365 days: Images of the year

Flying rhinos and furious rats vie with graphene knots and space technology in 2011’s most striking pictures.

Science saw farther than ever this year, glimpsing new wonders in the microworld and in the distant reaches of the Solar System. But some of the most powerful images were taken at an all too human scale, as the earth shook, volcanoes blew and mankind continued to threaten other species’ survival. Here are 2011’s most striking pictures.

Credit: P. Nespoli/NASA