Image of the Week: Urea

This vibrant image wouldn’t look out of place on the wall of a modern art gallery, but the true nature of it might surprise you.

Far from being the result of a vivid paint palette, or an energetic collage, this image is actually a polarised light micrograph of crystals of urea, taken by Spike Walker.

If you’re not familiar with urea, it’s the waste product produced in the liver to remove toxic ammonia from the body. Urea travels in the blood to the kidneys where it is excreted via the bladder in the urine. In fact it’s the major organic component of human urine.

This image is a reminder that sometimes taking a looking at things from a different angle can help you find beauty in the most unexpected places!