Nikon photo contest reveals fantastic microscopic world that surrounds usIE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.SKIP TO CONTENT
Weird Science
Nikon photo contest reveals fantastic microscopic world that surrounds us
Tour psychedelic cellular landscapes, face off with a jumping spider, and more amazing views through the lens of a microscope./ Updated Oct. 16, 2022 / 1:14 PM UTC16 PHOTOS First place
Each year, art and science collide in the Nikon Small World photo contest to produce breathtaking (and sometimes unnerving) microscopic images. This year's first place prize was awarded to Grigorii Timin, supervised by Dr. Michel Milinkovitch at the University of Geneva, for his image of an embryonic hand of a Madagascar giant day gecko. Timin used image stitching to merge hundreds of images together to create the final image. "The scan consists of 300 tiles, each containing about 250 optical sections, resulting in more than two days of acquisition and approximately 200 GB of data," said Timin.— Grigorii Timin & Dr. Michel Milinkovitch / University of GenevaShare Second place
Second place was awarded to Dr. Caleb Dawson for his image of breast tissue showing contractile myoepithelial cells wrapped around milk-producing alveoli. Taking a week to process, the myoepithelial cells were stained with multiple rounds of fluorescent dyes and captured with a confocal microscope.— Dr. Caleb Dawson / WEHI, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical ResearchShare Third place
Third place was captured by Satu Paavonsalo and Dr. Sinem Karaman for their image of blood vessel networks in the intestine of an adult mouse. Scroll through to see more of the winners in this year's contest. — Satu Paavonsalo & Dr. Sinem Karaman / University of HelsinkiShare Beetle
Red speckled jewel beetle (Chrysochroa buqueti rugicollis).— Yousef Al Habshi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesShare Slime mold
Lamproderma is a genus of slime mold. Slime molds were once thought to be a kind of fungus, but later work revealed that these puddles of goo are part of a motley group of microbes known as protists.— Alison K. Pollack, San Anselmo, Calif.Share Beetle captures fly
A fly under the chin of a tiger beetle. — Murat Ozturk, Ankara, TurkeyShare Egg stack
Moth eggs. This year, the photo competition received almost 1,300 entries from 72 countries.— Zhang Ye Fei, ChinaShare Bold jumping spider
Jumping spiders are a group of spiders that actively hunts its prey rather than trapping it in webs. Like most spiders, they have four pairs of eyes.— Dr. Andrew Posselt / UCSFShare Butterfly egg
2022 marks the photo competition’s 48th year. — Zhang Ye Fei, ChinaShare Red algae
Growing tip of a red algae.— Dr. Nathanael Prunet / University of North CarolinaShare Daddy longlegs
Daddy longlegs (Pholcus phalangioides) have been skittering around the Earth for more than 300 million years. — Dr. Andrew Posselt / UCSFShare Colon close-up
Cross sections of normal human colon epithelial crypts.— Dr. Ziad El-Zaatari / Houston Methodist HospitalShare Pond dweller
Midge larva collected from a freshwater pond.— Karl Gaff, DublinShare Asparagus
Longitudinal section through a white asparagus shoot tip.— Dr. Olivier Leroux / Ghent UniversityShare Wasp stinger
Stinger of a small paper wasp (Vespidae Protopolybia). Unlike bees, wasps can sting multiple times because they don't leave their stinger behind.— Pablo Piedra, Costa RicaShare Face of an ant
Close-up of an ant (Camponotus). See last year's winners— Eugenijus Kavaliauskas, LithuaniaShare1/16