Nikon's 2013 Photomicrography Competition Winners. Far Out Views Of Tiny Things

Electron Microscope Images of Hydrothermal Worms

(Not Nikon contestants)

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Nikon Small World 2013

Nikon has just announced the winners of the 2013 Small World Photomicrography Competition. Started back in 1974, the contest invites photographers and scientists to submit images of all things visible under a microscope. I was fortunate enough to have been asked to be a judge in this year's competition, and am happy to finally be able to share some of the winning images with you. Taking first place this year is a 250x view of a marine diatom by Wim van Egmond (photo #2 below), showing the complexity and stunning detail of its fragile helical chain. Other entries include close-up views of ladybug feet, mollusc radula, dinosaur bones, nerve structures in embryos, and much more. Enjoy a trip into a miniature world through the images shared here with us by Nikon, all from the 2013 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition. [32 photos]

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3rd Place winner of the 2013 Small World Photomicrography Competition, a 20x close-up of a marine worm by Dr. Alvaro Esteves Migotto, of the Universidade de Sao Paulo, Centro de Biologia Marinha, Brazil. (Dr. Alvaro Esteves Migotto) 

2

First place winner in the competition, this image depicts a colonial plankton organism, Chaetoceros debilis (marine diatom), magnified 250x by Wim van Egmond, of the Micropolitan Museum, Berkel en Rodenrijs, Zuid Holland, Netherlands. (Wim van Egmond) # 

3

Honorable Mention: This 100X image of an adult mouse foot showing blood vessels, immune cells and soft tissues, by Dr. Andrew J. Woolley, Himanshi Desai and Kevin Otto, Purdue University, Indiana. (Dr. Andrew J. Woolley, Himanshi Desai and Kevin Otto) # 

4

Image of Distinction: A 4x image of a worker ant, (Aphaenogaster senilis) by Dimitri Seeboruth, from Paris, France. (Dimitri Seeboruth) # 

5

Image of Distinction: A 6.6x image of a benthic fish egg cluster, by Dr. Jaime Gomez-Gutierrez, Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, Mexico. (Dr. Jaime Gomez-Gutierrez) # 

6

Honorable Mention: A 200x view of the radula (rasping organ) of the mollusc Buccinum undatum (Common Whelk), by Dr. David Maitland, from Feltwell, Norfolk, UK. (Dr. David Maitland) # 

7

Image of Distinction: An image of primary rat brain astrocytes cultured in a SynVivo BBB (blood-brain barrier) device, by Ashley M. Smith, CFD Research Corporation, Huntsville, Alabama. (Ashley M. Smith) # 

8

Image of Distinction: A 20X view of silicon nanocrystals in silicon dioxide, by Jan Valenta and Benjamin Bruhn, Charles University, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Czech Republic. (Jan Valenta and Benjamin Bruhn) # 

9

This image of an annelid larva magnified 100x, by Christian Sardet, of the Department of Life Sciences, Center National de la Recherche Scientifique, France, took 18th Place. (Christian Sardet) # 

10

A 10x view of the buckling of a hydrogel bilayer due to swelling, by Catherine Russell and Dayong Chen, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering. (Catherine Russell and Dayong Chen) # 

11

Image of Distinction: A 40X view of abdominal segments of Diptera Blephariceridae larvae, by Fabrice Parais, of DREAL de Basse-Normandie, France. (Fabrice Parais) # 

12

Image of Distinction: A 60X view of a clam glochidia (larva), by Mark A. Sanders, of the University Imaging Centers, University of Minnesota. (Mark A. Sanders) # 

13

Honorable Mention: A 40x view of the crystallization of tartrazine (dye primarily used as a food coloring), by Frederic Labaune, Education Nationale, Auxonne, France. (Frederic Labaune) # 

14

Image of Distinction: A 50x image showing a cross-cut through an assembly of two dark-brown fiber-reinforced composite pieces, which are bonded together with gray adhesive and back-filled with a blue mass of composite material, by Peter Pook, Composites Atlantic Ltd., Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. (Peter Pook) # 

15

Image of Distinction: A 200x magnified view of Daphnia magna (a freshwater flea), by Jerzy Rojkowski, from Krakow, Poland.(Jerzy Rojkowski) # 

16

This 7th place winner by Dr. Jan Michels, from Kiel, Germany, shows a 20x magnification of the adhesive pad on a foreleg of Coccinella septempunctata (ladybird beetle). (Dr. Jan Michels) # 

17

Image of Distinction: A 100x view of a polished section of fossilized permocarbonian horsetail by Dr. Josef Spacek, University Hospital, Department of Pathology, Charles University Prague, Czech Republic. (Dr. Josef Spacek) # 

18

Taking 16th place, this 5x image of a sheet weaver spider (Pityohyphantes phrygianus), with a parasitic wasp larva on the abdomen, taken by Geir Drange from Asker, Norway. (Geir Drange) # 

19

Image of Distinction: An ascorbic acid (vitamin C) crystal, magnified 100X, by Raul M. Gonzalez from Mexico City, Mexico.(Raul M. Gonzalez) # 

20

Image of Distinction: A 3D reconstruction of a rabbit embryo (Oryctolagus cuniculus), close to term, obtained with a custom built Optical Projection microTomography setup by Dr. Gabriel G. Marins and Rob Bryson-Richardson, of the Centro de Biologia Ambiental/Faculdade de Ciencias Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal. (Dr. Gabriel G. Marins and Rob Bryson-Richardson) # 

21

In 20th place, an image of the explosive dynamics of sugar transport in fat cells, by Dr. James Burchfield of the Garvan Institute, Sydney, Australia. (Dr. James Burchfield) # 

22

8th place winner, a 50x image of Barbilophozia sp. (a leafy liverwort, bryophyte plant) and cyanobacteria, by Magdalena Turzanska, of the Institute of Experimental Biology, University of Wroclaw, Poland. (Magdalena Turzanska) # 

23

Image of Distinction: Magnified 100x, an image of pearceite, an uncommon silver mineral, in beautiful hexagonal crystals, from a copper mine in Spain, by Dr. Cesar Menor Salvan, Centro de Astrobiologia, Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aeroespacial, Madrid, Spain.(Dr. Cesar Menor Salvan) # 

24

Honorable Mention: A 10x magnified image of a flat bark beetle, showing part of the head and prothorax with phoretic mites, by Nikola Rahme, from Budapest, Hungary. (Nikola Rahme) # 

25

10th Place, a 10x image of a thin section of a dinosaur bone preserved in clear agate, by Ted Kinsman, of the Department of Imaging and Photo Technology, Rochester Institute of Technology, New York. (Ted Kinsman) # 

26

Image of Distinction: From Magdalena Turzanska, of the University of Wroclaw, Institute of Experimental Biology, Poland, a 50X image of Lepidozia reptans (a leafy liverwort, bryophyte plant) ventral side of pinnately branched stem. (Magdalena Turzanska) # 

27

Image of Distinction: Dew on a spiderweb, by Massimo Brizzi, from Empoli, Firenze, Italy. (Massimo Brizzi) # 

28

14th place winner: An image of peripheral nerves in E11.5 mouse embryo by Mr. Zhong Hua, of the Department of Molecular Biology & Genetics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Maryland. (Zhong Hua) # 

29

Honorable Mention: A 200X image of a crystal formation of sulfosalicylic acid, by Thomas Balla, from Fort Collins, Colorado.(Thomas Balla) # 

30

Image of Distinction: A 100X view of Polypodium virginianum (fern) sorus, by Dr. Igor Siwanowicz, of Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Janelia Farm Research Campus, Virginia. (Dr. Igor Siwanowicz) # 

31

Taking 4th place, a 40x image of Paramecium sp. showing the nucleus, mouth and water expulsion vacuoles, by Rogelio Moreno Gill, from Panama City, Panama. (Rogelio Moreno Gill) # 

32

Winner of 6th place, an image of a Chamaeleo calyptratus (veiled chameleon), embryo showing cartilage (blue) and bone (red), by Dorit Hockman, of the University of Cambridge, UK (Dorit Hockman) # 

RELATED LINKS AND INFORMATION

2013 Photomicrography Competition Winners Gallery - Official site

2013 Winners Annoucement - Official site

Nikon Small World 2011 - Previously on In Focus