Feature Stories

Science Photo Library produces regular feature stories covering the latest development in science, technology and medicine. Our most recent stories are shown here. The feature can usually be licensed either as a package or as single images with normal image licensing fees. There is no extra charge for using the words. To license a feature story please contact our sales team.

Top Stories

Have a look at some of our most popular and all time best selling feature stories.

Published Features

SPL feature stories are published in newspapers, popular science magazines and general interest titles worldwide. See some examples of how they have been used.

To license a feature story, please email our sales team or call +44 (0) 20 7432 1100.

If you are interested in submitting ideas or images, please contact our Features Department.

NEW  The Biggest Monsters That Ever Swam

Most people know that the blue whale is the biggest animal that ever lived. With a length of 30 metres and a weight of 170 tons, it is bigger than any dinosaur and almost as big as a passenger plane. The immense size of the blue and many other whale species mean that they have few natural predators. More...

View feature (PDF) or order images

NEW  Mars As Art

These amazing images show huge sand dunes carved into crescents, rocky slopes cascading with landslides, parched riverbeds and frosty polar landscapes. You could be forgiven for thinking they are picturesque photos from remote regions on Earth. But you would be wrong. They are in fact high-resolutio More...

View feature (PDF) or order images

NEW  Lab On A Chip

The miniaturisation of electronics led to the silicon chip and the revolution in computing. Researchers are now adopting the same approach to the medical laboratory. By miniaturising and integrating processes normally performed by a full-scale laboratory onto devices just a few centimetres across, t More...

View feature (PDF) or order images

NEW  Underwater Fluorescence

Some species of coral emit a fluorescent glow. It is thought the glow may attract symbiotic algae, or protect the coral from the intense ultraviolet light of the sun in shallow water. Animals may also fluoresce as a means of camouflage, warning or sexual signal. Humans can view this glow using inten More...

View feature (PDF) or order images