Nikon photo competition presents microscopic views of life by scientists

The miniature world of science visible only under a microscope can be as enticingly beautiful as the larger world around us — as the winners of Nikon’s Small World competition make clear.

Ninety-eight images were submitted from around the world by researchers and others who use photomicrography and artistic techniques.

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Among the subjects displayed were human bone cancer (third place, by NIH researcher Dylan Burnette), a brittle star (10th place, by Alvaro Migotto of Sao Paolo, Brazil), live newborn lynx spiderlings (second place, by Walter Piorkowski of South Beloit, Ill.), an ant carrying its larva (ninth place, by Geir Drange of Asker, Norway) and embryos of the black mastiff bat (20th place, by Dorit Hockman of Cambridge, United Kingdom).

This year’s winners and runners-up, and brief explanations of techniques used to create the images, can be found here, along with images that have won the contest going back to 1977.