Nikon has just announced the winners of its annual Small World Photomicrography competition, and as you can see from these stunning photographs, bigger isn’t always better.
The competition is in its 42nd year and this year over 2000 people from 70 countries entered. For those that don’t know, photomicrography is the practise of taking a photograph through a microscope or similar magnifying device in order to capture the intricate details of things invisible to the human eye. From the proboscis of a butterfly and the foot of a beetle to espresso coffee crystals, the pictures below give us a whole new way of looking at world. The categories are divided into winners, honorable mentions, and images of distinction, and you can find the full list on the Nikon Small World website.
More info: Nikon Small World (h/t: demilked)
#1 Fourth Place. Butterfly Proboscis
Image source: Jochen Schroeder
#2 Fifth Place. Front Foot (Tarsus) Of A Male Diving Beetle
Image source: Dr. Igor Siwanowicz
#3 Eyes Of A Jumping Spider
Image source: Yousef Al Habshi
#4 Nineteenth Place. Human Neural Rosette Primordial Brain Cells
Image source: Dr. Gist F. Croft
#5 Eleventh Place. Scales Of A Butterfly Wing Underside
Image source: Francis Sneyers
#6 Thirteenth Place. Poison Fangs Of A Centipede
Image source: Walter Piorkowski
#7 Sixth Place. Air Bubbles Formed From Melted Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) Crystals
Image source: Marek Mis
#8 Eighth Place. Wildflower Stamens
Image source: Samuel Silberman
#9 Retinal Ganglion Cells In The Whole-Mounted Mouse Retina
Image source: Dr. Keunyoung Kim
#10 Ninth Place. Espresso Coffee Crystals
Image source: Vin Kitayama & Sanae Kitayama
#11 First Place. Four-Day-Old Zebrafish Embryo
Image source: Dr. Oscar Ruiz
#12 Caudal Gill Of A Dragonfly Larva
Image source: Marek Miś
#13 Goatsbeard Flower
Image source: Dr. Csaba Pintér
#14 Second Place. Polished Slab Of Teepee Canyon Agate
Image source: Douglas L. Moore
#15 Seventh Place. Leaves Of Selaginella
Image source: Dr. David Maitland
#16 Scales Of A Butterfly Wing
Image source: Evan Darling
#17 Hippocampal Neurons
Image source: Dr. Wutian Wu
#18 Copper Crystals
Image source: Honorio Cócera-La Parra
#19 Scales Of A Butterfly Wing
Image source: Anne Gleich
#20 Jellyfish
Image source: Teresa Zgoda
#21 Egg Of A Gulf Fritillary Butterfly
Image source: David Millard
#22 Prolegs Of A Hairy Caterpillar Gripping A Small Branch
Image source: James Dorey
#23 Interference Patterns On A Glycerin Based Soapy Solution
Image source: Haris Antonopoulos
#24 Robber Fly
Image source: Jan Rosenboom
#25 Beta-Alanine And Taurine Crystals
Image source: Matt Inman
#26 Gears Coupling Hind Legs Of A Planthopper Nymph
Image source: Dr. Igor Siwanowicz
#27 Twentieth Place. Cow Dung
Image source: Michael Crutchley
#28 Water Mite
Image source: Jacek Myslowski
#29 Leg Of A Water Boatman
Image source: Marek Miś
#30 Black Elder Tree Flower Stamen
Image source: Laurie Knight
#31 Ant Leg
Image source: Györgyi Zséli
#32 Wildflower Stamens
Image source: Samuel Silberman
#33 Twelfth Place. Human Hela Cell Undergoing Cell Division
Image source: Dr. Dylan Burnette
#34 Sixteenth Place. 65 Fossil Radiolarians (Zooplankton) Carefully Arranged By Hand In Victorian Style
Image source: Stefano Barone
#35 Licmophora Flabellata Diatoms
Image source: Dr. Arlene Wechezak
#36 Third Place. Brain Cells From Skin Cells
Image source: Rebecca Nutbrown
#37 Spore Capsule Of A Moss
Image source: Henri Koskinen
#38 Green Bottle Fly
Image source: Erno Endre Gergely
#39 Curvepod Fumewort (Corydalis Curvisiliqua) Seed
Image source: David Millard
#40 Seeds Of An Indian Paintbrush Wildflower
Image source: David Millard
#41 Slime Mold
Image source: José R. Almodóvar
#42 Fifteenth Place. Head Section Of An Orange Ladybird
Image source: Geir Drange
#43 Dentate Gyrus Of A Optically-Cleared Transgenic Mouse Brain
Image source: Hei Ming Lai & Dr. Wutian Wu
#44 Testis Of A Fruit Fly
Image source: Christopher Large
#45 Algae
Image source: Anne Gleich
#46 Microcrystal Test For Oxycodone Using Platinic Bromide Solution
Image source: Kelly Brinsko
#47 Ammonite Shell
Image source: Norm Barker
#48 Section Of A Red Speckled Jewel Beetle
Image source: Yousef Al Habshi
#49 Tenth Place. Frontonia (Showing Ingested Food, Cilia, Mouth And Trichocysts)
Image source: Rogelio Moreno Gill
#50 Section Of A Begonia Flower
Image source: Viktor Sykora
#51 Tail Of A A Small Shrimp
Image source: Charles B. Krebs
#52 Deep Sea Crustacea
Image source: Dr. Tomonari Kaji
#53 Mouse Hand, Showing Veins
Image source: Evan Darling
#54 Young Flower Buds Of Arabidopsis
Image source: Dr. Nathanaël Prunet
#55 Diclofenac Crystals
Image source: Adolfo Ruiz De Segovia
#56 Ant Pupae
Image source: Geir Drange
#57 Cerebellum Brain Section Of A Rat
Image source: Dr. Barbara Orsolits
#58 Cross Section Of Stem Of Barley
Image source: Dr. Stephen Lowry
#59 Viperfish
Image source: Dr. Alvaro Roura
#60 Early Stages Of Mouse Embryo Development
Image source: Dr. Gaelle Recher
#61 Fourteenth Place. Mouse Retinal Ganglion Cells
Image source: Dr. Keunyoung Kim
#62 Section Of The Cerebellum
Image source: Dr. Marc Leushacke
#63 Galls Of A Mite
Image source: Györgyi Zséli
#64 Surface Of Embryonic Mouse Kidney
Image source: Dr. Nils Lindström
#65 Tintinnid Ciliate Of The Marine Plankton
Image source: Dr. John R. Dolan
#66 Hippocampal Slice Culture Stained For Neurons
Image source: Dr. Jennifer L. Peters
#67 Forewing (Elytron) Of A Tiger Beetle
Image source: Dr. Rudolf Büchi
#68 Leaves Of A Liverwort
Image source: Magdalena Turzańska
#69 Actin, Mitochondria And Dna In A Bovine Pulmonary Artery Endothelial Cell
Image source: Dr. Talley J. Lambert
#70 Mullein Flower
Image source: Karl Gaff
#71 Eighteenth Place. Parts Of Wing-Cover
Image source: Pia Scanlon
#72 Jurinea Mollis Seed
Image source: Viktor Sykora
#73 Micrasterias Thomasiana
Image source: Jacek Myslowski
#74 Moving Vesicles
Image source: Dr. Erdinc Sezgin
#75 Cross Section Of A Lily Of The Valley
Image source: Falco Krüger
#76 Cultured Fat Cells
Image source: Heiko T. Jansen
#77 Cross-Section Through A Multi-Layered Carbon-Fiber Reinforced Composite Structure For Defect Analysis
Image source: Peter Pook
#78 A Daisy’s Central Disc Pattern Of Tiny Unopened Flowers
Image source: Peter Courtney Kinchington
#79 Trumpet Animalcule Containing Endosymbionts
Image source: Wim van Egmond
#80 Dasineura Affinis
Image source: Dr. Csaba Pintér
#81 Mosquito Larva
Image source: Edwin Lee
#82 Zebrafish Fin With Cylindrical Bone Segments And Rows Of Pigment
Image source: Dr. Leonardo Andrade
#83 Fossil Diatom From Oamaru
Image source: Frank Fox
#84 Section Of Stem Of A Bomarea Densiflora Plant Specimen
Image source: Edgar Javier Rincón
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