Bare Bones
This CSI may look like a nugget of Swiss cheese, but it’s actually a high-resolution image of a rat thigh bone, taken by a microtomography facility at the Brookhaven National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS).

Why bother, you ask? The rat in question, like ten million Americans, suffers from the debilitating bone disease osteoporosis. The bones of osteoporosis sufferers deteriorate quickly, becoming brittle and easily susceptible to fractures.

Detailed, three-dimensional snapshots of bone like this one help scientists and physicians monitor disease progression in patients as well as develop new treatments for the disease.

Image courtesy Brookhaven National Laboratory.