Discover the Art of Smart Shopping at ATUZD – Always Better Deals

The 20 Best Images From Nikon’s Small World Up Close Competition

Nikon’s Small World photography competition just reached its half-century mark, which features a slate of some of the sharpest, most eye-opening images yet of the world best seen through a microscope.

Founded in 1974, the competition has gone through five decades of iteration, but with each passing year the technology researchers and photographers have at their disposal has improved. As a result, this year’s images are particularly striking, and showcase everything from macroscopic living things to biological structures that can only be seen under microscopes.

Take the photo above, for example. It looks so sharp as to be unreal—perhaps AI-generated! But it’s not. It’s an image of the fragments of a butterfly wing on the tip of a syringe.

This year, over 2,100 images were submitted for contention from over 80 countries. You can see the top 20 images from this year’s competition—decided by a panel of professional photographers and scientists, and chosen out of a final selection of 87 recognized images—in the photos below below. You can also see the video winners from Nikon’s Small World in Motion competition, published last month, here.

This year’s first place went to Bruno Cisterna and Eric Vitriol for their image of tumor cells in the brain of a mouse, which highlighted disruptions in the cells’ cytoskeleton. The team’s research on the findings was published earlier this year in the Journal of Cell Biology.

“I spent about three months perfecting the staining process to ensure clear visibility of the cells,” said Cisterna, a research scientist at Augusta University, in a  Nikon release. “After allowing five days for the cells to differentiate, I had to find the right field of view where the differentiated and non-differentiated cells interacted. This took about three hours of precise observation under the microscope to capture the right moment, involving many attempts and countless hours of work to get it just right.”

Second place in the competition went to Marcel Clemens for his image of an arc of electricity between a pin and a wire. Third place went to Chris Romaine for an up-close shot of a cannabis leaf. Other neat images (which again, you can see in the selection above) included a shot of a cluster of octopus eggs, a cross section of beach grass, a neuron form a rat’s brain, pollen stuck in a spider web, and the spores of a black truffle.

The world up close is often overlooked as we rush about our macroscopic lives. Remembering to lock the door, watching for cars at an intersection, pummeling our keyboards at work so we can earn a livelihood—these are the things that take precedence. But once a year, the Nikon Small World competition allows those mundane necessities to fade away, reminding us of the world apart from—and indeed, smaller than—ourselves.

The 20th-place image was this shot of mouse cells. Image: Dr. Bruno Cisterna & Dr. Eric Vitriol
The seed of a Silene plant.
The seed of a Silene plant. Photo: Alison Pollack
The 18th place image: An insect's egg parasitized by a wasp.
The 18th place image: An insect’s egg parasitized by a wasp. Image: Alison Pollack
The 17th place image: The reproductive organs of stonewort algae.
The 17th place image: The reproductive organs of stonewort algae. Image: Dr. Frantisek Bednar.
In 16th place was this shot of two water fleas with embryos (left) and eggs (right.)
In 16th place was this shot of two water fleas with embryos (left) and eggs (right.) Image: Marek Miś
The 15th place wnet to this image of isolated scales of a Madagascan sunset moth's wing.
The 15th place went to this image of isolated scales of a Madagascan sunset moth’s wing. Image: Sébastien Malo
In 14th place: Recrystallized hydroquinone and myoinositol.
In 14th place: Recrystallized hydroquinone and myoinositol. Image: Marek Miś
In 13th place was this shot of eyes of a green crab spider.
In 13th place was this shot of eyes of a green crab spider. Image: Paweł Błachowicz
The 12th place went to this shot of a butterfly's wing scales on a medical syringe.
The 12th place went to this shot of a butterfly’s wing scales on a medical syringe. Image: Daniel Knop
This slime mold carrying water droplets took 11th place.
This slime mold carrying water droplets took 11th place. Image: Dr. Ferenc Halmos
In 10th place: A shot of black truffle spores.
In 10th place: A shot of black truffle spores. Image: Jan Martinek
This image of pollen in a spider web took 9th place.
This image of pollen in a spider web took 9th place. Image: John-Oliver Dum
8th place was awarded to an image of a neuron from the brain of an adult rat.
8th place was awarded to an image of a neuron from the brain of an adult rat. Image: Stephanie Huang
The 7th place belonged to this image of a cross section of a European beach grass leaf.
The 7th place belonged to this image of a cross section of a European beach grass leaf. Image: Gerhard Vlcek
This slime mold image won 6th place.
Cribraria cancellata, also known as Dictydium cancellatum, slime mold from Finland, microscope image
The 5th place image was this shot of octopus eggs.
The 5th place image was this shot of octopus eggs. Image: Thomas Barlow & Connor Gibbons
In 4th place: A view of a mouse's small intestine.
In 4th place: A view of a mouse’s small intestine. Image: Dr. Amy Engevik
This leaf of a cannabis place took 3rd place on the podium.
This leaf of a cannabis place took 3rd place on the podium. Image: Chris Romaine
The silver medal went to this view of an electrical arc between a pin and a wire.
The silver medal went to this view of an electrical arc between a pin and a wire. Image: Dr. Marcel Clemens
The competition-winning image was this shot of differentiated brain tumor cells from a mouse.
The competition-winning image was this shot of differentiated brain tumor cells from a mouse. Image: Dr. Bruno Cisterna & Dr. Eric Vitriol.

Trending Products

0
Add to compare
Corsair 5000D Airflow Tempered Glass Mid-Tower ATX PC Case – Black

Corsair 5000D Airflow Tempered Glass Mid-Tower ATX PC Case – Black

$168.05
0
Add to compare
CORSAIR 7000D AIRFLOW Full-Tower ATX PC Case, Black

CORSAIR 7000D AIRFLOW Full-Tower ATX PC Case, Black

$269.99
0
Add to compare
Corsair iCUE 4000X RGB Mid-Tower ATX PC Case – White (CC-9011205-WW)

Corsair iCUE 4000X RGB Mid-Tower ATX PC Case – White (CC-9011205-WW)

$144.99
.

We will be happy to hear your thoughts

Leave a reply

ATUZD
Logo
Register New Account
Compare items
  • Total (0)
Compare
0
Shopping cart