Nikon this week announced the results of its 46th Small World Photomicrography contest. Below, you can see the top 20 entries selected by the judges.
“The goal of the Nikon Small World competition has been to share microscopic imagery that visually blends art and science for the general public,” said Eric Flem, communications manager of Nikon Instruments, adding, “As imaging techniques and technologies become more advanced, we are proud to showcase imagery that this blend of research, creativity, imaging technology, and expertise can bring to scientific discovery. This year’s first-place winner (below) is a stunning example.”
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Created by Maryland-based Daniel Castranova, with assistance from Bakary Samasa, the winning entry actually comprises 350 individual images stitched together.
Winner: Dorsal view of bones and scales (blue) and lymphatic vessels (orange) in a juvenile zebrafish –Daniel Castranova, Dr. Brant M. Weinstein, Bakary Samasa — National Institutes of Health — Maryland, U.S. — 4X objective lens magnificationImage used with permission by copyright holder
As per Nikon: “This image is particularly significant because it was taken as part of an imaging effort that helped Castranova’s team make a groundbreaking discovery — zebrafish have lymphatic vessels inside their skull that were previously thought to occur only in mammals. Their occurrence in fish, a much easier subject to raise, experiment with, and photograph, could expedite and revolutionize research related to treatments for diseases that occur in the human brain, including cancer and Alzheimer’s.”
2nd place: Embryonic development of a clownfish (Amphiprion percula) on days 1, 3 (morning and evening), 5, and 9 — Daniel Knop — Natur und Tier-Verlag NTV Oberzent-Airlenbach, Hessen, Germany — 10XImage used with permission by copyright holder3rd place: Tongue (radula) of a freshwater snail — Dr. Igor Siwanowicz — Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Virginia, U.S. — 40XImage used with permission by copyright holder4th place: Multi-nucleate spores and hyphae of a soil fungus (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus) — Dr. Vasileios Kokkoris, Dr. Franck Stefani, Dr. Nicolas Corradi — University of Ottawa Agriculture and Agrifood, Ontario, Canada — 63XImage used with permission by copyright holder5th place: Bogong moth — Ahmad Fauzan — Jakarta, Indonesia — 5XImage used with permission by copyright holder6th place: Hebe plant anther with pollen — Dr. Robert Markus, Zsuzsa Markus — University of Nottingham, U.K. — 10XImage used with permission by copyright holder7th place: Microtubules (orange) inside a cell. Nucleus is shown in cyan — Jason Kirk — Baylor College of Medicine, Texas, U.S. — 63XImage used with permission by copyright holder8th place: Chameleon embryo (autofluorescence) — Dr. Allan Carrillo-Baltodano, David Salamanca — Queen Mary University of London, U.K. — 10XImage used with permission by copyright holder9th place: Connections between hippocampal neurons (brain cells) — Jason Kirk, Quynh Nguyen — Baylor College of Medicine, Texas, U.S. — 63XImage used with permission by copyright holder10th place: Daphnia magna (Phyllopoda), a small planktonic crustacean — Ahmad Fauzan — Jakarta, Indonesia — 10XImage used with permission by copyright holder11th place: Red algae — Dr. Tagide deCarvalho — University of Maryland, U.S. — 63XImage used with permission by copyright holder12th place: Human hair — Robert Vierthaler — Pfarrwerfen, Salzburg, Austria — 20XImage used with permission by copyright holder13th place: Crystals formed after heating an ethanol and water solution containing L-glutamine and beta-alanine — Justin Zoll — New York, U.S. — 4XImage used with permission by copyright holder14th place: Leaf roller weevil (Byctiscus betulae) lateral view — Özgür Kerem Bulur — Istanbul, Turkey — 3.7XImage used with permission by copyright holder15th place: Chain of daughter individuals from the asexually reproducing annelid species Chaetogaster diaphanus — Dr. Eduardo Zattara, Dr. Alexa Bely — CONICET, Rio Negro, Argentina — 5XImage used with permission by copyright holder16th place: Nylon stockings — Alexander Klepnev — JSC Radiophysics, Moscow, Russia — 9XImage used with permission by copyright holder17th place: Ventral view of an immature water boatman — Anne Algar — Middlesex, U.K. — 4XImage used with permission by copyright holder18th place: Atlas moth wing — Chris Perani — California, U.S. — 10XImage used with permission by copyright holder19th place: Silica cell wall of the marine diatom Arachnoidiscus sp. — Dr. Jan Michels — Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany — 50XImage used with permission by copyright holder20th place: Skeleton preparation of a short-tailed fruit bat embryo (Carollia perspicillata) — Dr. Dorit Hockman, Dr. Vanessa Chong-Morrison — University of Cape Town, South Africa — 1XImage used with permission by copyright holder
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