An example of similes used in scientific writing:
"Enraptured and tremendously moved on seeing the red and white blood cells move about like pebbles caught up in the force of a torrent; on seeing how the elastic properties of red corpuscles allowed them suddenly to regain their shape like a spring after laboriously passing through the finest capillaries; on observing that the slightest obstruction in the stream converted potential spaces between epithelial cells into actual spaces providing the opportunity for minor hemorrhage and odema …"
Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1999). Advice for a Young Investigator. The MIT Press. (Translation of 4th Spanish Edition, 1916)
Read about examples of science similes
Many examples of science similes are listed in 'Creative Comparisons: Making Science Familiar through Language. An illustrative catalogue of figurative comparisons and analogies for science concepts'. Free Download.
The word 'laboriously' means with great effort,
"laboriously (adverb)…in a way that needs a lot of time and effort"
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/laboriously
but so this is figurative language because the blood cells move due to the pumping action of the heart, so are not making any effort themselves. (This could be considered anthropomorphic, as for something to behave laboriously implies purposeful action.)
