Beetle eyes, pregnant fleas and mouse brain tumors: 10 impressive photos of the microscopic world
The Nikon Small World Photomicrography Contest brings together science and art every year. This year, the competition celebrated its 50th anniversary by recognizing unique photographs that captivate at first sight.
The jury chose 20 winners out of about 2,100 photos submitted from 80 countries. These photographers were able to capture the smallest details of the microcosm with extraordinary detail and lighting using a microscope lens, NBCNews reports.
The first place in the anniversary competition was taken by Bruno Sisterna, a lecturer at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, who took a groundbreaking photo of a mouse brain tumor cell. The photo shows how abnormalities in the cell's cytoskeleton - the structural basis and "pathways" known as microtubules - can lead to diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (more commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease).
Image of differentiated cells of a mouse brain tumor.
Source: Nikon Small World
The second place went to Marcel Clemens, an astronomer-photographer from Italy. His photo shows an electric arc between a pin and a wire.
This is what an electric arc between a pin and a wire looks like.
Source: Nikon Small World
The top three photos were taken by Chris Romain and include a picture of cannabis. The photo shows the bulbous glands - these are trichomes, small hairs or outgrowths of the plant's epidermis, but the purple bubbles contain cannabinoids.
Microscopic image of a cannabis plant
Source: Nikon Small World
Among the prize-winning photos are the eyes of a green crab spider, which are simply mesmerizing up close.
The eyes of a spider seen by a researcher from Poland, Pawel Bloszowicz.
Source: Nikon Small World
And researcher Daniel Knop from Germany showed what the scales of butterfly wings look like on a medical syringe needle.
Butterfly wing parts on a needle
Source: Nikon Small World
These are not lollipops, but crumbs of sand from the beach, presented by Zhang Chao from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
This is what sand from the beach looks like under a microscope.
Source: Nikon Small World
A mesmerizing focal point composition of 337 exposures of 10x magnification of slime mold from the Eldorado National Forest in California.
This is not a mushroom from outer space, but a slime mold.
Source: Nikon Small World
Two water fleas: one with embryos (left) and the other with eggs (right).
Pregnant fleas photographed by Polish researcher Marek Mis.
Source: Nikon Small World
And this palm weevil beetle looks like it's ready to fight for first place in a fist fight in the contest photo.
Weevil beetle by Sherif Abdullah Ahmed of Tanta University.
Source: Nikon Small World
Thanks to Laurent Forma and Nathaniel Clark of Stanford University, we now know what the nervous system of a young starfish looks like.
The nervous system of a starfish.
Source: Nikon Small World
"Sometimes we overlook the small details of the world around us. Nikon's Small World is a reminder to stop, appreciate the power and beauty of small things, and develop a deeper curiosity for exploration," Eric Flem, Senior Manager, CRM and Communications at Nikon Instruments, told Live Science.
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