Modern microscopes are essentially highly specialized camera systems with a powerful zoom, so it’s no surprise that some of the images scientists take as they work are impressive works of art in their own right. Every year, Nikon awards some of these images in the annual Small World competition, and today it announced the 2022 winners.
Embryonic hand of a Madagascar giant day gecko (Phelsuma grandis). 63X magnification. Winning image… [+] from the Nikon Small World 2022 image competition. Courtesy of Nikon Small World.
Gregory Timin and Dr. Miquel Milinkovitch
First prize went to a highly detailed image of a gecko’s front leg during development, taken by Grigorii Timin, a PhD student at the University of Geneva’s Laboratory of Artificial and Natural Evolution. As part of his research under the supervision of Michel Milinkovitch, Timin studied this embryo of the day gecko Phelsuma grandis under the microscope. He used different fluorescent labels to stain distinctive parts of the gecko’s hand: nerves, bones, tendons, ligaments, skin and blood cells.
“This particular image is beautiful and informative, both as an overview and also when you zoom in on a particular region, illuminating how structures are organized at the cellular level,” Timin told Nikon.
The jury, which included experts in science and photography, examined thousands of submissions and managed to select more than 90 images as winners or honorable mentions.
Mammary tissue showing contractile myoepithelial cells wrapped around milk-producing alveoli. … [+] Courtesy of Nikon Small World.
Dr. Caleb Dawson
Submissions came from all over the world. Caleb Dawson, of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, took second prize with his image of myoepithelial cells wrapped around milk-producing alveoli in breast tissue. Third place went to Satu Paavonsalo and Sinem Karaman of the University of Helsinki for an image of blood vessels in mouse intestines.
Networks of blood vessels in the intestine of an adult mouse. Courtesy of Nikon Small World.
Satu Paavonsalo & Dr. We are Karaman
Scrolling through the list of all the winners and honorable mentions also shows the wide variety of subjects: insects, algae, human cells, animals, crystals, even carbon particles from candle wax made it in the gallery
Unburnt carbon particles released when the hydrocarbon chain in candle wax is broken. Courtesy… [+] by Nikon Small World.
Be Bielfeldt
Although many of the contest entrants are scientists like Timin who have access to high-quality microscopes through their research institutes, the Nikon Small World contest is open to anyone who makes microscope images. This includes microscopy hobbyists, but also professional microphotographers.
One of the regular participants in the Nikon Small World photo and video contests is Wim van Egmond, a professionally trained photographer specializing in microscope photography. Over the years, many of his images have made it into the winners’ and honorable mentions galleries, and this year he earned an honorable mention for an anemone larva.
Larva of an anemone, found in marine plankton. Courtesy of Nikon Small World.
Wim van Egmond
Slime mold (Lamproderma). Courtesy of Nikon Small World.
Alison Pollack
Californian photographer Allison Pollack specializes in mushroom photography, and her extreme close-ups of fungi earned her fifth place and an honorable mention this year.
Check out the Small World website to see all the 2022 winners and get a close-up view of many corners of the natural world.