Self-driving race cars and a carbon star: The best images in science this month

By James Cutmore

Published: Tuesday, 02 November 2021 at 12:00 am

Halloween has been and gone, but the UN’s climate change conference (COP26) is only just starting. This important conference is seen as an important chance for the world to commit to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions in order to tackle climate change.

Certainly, many of the images we are featuring in this month’s gallery will have some kind of link to climate change, and our attempts to tackle this global problem. And then again, there are equally many images showing new technologies and projects that perhaps only add to our pollution problems.

From grumpy robots to fallen stars, this is the month in science.

Grumpy Gita

"TOPSHOT
People walk by Gita, a robot by Piaggio, as it travels around the park at the Robot Block Party put on by MassRobotoics in Boston, Massachusetts on 2 October 2021. Leading Robotic companies showcased their latest products as well as design concepts to introduce the public to the future in robotics, from drones to autonomous cars. Photo by Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images

Surf’s out

"A
A surfer walks up the beach as environmental response crews clean the beach after an oil spill in the Pacific Ocean in Huntington Beach, California on 4 October 2021. Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

Into the sunset

"Each
In this image, released on 4 October 2021, staff at ESO’s Paranal observatory in the Atacama Desert, Chile, meet on the observatory’s platform to enjoy the sunset. In this image they are accompanied by one of the 1.8-metre diameter Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). The ATs can be moved along rails, and they work together as a single, “virtual” instrument. Photo by G Hüdepohl/ESO

Astronaut Barbie

"Barbie
In this image, released on 4 October 2021, a Barbie doll representing astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti is seen on a zero-g parabolic flight. This mission was part of the continuing partnership between ESA and Mattel (the makers of Barbie) in celebration of World Space Week 2021. Photo by ESA

Sky-high

"Summit
Summit One Vanderbilt observatory is seen as media members visit for press preview in Manhattan of New York City, USA, on 6 October 2021. Summit One Vanderbilt is the latest sky-high experience offered by NYC’s skyscrapers, and welcomed its first visitors on 21 October 2021. Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

This ISS an Aurora from space

"GMT285_22_17_Shane
A vivid aurora streams over the Earth on 12 October 2021, as the International Space Station orbits 440 above the southern Indian Ocean in between Australia and Antarctica. Photo by Shane Kimbrough/NASA

Sea of lettuce

"IZMIR,
A drone photo shows an aerial view of Bostanli coast, covered with sea lettuce (Ulva lactuca) spreading in Gulf of Izmir, Turkey on 10 October 2021. Sea lettuce grows due to the increase of nitrogen and phosphorus because of water pollution. The plants covered the water surface of the lagoon, which hosts bird species, as well as the northern shores of the bay. Photo by Mahmut Serdar Alakus/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

A Mars a day helps you not kill each other

"A
A couple of astronauts from a team from Europe and Israel walk in spacesuits during an AMADEE-20 training mission for planet Mars at a site that simulates an off-site station at the Ramon Crater in Mitzpe Ramon in Israel’s southern Negev desert on 10 October 2021.  Six astronauts from Portugal, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, and Israel will be cut off from the world for a month, only able leave their habitat in spacesuits as if they were on Mars. Photo by Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images

Bicycles made for none

"TOPSHOT
Waste bicycles and bicycle parts are pictured in a landfill site in Saitama, Japan, on 11 October 2021. Photo by Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images

Firestopper

"GOLETA,
A firefighting airplane drops fire retardant into the path of the Alisal fire near Goleta, California, USA, on 13 October 2021. Photo by Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

No more hitching a ride

"A
A self-driving truck on display at the ITS World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems and Services held at the CCH Congress Centre in Hamburg, northern Germany, on 13 October 2021. Photo by Axel Heimken/AFP/Getty Images

Captain’s log

"VAN
Blue Origin vice president of mission and flight operations Audrey Powers (left), Star Trek actor William Shatner, Planet Labs co-founder Chris Boshuizen and Medidata Solutions co-founder Glen de Vries (right) walk to a media availability on the landing pad of Blue Origin’s New Shepard after they flew into space on 13 October 2021 near Van Horn, Texas, USA. At 90 years of age, Shatner became the oldest person to fly into space on the ten minute flight. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

Solar taking over

"TAIZHOU,
An aerial photo taken on 14 October 2021 shows a distributed photovoltaic power generation project installed on the roof of the central office area of the People’s Government of Hailing District in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, China. Photo by Jia Hongwei/Costfoto/Barcroft Media/Getty Images

Squid ink

"Printing
Printing a squid on a 3D printer in the lab at the Twins Garden restaurant in Strastnoi Boulevard, Moscow, Russia. Run by the Berezutsky brothers, the restaurant serves modern Russian cuisine. Recently, the restaurant has been awarded two Michelin stars. Vladimir Gerdo/TASS/Getty Images

Sudden sandstorm

"CHITTAGONG,
A sudden cyclonic wind caused a one-hour sandstorm in the Potenga beach area of Chittagong, Bangladesh on 15 October 2021. More than 50 people, including women and children, were injured, and several shops were destroyed. Photo by Mohammed Shajahan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

The journey home

"(Oct.
The Soyuz MS-18 crew ship, carrying Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy and spaceflight participants Yulia Peresild and Klim Shipenko, is pictured departing the vicinity of the International Space Station, 17 October 2021. Both spacecraft were orbiting 423 km above far eastern Russia when this image was taken. Photo by NASA/JSC

Another rocket ready to go

"Starship
SpaceX’s Starship 20 stands in font of the nearly completed launch tower on 19 October 2021, Brownsville, Texas, USA. Photo by Reginald Mathalone/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

Keeping Moscow tidy

"TOPSHOT
A worker for Russia’s Emergencies Ministry wearing protective gear disinfects Moscow’s Belorussky railway station on 20 October 2021, amid the ongoing coronavirus disease pandemic. Photo by Kirill Kudrayavtsev/AFP/Getty Images

Protecting Sherman

"Christy
Christy Brigham of the US National Park Service looks up before unwrapping the General Sherman giant sequoia tree during the KNP Complex Fire on 22 October 2021 in Sequoia National Park near Three Rivers, California, USA. Photo by Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

A big fish in a big pond

"Visitors
Visitors watch a diver swimming along with fish as he cleans the aquarium tank inside Manila Ocean Park which resumed operations after more than a year of temporary closure due to COVID-19 pandemic, in Manila, Philippines, on 21 October 2021. Photo by Jam Sta Rosa/AFP/Getty Images

Back-seat racers

"TOPSHOT
Team members of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) stand before their car prior to the Indy Autonomous Challenge race at the Indianapolis Speedway in Indianapolis, USA, on 23 October 2021. Nine single-seaters will be at the start of the Indy Autonomous Challenge, a competition “to prove that autonomous technology can work in extreme conditions”, explains Paul Mitchell, from ESN, co-organiser of the event. Photo by Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images

Fighting the tide

"DHAKA,
People recycle non-biodegradable waste at a garbage dump in Dhaka on 25 October 2021, to be used in the recycling industry. In urban areas of Bangladesh around 25,000 tonnes of waste is generated per day, a number that looks set to increase over the coming years. Photo by Habibur Rahman/Eyepix Group/Barcroft Media/Getty Images

A fair COP

"LONDON,
Activists from Animal Rebellion scaled the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) building in London, UK, and dropped a banner calling on the UK government to invest in transition to a plant-based food system. The COP26 UN Climate Change Conference which began on 31 October 2021, is being held in Glasgow, UK. Photo by Wiktor Szymanowicz/Barcroft Media/Getty Images

Carbon Star

"The
A striking observation of the carbon star CW Leonis, which resembles a baleful orange eye glaring from behind a shroud of smoke. The star glowers from deep within a thick shroud of dust in this image from the Hubble Space Telescope, released on the 28 October 2021. Lying roughly 400 light-years from Earth in the constellation Leo, CW Leonis is a carbon star; a luminous type of red giant star with a carbon-rich atmosphere. The dense clouds of sooty gas and dust engulfing this dying star were created as the outer layers of the star itself were thrown out into the void. Photo By NASA/ESA/Hubble Space Telescope