October 21, 2024
Nature
Photography
Science
Kate Mothes

Steven A. Valley, Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) Entomology Lab Albany, Oregon. Immature male damselfly (Calopteryx aequabilis). All images © the photographers, courtesy of Nikon’s Small World

Nikon’s Small World 2024 Photomicrography Competition illuminate details of our world invisible to the naked eye.

From seeds to slime molds to spider eyes, the foremost entries in Nikon’s Small World 2024 Photomicrography Competition (previously) illuminate details invisible to the naked eye. This year, jurors sifted through more than 2,000 entries from 80 countries.

First place was awarded to Dr. Bruno Cisterna and Dr. Eric Vitriol of the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, who detailed the delicate and oddly beautiful tendrils and crystal-like edges of the cells comprising a mouse’s brain tumor.

Chris Romaine, Kandid Kush, Port Townsend, Washington. Leaf of a cannabis plant

Dr. Robert Markus, University of Nottingham, School of Life Sciences, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, U.K. Dandelion (Traxacum officinale) cross section showing curved stigma with pollen

2024 marks Nikon’s 50th annual Small World showcase—which also launched the Small World in Motion contest in 2011—highlighting the art and proficiency required to capture minuscule phenomena. […]

More: At 50, Nikon’s Small World Photomicrography Competition Magnifies the Minuscule