Here's the cover picture from the February 2009 issue of Genetics, which just arrived in my office.I think this counts as art!  The caption is Adult heads of Drosophila melanogaster mass-fractionated for RNA extraction. Or, to paraphrase Edmund Spenser, "Dead skulls and bones of flies, whose life has gone astray." For further details see Telonis-Scott et al. (pp. 421-434).  The full citation is: Telonis-Scott et al (2009) Sex-Specific Splicing in Drosophila: Widespread Occurrence, Tissue Specificity and Evolutionary Conservation. Genetics, Vol. 181, 421-434, doi:10.1534/genetics.108.096743

The new Peguin Books' edition of Darwin's On the Origin of Species... features a cover by celebrated/reviled (dependent on one's opinion!) modern artist Damian Hirst. Now, while I quite like some (but not all) of Hirst's work - and recall I am no art aficionado, this cover seems a little odd to my tender eyes - a little like a cross between Francis Bacon's Pope paintings and something from Tim Burton's ghoulish animations. Still, it makes a nice change from pictures of heavily bearded Charles Darwin, or of finches etc.

A short article at the Guardian (Damien Hirst salutes Darwin's 'courage' in On the Origin of Species painting) initially passed me by.  It's by Hirst himself, and he says nice things about Darwin.  Apparently the painting is called ""Human skull in space", but while I quite like it, it's still not clear to me how it relates to the book.  Even after reading what Hirst has to say about it!

The Royal Mail has issued (or will issue) stamps to celebrate the upcoming Darwin anniversary.  There's also a miniature sheet, depicting the Galapagos Islands, and a variety of the specialised fauna found there.

I think they are particularly attractive, and it's good to see the profile of this most important of anniversaries maintained.  For more information, visit Norvic Philatelics - there is a much more information on the design, background information, and how to buy first day covers etc (and I also linked to their images).  I have to say, I never thought I'd blog about postage stamps, but there you go!

[Post edited to remove direct links to the images]

Here's the cover of the journal Science (7th March issue which just arrived at my office), featuring a work by the graffiti artist Banksy.

Just thought this was a nice image!