The cosmic web

Reminiscent of the brilliant orange rock formations of Antelope Canyon in Arizona, the orange bubble-like structures below depict something far less tangible—the flow of matter. To illustrate these invisible structures, associate research scientist Miguel Aragon-Calvo used tools he developed in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. "I'm not an artist by any means," he says. "What I show is beautiful because it's beautiful by itself." The informational poster, which Aragon-Calvo created with colleagues Julieta Aguilera and Mark SubbaRao of Chicago's Adler Planetarium, placed first in the National Science Foundation's 2011 International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge.