Five Best Science Photos of 2011

The "world's tallest dog picture'. The dog is 7 feet, 3 inches from nose to tail and weighs in at 245 pounds.

After NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft went into orbit around Mercury on March 17, the much-anticipated first photo from the hottest planet was beamed back to Earth.

This is a historic photograph of the solar system's innermost planet. It was the first time a spacecraft has ever orbited the crater-riddled world.

East Antarctica's ice-covered Lake Untersee is home to mounds of stromatolites -- bacteria that is some of Earth's earliest life forms. They may be thousands of years old.

The mounds are similar to fossil formations of early life on Earth.

This ultrathin device can stick to skin like a temporary tattoo and is powerful enough to read brain signals.

Sticky silicon-based electronics could be used for painless diagnostics, communication, neonatal care, physical therapy and gaming.

A thick plume of ash from the erupting Puyehue volcano in the Andes shifted direction into Chile. But first, it spewed volcanic dust over parts of Argentina and forced a major border crossing point to close due to low visibility.

All photos and info taken from Discovery News