A tiger's paws flash through the air, each one of its razor-sharp claws fully extended. Another tiger throws back its head, teeth bared as the attack grazes its chin. You can almost hear the angry growls, but the two tigers are just having some fun.

This is the winning image from the Nature's Best Photographs Awards 2024. It shows a Bengal tiger giving her cub "a masterclass in survival".¹

Bengal tigers can weigh over 350kg and run at 65km/h.² The chosen picture reveals the playfulness and the toughness required for them to survive in the wild.

The other photos from this year's show a pair of barred owlets seeming to shake hands as they perch on a branch. Or a green parakeet biting down on the tail of a monitor lizard in an Indian national park. Looking at the winners, it is easy to conclude that images are much more powerful than words.

A picture is worth a thousand words, according to the old clicheA phrase, remark, or opinion that has very often been said or expressed before and is therefore not original and not interesting., but modern science agrees. The human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text. Furthermore, 90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual, and we respond to images more strongly than other types of data.³

Humans are also more likely to remember images than text, something psychologists call the picture superiority effect.

But pictures struggle to communicate ideas. Words are better at influencing people's opinions, too, perhaps because reading is more active than watching.

In a recent study, scientists showed how text was more likely to change minds over time. One researcher explained: "when people read the news they become more involved than if they watch it".⁴

But that is not the effect of the photos from this year's nature prize. Here is a side of animal life we rarely see: sometimes intimate, other times violent, but always able to fill our hearts with wonder.

Are images more powerful than words?

Yes: Human brains have evolved to respond to images more quickly and with more emotion. Science and advertising show that pictures have a bigger effect than text.

No: Pictures may be moving, but when it comes to changing someone's mind, text is best. Words are the way to articulate ideas, while reading demands more intellectual involvement.

Or... Words and images play different roles, so there's no need to choose between them. But photos of animals' hidden sides have a special claim on the heart.