Each year, the Nikon Small World photo contest fuses art and science to create mind-bending microscopic images.
First Place
First place this year goes to Jason Kirk, of the Baylor College of Medicine, for his image of a southern live oak leaf's vessels, trichomes and stomata. The final image is the result of stacking 200 individual images to make the invisible visible.
The lighting proved to be especially tricky.
“Microscope objectives are small and have a very shallow depth of focus," Kirk said. "I couldn’t just stick a giant light next to the microscope and have the lighting be directional. It would be like trying to light the head of a pin with a light source that's the size of your head. Nearly impossible.”
He was able to make it work in post-production through adjusting the color temperature and hue.
— Jason Kirk / Baylor College of Medicine
Second Place
Second place was awarded to Esmeralda Paric and Holly Stefen of Macquarie University's Dementia Research Center for their image of a microfluidic device containing 300,000 networking neurons in two isolated populations. Both sides were treated with a unique virus and bridged by axons.
— Esmeralda Paric and Holly Stefen
Third place
Frank Reiser's photograph of a louse's leg, claw and respiratory trachea took third place.
— Frank Reiser / Nassau Community College
Neuron
Sensory neuron from an embryonic rat.
— Paula Diaz
Housefly
A housefly's proboscis.
— Oliver Dum
Mouse's brain
The vasculature of an adult mouse brain.
— Dr. Andrea Tedeschi
Tick
The head of a tick.
— Dr. Tong Zhang and Dr. Paul Stoodley / Ohio State University
Mouse's intestine
Cross section of mouse intestine.
— Dr. Amy Engevik / Medical University of Southern California
Water flea
A water flea carrying embryos and peritrichs.
— Jan van IJken
Butterfly
A butterfly wing's vein and scales.
— Sebastien Malo
Mouse's retina
The vasculature of a mouse retina.
— Jason Kirk and Carlos P. Flores Suarez / Baylor College of Medicine
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