Slideshow: 2013's top underwater shots

Click through the best pictures from the University of Miami's 2013 Annual Underwater Photography Contest, hosted by the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

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How could you resist a cute harbor seal looking at you from a kelp forest off the California coast? The judges for the 2013 Underwater Photography Contest clearly couldn't: They chose Kyle McBurnie's picture of a soulful seal as the competition's top image.

McBurnie, the 22-year-old co-founder of SD Expeditions, said he snapped the picture during a dive at Cortes Bank near San Diego. "Five or 10 harbor seals just came out and played with me for a while," he recalled. "One of them came up and bit me on the fin."

The seal in the picture had a haunting look on its face as it watched a sea lion pass nearby, and that's the look that McBurnie captured with his camera. "It gave me a ghostly, emotional feel," he told NBC News.

The annual contest has been presented since 2005 by the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. For turning in the best overall photography, McBurnie gets a free cruise in the Bahamas, plus $300 in spending money. The top three winners in four categories — wide angle, macro, fish or marine animal portrait, and a category for University of Miami students — get cash prizes or gift certificates.

The contest is open to amateur photographers only, and all the entries have to show marine life in a natural freshwater or salt-water environment. This year's judges included photographers Myron Wang and Nicole Wang as well as marine researcher Jiangang Luo. More than 650 entries were received from 23 countries.

McBurnie's photo isn't the only one to pack an emotional punch: In one photo, a male banded jawfish shows off a mouthful of eggs. In another, a gaudy lionfish stands out against the background of wriggling swarms of fish. Yet another photo shows a scary shark lurking beneath a splash of filtered sunlight. Click through the slideshow, and feel free to share your own sea tales in the comment section below.

More underwater views:

• 2012: Beauties and beasts from under the sea
• 2011: Wonders of the underwater world
• Bellyflop! Amazing photos of underwater dogs

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the NBC News Science Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with NBCNews.com's stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

There's been a groundswell of 17-year cicadas in Virginia and other southern states, as revealed by a fresh wave of photos and eyewitness reports. In some areas, the outbreak has been accompanied by the insects' loud chorus call. And that's music to the ears of University of Connecticut entomologist John Cooley.

"That's where I'm heading," Cooley told NBC News. The weather is still too cool in New England and the New York City area for a full-blown Brood II emergence, so Cooley is planning a field trip to watch the insects rise up in Virginia.

This is the big year for Brood II cicadas, which are expected to emerge from the ground in the billions over an area of the East Coast ranging from North Carolina up to Connecticut. The bugs are hard-wired to spend 17 years underground, feeding on the fluid from plant roots, and then pop up during the appointed spring when the soil temperature reaches 64 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius).

For weeks, bug-watchers have been posting their sightings (and soil temperature readings) to websites such as Cooley's Magicicada.org and RadioLab's Cicada Tracker. Another website maintained by the Sutron weather information network tracks the soil temperature in Washington, D.C. 

When the winged cicadas throng, they can cover trees and buildings — and raise a din as loud as a lawnmower or jet engine (90 decibels). Over the course of four to six weeks in May and June, the bugs mate, lay their eggs and die, setting the 17-year life cycle in motion once again. (Scientists theorize that there are evolutionary advantages to the long, odd-numbered cycle.)

Although the cicadas have been patiently waiting for 17 years, some cicada-watchers up north are getting impatient with the pace of the emergence. Cooley said the relatively slow pace may be due to this spring's cool temperatures. In order to bring the soil up to 64 degrees F, air temperatures have to get significantly higher than that on a consistent basis.

"I want 80s and 90s," he said, "and so do the cicadas."

Dave Ellis / The Free Lance-Star via AP

Brood II cicadas emerge in the Leavells Crossing neighborhood in Spotsylvania, Va., on May 16.

Carol via Twitter.com/oikwtm_

Cicadas throng near a house in Fredericksburg, Va.

Carol via Twitter.com/oikwtm_

A cat looks through a screen door as cicadas swarm outside a house in Fredericksburg, Va.

Slideshow: Return of the cicada

Take a closer look at the curious 17-year life of the flying bug as the East Coast prepares for an invasion.

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More about the cicada outbreak:

• Cicadas crawling out of the ground in droves
• 'Swarmageddon' comes to North Carolina
• Bug-watchers see cicadas on the rise
• Cicada emergence sparks early buzz

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the NBC News Science Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with NBCNews.com's stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Slideshow: Art of Science 2013

Mingzhai Sun and Joshua Shaevitz / Princeton

Click through the top images from Princeton University's Art of Science Competition, which features images of artistic merit created during the course of scientific research.

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Worms are a source of wonder in this year's crop of aesthetically pleasing scientific images, served up by Princeton University's Art of Science Competition.

"C. instagram," one of the contest's top photos, features a wriggling network of C. elegans worms on an agar plate covered with E. coli bacteria. Ewwww, right? But when Princeton molecular biology student Meredith Wright looked at the scene through a microscope, she had a different reaction: Cooool!

"I found the pattern on this plate particularly lovely, and was able to capture it with my cell phone by holding the lens of my phone's camera up to the microscope eyepiece," she wrote. "I've since shared the photo on social networking sites and have had friends who've never been interested in biology ask me more about my work because of this photo."

Researchers don't do what they do to create beautiful pictures, but beauty often arises amid the search for scientific truth. That's what the Art of Science program is going for: Images produced in the course of scientific research that have aesthetic merit as well.

This year's theme was "Connections." Andrew Zwicker, director of science education at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, said that some of history's most exciting scientific discoveries have come from making connections between different disciplines.

"For example, with physics and biology, everyday there is a new finding showing that the two are connected in the most fascinating and profound way," he said in this year's contest announcement. "In a similar vein, connecting the aesthetics of laboratory images to their scientific importance has transformed how we look at our data and results. With the 2013 Art of Science competition, we are celebrating all manner of connections."

Meredith Wright / Princeton Art of Science Competition

"C. instagram" shows masses of C. elegans worms on an agar plate. The picture was taken with a smartphone camera through a microscope, and shared via Instagram.

The connections between beauty and truth are reflected in this year's three top-rated images. First prize goes to Martin Jucker's visualization of Earth's wind patterns in shades of red and blue. Michael Kosk's photomicrograph of crushed birch wood took second place. And third prize went to a many-branching visualization of online connections for the websites set up by the plasma physics lab and by the Lewis Center for the arts.

"These two embroidery-like figures visually give us an idea of the similarities and differences of a website devoted to science and one devoted to the arts," said the prize-winning webmasters, Paul Csogi and Chris Cane.

The three prize-winners will share $500, divided into shares of $250, $154.51 and $95.49 in accordance with the aesthetically pleasing golden ratio. Another 40 images are included in Princeton's Art of Science 2013 exhibit, which opened on Friday in the atrium of Princeton's Friend Center. The works were chosen from 170 images submitted from 24 different departments across campus.

Click through our slideshow featuring some of the pictures in the exhibit, and then be sure to visit the Art of Science website and the Art of Science Facebook page for much, much more. And don't forget to share. That's precisely what Meredith Wright hopes you'll do with "C. instagram."

"This image represents the simple pleasure of finding something beautiful when you don't expect to," she wrote, "and it shows how easy it is to connect science with new audiences by simply clicking 'share.'"

More artistic science to share:

• Solid science turns into crowd-pleasing art
• Creepy critters and cool close-ups
• How beauty was found in a slimeball

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the NBC News Science Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with NBCNews.com's stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

WPTV YouReport

WPTV's viewers in South Florida sent in numerous pictures of Wednesday's "cloud angel."

A "cloud angel" rose over South Florida on the day that a new pope was named at the Vatican — resulting in snapshots and comments that multiplied like the biblical loaves and fishes. But experts say Wednesday evening's apparition is no supernatural miracle. Rather, it's a perfectly natural phenomenon that took on special meaning because of Pope Francis' selection.

Several pictures came in to WPTV in West Palm Beach. Some saw a slim, winged figure in the cloud. "Wow, I wonder if Pope Francis ordered that!" one commenter, Thom George, said on WPTV's Facebook page. Others saw different shapes — a sea monkey, perhaps, or even Lucifer's satanic figure in the sunset.

Ian Loxley, photo gallery editor for the Cloud Appreciation Society, saw a cloud. A very interesting cloud.

"It is difficult to be definitive about what the formation is without knowing what went before. It could be Cirrus if high enough; however, it appears to be lower than the background Altocumulus which is the teaser. My best shot would be a virga remnant from an aircraft contrail," Loxley said in an email.

"Sorry not to be able to give an absolute answer," he continued. "It is, however, a very interesting capture that would sit nicely in our 'Clouds That Look Like Things' section of the gallery."

The society's cloud galleries show off all sorts of shapely formations, including doves, dolphins, UFOs, witches and, yes, angels. Fewer things are better-suited than clouds for this kind of pattern recognition, which goes by the name of pareidolia. Our brains are so wired up to recognize faces and other humanlike patterns that we can easily see them in inanimate objects.

"Pareidolia" is a combination of Greek words that essentially means "wrong shape." It's the same phenomenon that gives rise to the Face on Mars, or Mickey Mouse on Mercury, or New Hampshire's now-noseless "Old Man of the Mountain." In the case of the cloud angel, the religious connection was heightened by the coincidence of the papal conclave.

Could the cloud angel be a hoax? That's not likely, given the fact that WPTV received pictures from several viewers in different locations. Also, there are much crazier cloud shapes out there. But if you want to look at Wednesday's coincidence as a sign from above ... well, that's a matter of faith, not atmospheric science.

More shapes in the clouds:

• Cloud face takes shape in astonishing video
• Is it a bird? A plane? No, it's a Flogo
• Mystery of Titan's arrow cloud solved
• Today.com: Floridians spot 'angel cloud' 
• More about the angel in the sky from WPTV

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Jim Urquhart / Reuters

Members of the Crew 125 EuroMoonMars B mission return after collecting geological samples for study at the Mars Desert Research Station in the Utah desert on March 2. The mission is meant to simulate what explorers will face during an eventual mission to the Red Planet.

NASA says it could be another 20 years before humans touch down on Mars, but in a sense, the Mars Society has been exploring the red planet for more than a decade — in Utah.

The nonprofit society's Mars Desert Research Station, near Hanksville, Utah, has been home to 126 crews since the Mars-style habitat was erected in 2002. The idea behind the experimental station is to test the tools and techniques that could come into play during eventual human expeditions to the real Red Planet. Each expedition crew consists of roughly a half-dozen volunteers who spend about two weeks in the Utah desert, conducting real research on a make-believe Mars.

Utah's desert is one of several locales around the world that are thought to be sufficiently Mars-like to teach researchers about the far more extreme conditions on the cold, dry planet. Other locales for Mars simulations include the Canadian Arctic, Antarctica, Norway's Svalbard Peninsula, caves on the Italian island of Sardinia, and even a lab in Russia.

The crew members for such simulations range from NASA researchers to students who hope to walk on Martian soil someday. Another would-be Marsonaut is Reuters photographer Jim Urquhart, who has long yearned to take pictures of the Mars Desert Research Station and its crew. "I had tried for years to go, but my story pitches never made the cut," he said Monday in a blog posting. This month, Urquhart finally got the green light from his editors, in part because "science and space exploration have become sexy again," he said.

Urquhart came away impressed by the volunteer astronauts. "I kept thinking to myself that this group of six embodies so much of what I wish I could become," he said. "They were passionate and chasing their dreams."

Check out these pictures — and Urquhart's blog posting — for more about his visit to Mars in the Utah desert.

Jim Urquhart / Reuters

The night sky whirls above the Mars Desert Research Station outside Hanksville, Utah, in a long-exposure photo. The station is designed to reflect the type of habitat that would be constructed on the Red Planet for future explorers.

Jim Urquhart / Reuters

Csilla Orgel, a geologist, collects samples for study in the Utah desert.

Jim Urquhart / Reuters

Members venture out in their simulated spacesuits to collect samples.

Jim Urquhart / Reuters

Crew members return to the Mars Desert Research Station after a simulated Marswalk.

Jim Urquhart / Reuters

Crew members prepare a meal inside the Mars Desert Research Station. The mock astronauts wear simulation spacesuits when the venture outside, but work in shirt sleeves when they're inside the habitat.

Slideshow: Month in Space: February 2013

Get a look at the moon's glories, interplanetary vistas and other outer-space highlights from February 2013.

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Ariel Schalit / AP

Locusts land on a sand dune in Negev Desert, southern Israel, near the border with Egypt, March 5. A swarm of locusts crossed into Israel from neighboring Egypt Monday, raising fears that Israel could be hit with a biblical plague ahead of the Passover holiday. Israel sent out planes to spray pesticides over agricultural fields to prevent damage by the small swarm of about 2,000 locusts, said Dafna Yurista, a spokeswoman for the Agriculture Ministry. The ministry also set up an emergency hotline and asked Israelis to be vigilant in reporting locust sightings.

Scientists can learn a lot about the locusts swarming over Egypt and Israel just by looking at the pictures. Keith Cressman, senior locust forecasting officer for the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, is based hundreds of miles away in Rome — but he can tell that these particular bugs may be on their last legs.

"The few good pics I have seen of the locusts show that they are a brick red rather than pinkish," Cressman told NBC News in an email. "Both colors indicate they are immature adults, but the dark color suggests they are old and tired rather than young and hungry. Hence, the infestations arriving in northeast Egypt and Israel will probably come to nothing." That's the good news. The bad news is that other locust swarms could pose a more serious threat to the region's agriculture later this year. To get the details, check out the full story in Cosmic Log.

Ibraheem Abu Mustafa / Reuters

A Palestinian farmer displays locusts at a farm in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, March 5. Palestinian officials said locusts had not hit Gaza in several decades and numbers of locusts that reached Gaza on Tuesday were small but the Agriculture Ministry said they have taken all necessary steps to fight it if larger numbers hit the Gaza Strip.

Amir Cohen / Reuters

A swarm of locusts fly near Kmehin in Israel's Negev desert.

Ariel Schalit / AP

A locust on a sand dune in Negev Desert, southern Israel.

More about locusts:

• Locusts hit Egypt and Israel before Passover
• Gaddafi's fall leads to desert locusts' rise
• Locusts illustrate the science of swarming

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.