Scientists aren’t the only ones who can experience the beauty of a mouse colon at 63x magnification—and it is beautiful. At high magnification, even a worm or a moth’s antenna can be stunning, and photomicrography makes these wonders of the atomic world visible to everyone.
Photomicrography is the art of taking photos through the lens of a microscope. Every year, camera maker Nikon chooses the best photomicrographic images in its “Small World” competition; this year’s winner (above) is a picture of a honey bee’s eye covered in dandelion pollen, taken by Australian high school teacher and beekeeper Ralph Grimm.
A few of the year’s top submissions:
Kristen Earle, Gabriel Billings, KC Huang & Justin Sonnenburg/Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology/Nikon Small World
Michael Crutchley/Nikon
Anatoly Mikhaltsov/Nikon Small World
Jose Almodovar/University of Puerto Rico (UPR), Mayaguez Campus, Biology Department/Nikon Small World
Gerd-A. Günther/Nikon Small World
Dr. Igor Siwanowicz/Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), Janelia Farm Research Campus, Leonardo Lab/Nikon Small World
Jacek Myslowski/Nikon Small World
Donald Parsons/Nikon Small World
Susan Tremblay/University of California, Berkeley/Nikon Small World
Norm Barker/Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Department of Pathology/Nikon Small World
Evan Darling/Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center /Nikon Small World
