers, and manufacturers say they may soon be available for trucks and passenger cars. The thin layer of rubber gripping the asphalt has a gargantuan physical challenge to meet; supporting the weight of the car and absorbing shocks as well as standard tyres filled with air for thousands and thousands of kilometres. Photo by François Walschaerts/AFP/Getty Images

Back online

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A view of radio telescope antennas of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) project, at the Chajnantor plateau, in San Pedro de Atacama, Atacama desert, some 1500km north of Santiago, Chile, on 18 May 2022. The powerful ALMA radio telescope, located at a height of over 5,000 metres in the Atacama desert, is considered the most advanced instrument in the world. It has just started operating after being closed for two years during the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by Alberto Pena/AFP/Getty Images

Robots not in disguise

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An exhibition celebrating 100 years of Robots takes place at the headquarters of the company Oi Futuro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 19 May 2022. The international exhibition tells the story of robotics in the arts, between imagination and reality. Highlights include designer robots depicting visitors to the exhibition. Among the models on display are even robots that make drawings of visitors. Photo by Fabio Teixeira/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Tornado alley

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Uprooted beech trees lie on the side of a road the day after a storm caused major damage, near Hellinghausen-Lippstadt, western Germany, on 21 May 2022. Almost 40 people were injured by a tornado that hit the western German city of Paderborn on 20 May 2022. A police spokesman said the tornado also caused significant damage in the city in the North Rhine-Westphalia state, following abnormally high temperatures for the time of year. The town of Lippstadt, about 30km away, was also probably hit by a tornado. Photo by Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty Images

Reefy to the rescue

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Two divers are seen holding an artificial reef coral on the floor of a large indoor aquarium, at Royal Burgers’ Zoo, Arnhem, Netherlands. Reefy, an innovative start-up from Delft, is testing environmentally-friendly techniques to restore coral reefs in the wild. Reefy develops stable artificial reefs that protect the coast from wave erosion and stimulate biodiversity. Photo by Ana Fernandez/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

More images from Science Focus:

Little green men

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In this image Boeing, and NASA teams work around Boeings CST-100 Starliner spacecraft after it landed at White Sands Missile Ranges Space Harbor, on 25 May 2022 at the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, USA. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) is Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA/Getty Images

Bear with me

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Two female black bears, born in February 2022, play during their first outing at Sainte-Croix animal park in Rhodes, France, on 26 May 2022. Photo by Frederick Florin/AFP/Getty Images