AI dives into a sea of data, from plankton to pollution

When asked why Jean-Olivier Irisson, a scientist at Sorbonne Université in Paris, decided to dedicate his life to studying microscopic creatures in the sea, his answer was simple: "They are beautiful." Beauty may not be the first thing that comes to mind when we think of plankton - organisms that drift in water and come in an extraordinary variety of shapes and sizes. But images by Irisson's team tell a different story. Shown in striking blues and oranges, as well as black and white, they reveal an unfamiliar and strangely beautiful world. "This one served as the model for the head of the creature in the Alien movie franchise," Irisson said, pointing to one particularly unusual specimen.