EMAIL: paul@ludwig.scs.uiuc.edu
NAME: Paul A. Thiessen
TOPIC: Science Fiction
COPYRIGHT: I SUBMIT TO THE STANDARD RAYTRACING COMPETITION COPYRIGHT.
RENDERER USED: POV-Ray 3.0
RENDER TIME: 29.6 minutes
HARDWARE USED: SGI Indigo

IMAGE DESCRIPTION:

This is a work of scientific art on display in a museum or art gallery.
The DNA molecule is beautiful and elegant, and is the reality of and a
symbol for life itself.

The mystery of DNA and genetics is one of the most powerful forces in the
public imagination. All varieties of creatures and creations science fictional,
from the X-files to the X-Men, are products of genetic mutations and 
alterations. The concept is bottled and ready for use - just shake well and
pour out new diseases and cures, monsters and heroes, mayhem and miracles.


DESCRIPTION OF HOW THIS IMAGE WAS CREATED:

The DNA was created with MacroModel, a standard B-form helix 12 base pairs
long. It was then converted into POV format by my PovChem program. The bottle
was created with Moray - although it is actually a solid object, since there
were too many distracting reflections when I tried a hollow bottle. The beveled
edge of the shelf was also created with Moray. The bottle is tilted on a small
wedge to make the image more interesting, and is supported by a brass torus 
affixed to the back wall. All these pieces were put together by hand.

The PNG in the zip file is the original, straight out of POV-Ray. The JPG has
been slightly gamma-brightened. I did not include the source, mostly because
the bottle include file is *huge* because I wanted it very smooth. If you're
interested in the source, please contact me by e-mail.