Science

Pictures of the Week (slideshow)

Amazon pitches delivery drones, SpaceX launches successfully to space, Cassini captures an incredible six-sided storm, and more in the best tech pictures of the week.

James Martin

James Martin is the Managing Editor of Photography at CNET. His photos capture technology's impact on society - from the widening wealth gap in San Francisco, to the European refugee crisis and Rwanda's efforts to improve health care. From the technology pioneers of Google and Facebook, photographing Apple's Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Google's Sundar Pichai, to the most groundbreaking launches at Apple and NASA, his is a dream job for any documentary photography and journalist with a love for technology. Exhibited widely, syndicated and reprinted thousands of times over the years, James follows the people and places behind the technology changing our world, bringing their stories and ideas to life.

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James Martin

Dec. 6, 2013 12:34 p.m. PT

1 of 7 ESA/NASA/SOHO/SDO/GSFC

Comet ISON

In this time-lapse image from the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, Comet ISON comes in from the bottom right and moves out toward the upper right, getting fainter and fainter.

At one point, scientists had hoped it would survive its close encounter with the sun and put on a spectacular show for Earth during the first weeks of December as it continued streaking through the sky. But alas, ISON appears to have burned up in the sun's extreme heat, and a top ISON watcher has declared the comet DOA.

2 of 7 Amazon

Amazon's package-delivery drones

Need a delivery fast? Amazon Prime Air might someday get a package to you within 30 minutes, via octocopter. Jeff Bezos says so.

3 of 7 James Martin/CNET

The robot and the menorah

On Tuesday night in San Francisco's Union Square, beneath the wreath-lit facade of Macy's and amid the crisp cold of holiday cheer, Rabbi Yosef Langer lit up a 22-foot menorah -- with a little help from a robot.

4 of 7 SpaceX

SpaceX's Falcon 9 blasts off

After two canceled launches, SpaceX's most powerful rocket, the Falcon 9, finally hurtled through Earth's atmosphere and placed its satellite into orbit.

5 of 7 Siew Ming Cheng

A designer's spiky vest

A designer's spiky vest makes your personal space an unwelcome zone for other people.

6 of 7 NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Six-sided storm

Spanning 20,000 miles and whipping up winds of 200 miles per hour, this massive six-sided storm clustered around Saturn's north pole captured by NASA's Cassini mission is a sight to behold.