The microscopic beauty and complexity of life

1st place: Jonas King, Vanderbilt University, Department of Biological Sciences, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Anopheles gambiae (mosquito) heart, (100X). Fluorescence
Photograph: Jonas King/Courtesy of Nikon Small World

2nd place: Dr Hideo Otsuna, University of Utah Medical Center, Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. 5-day old zebrafish head, (20x). Confocal
Photograph: Hideo Otsuna/Courtesy of Nikon Small World

3rd place: Oliver Braubach, Department of Physiology & Biophysics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Zebrafish olfactory bulbs, (250x). Confocal
Photograph: Oliver Braubach/Courtesy of Nikon Small World

4th place: Riccardo Taiariol, La Spezia, SP, Italy. Wasp nest, (10x). Extended Depth of Field Stereomicroscopy
Photograph: Riccardo Taiariol/Courtesy of Nikon Small World

5th place: Viktor Sykora, Institute of Pathophysiology, First Medical Faculty, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. Strelitzia reginae (bird of paradise) seed, (10x). Darkfield
Photograph: Viktor Sykora/Courtesy of Nikon Small World

6th place: Dr. John Huisman, Murdoch University, School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia. Martensia sp. (red seaweed), living specimen (40x). Brightfield
Photograph: John Huisman/Courtesy of Nikon Small World

7th place: Yongli Shan, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA. Endothelial cell attached to synthetic microfibers, stained with microtubules, F-actin and nuclei, (2500x). Fluorescence, Confocal
Photograph: Yongli Shan/Courtesy of Nikon Small World

8th place: Honorio Cocera-La Parra, Geology Museum, University of Valencia, Benetusser, Valencia, Spain. Cacoxenite (mineral), (18x). Reflected light
Photograph: Honorio Cocera-La Parra/Courtesy of Nikon Small World

9th place: Dr. Duane Harland, AgResearch Ltd, Lincoln, New Zealand. Ctenocephalides canis (flea), (20x). Fluorescence
Photograph: Duane Harland/Courtesy of Nikon Small World

10th place: Yanping Wang, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing, China. Crystallized soy sauce, (16x). Reflected and Transmitted Light
Photograph: Yanping Wang/Courtesy of Nikon Small World

11th place: Dr Paul D Andrews, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, UK. Telophase HeLa (cancer) cells expressing Aurora B-EGFP (green), (100x). Deconvolution
Photograph: Paul D Andrews/Courtesy of Nikon Small World

12th place: Dr Gregory Rouse, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California, USA. Juvenile bivalve mollusc, Lima sp, (10x). Darkfield
Photograph: Gregory Rouse/Courtesy of Nikon Small World

13th place: James Nicholson, NOAA NOS NCCOS Coral Culture and Collaborative Research Facility, Charleston, South Carolina, USA. Orange Fungia (mushroom coral), live specimen, (166x). Fluorescence
Photograph: James Nicholson/Courtesy of Nikon Small World

14th place: Dr Stephen Lowry, University of Ulster, Portstewart, Co. Londonderry, UK. Spiral vessels from banana plant stem, (32x). Polarized light
Photograph: Stephen Lowry/Courtesy of Nikon Small World

15th place: Dr Ralf Wagner, Düsseldorf, Germany. Divaricatic acid from Evernia divaricata (lichen), recrystallized from acetone, (10x). Polarized light
Photograph: Ralf Wagner/Courtesy of Nikon Small World

16th place: Dr Robert Markus, Institute of Genetics, Biological Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary. Mirabilis jalapa (four o’clock flower) stigma with pollen, (100x). Epifluorescence and 3D reconstruction
Photograph: Robert Markus/Courtesy of Nikon Small World

17th place: Charles Krebs, Charles Krebs Photography, Issaquah, Washington, USA. Ichneumon wasp compound eye and antenna base, (40x). Reflected (Episcopic) Light Illumination
Photograph: Charles Krebs/Courtesy of Nikon Small World

18th place: Gerd Guenther, Düsseldorf, NRW, Germany. Soap film, (150x). Incident Brightfield
Photograph: Gerd Guenther/Courtesy of Nikon Small World

19th place: Cameron Johnson, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Wistar rat retina outlining the retinal vessel network and associated communication channels, (100x). Confocal
Photograph: Cameron Johnson/Courtesy of Nikon Small World

20th place: Dr John Hart, Hart3D Films and Dept, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sci Univ, Boulder, Colorado, USA. Crystallized melt of sulfur and acetanilide, (10x). Transmitted Light, Crossed Polars
Photograph: John Hart/Courtesy of Nikon Small World