Part Six: A long time ago in an image gallery far, far away….

The Death Star doing a reasonable job of hiding amongst dividing mouse embryos.

Image Credit Bernard Maro, Wellcome Images.

Microscope image of an eight cell mouse embryo being microinjected with a fluorescent dye into one cell, or Alderaan being destroyed by the Death Star?

Image Credit Dr David Becker, Wellcome Images.

Come on, you’ve got to admit that this colon cancer cell could easily pass for an A-wing starfighter?

Image Credit Annie Cavanagh, Wellcome Images.

Copyrighted works available under Creative Commons by-nc-nd 2.0 UK: England & Wales, see http://images.wellcome.ac.uk/indexplus/page/Prices.html 

Al McCartney, Wellcome Images.

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Part Five: Friday the 13th

It’s Friday the 13th, but are you superstitious enough for it to be affecting your day? Perhaps you think it’s just a load of nonsense and nothing to worry about? This study, published in the BMJ in 1993, seems to suggest that it really might be riskier than normal to leave the relative safety of your home on such days.

Whichever side you’re taking, I’m sure you’ll appreciate this image of a Japanese ivory figure, or netsuke. It’s in the form of the racoon dog Tanuki, commonly associated with gluttony and excessive drinking - but also a bringer of good luck. Let him (and his grossly enlarged scrotum) see you safely through the night into Saturday the 14th.

Al McCartney, Wellcome Images.

Image Credit: Science Museum, London / Wellcome Images 

Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons by-nc-nd 2.0 UK: England & Wales, see http://images.wellcome.ac.uk/indexplus/page/Prices.html 

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Part Four: Naked Witches

For some time these have have been waiting to escape the confines of the digital image library and today is finally the day that the naked witches break free!

Al McCartney, Wellcome Images.

Image Credits: Wellcome Library, London.

Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons by-nc 2.0 UK: England & Wales, see http://images.wellcome.ac.uk/indexplus/page/Prices.html.

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Part Three: Thirsty Work

With temperatures soaring way above what we’d normally expect in mid-March, what better way to relax and cool down after a hard week of work than with a refreshing drink of milk. Straight from the teat of the beast…

Al McCartney, Wellcome Images.

Image Credits: Wellcome Library, London.

Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons by-nc 2.0 UK: England & Wales, see http://images.wellcome.ac.uk/indexplus/page/Prices.html.

Part Two: Poster Party

No plans for the weekend? Don’t despair, as we’ve put together a list of our top picks from the next few days’ shows*.

*Access to a fully-functional time machine may be required to attend these events.

Al McCartney, Wellcome Images.

Image Credits: Wellcome Library, London.

Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons by-nc 2.0 UK: England & Wales, see http://images.wellcome.ac.uk/indexplus/page/Prices.html.

Just as our eponymous founder had a penchant for collecting weird and wonderful items from around the world (you can see some at Wellcome HQ right now), so too are there some rather intriguing pictures to be found within Wellcome Images.

We’ll begin with the quirky and go from there. If it’s all too mainstream and passée, let us know and we’ll up the ante. So, what better way to kick things off than with some anthropomorphic animals (-that’s critters doing people things, in case you hadn’t already worked it out).

This image of a well-dressed pair of thirsty orang-utans could well have been the inspiration for a major tea company’s advertising campaign.

But as far as I’m aware, no baboon has yet put its face to any tobacco products. 

And finally, showing us that being told that you ‘eat like an animal’ need not be an insult, two impeccably attired elephants demonstrate the very best in alfresco fine-dining.

Al McCartney, Wellcome Images.

Image Credits: Wellcome Library, London.

Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons by-nc 2.0 UK: England & Wales, see http://images.wellcome.ac.uk/indexplus/page/Prices.html.