The world we see with our eyes is just one glimpse of reality, but with the help of a microscope we can bring into it another virtually invisible universe.
Photographs taken with powerful lenses reveal living forms and objects that no one has ever seen. Moreover, such photographs are often incredibly beautiful, colorful and artistic. The Nikon Small World competition regularly recognizes the most amazing photographs taken using a microscope, and in 2016 the jury has to make a difficult choice from more than 2 thousand images from 70 countries. Nikon will announce the winners on October 19 through its Instagram account.
Until then, you can take a look at the best photos submitted to the competition - and for your favorite.
Red speckled borer beetle
Jumping spider eyes
Yousef Al Habshi/Nikon Small World
Slime mold
Jose Almodovar/Nikon Small World
Zebrafish fin
Leonardo Andrade/Nikon Small World
Glycerin based soap solution
Haris Antonopoulos/Nikon Small World
Ammonite shell
Norm Barker/Nikon Small World
Zooplankton carefully arranged by hand in Victorian style
Stefano Barone/Nikon Small World
Microcrystalline test for oxycodone
Kelly Brinsko/Nikon Small World
Jumping beetle and pestle scales
Rudolf Buchi/Nikon Small World
The process of division of human HeLa cells
Dylan Burnette/Nikon Small World
Zebrafish head
Chen Chen-Hui/Nikon Small World
Copper crystals
Honorio Cocera-La Parra/Nikon Small World
Human brain cells separated from embryonic stem cells
Gist F. Croft, Lauren Pietilla, Stephanie Tse, Szilvia Galgoczi, Maria Fenner, Ali H. Brivanlou/Nikon Small World
Mold growing on cow dung
Michael Crutchley/Nikon Small World
Butterfly wing scales
View of veins in a mouse's paw
Evan Darling/Nikon Small World
Ciliate tintinnidae from marine plankton of the Indian Ocean
John Dolan/Nikon Small World
Spoonpods of a furry caterpillar grasping a small plant
James Dorey/Nikon Small World
Orange ladybug head
Geir Drange/Nikon Small World
Ant pupae
Geir Drange/Nikon Small World
Image of a fossil diatom composed of 20 individual photographs
Frank Fox/Nikon Small World
Mullein flower
Karl Gaff/Nikon Small World
Green blowfly
Erno Endre Gergley/Nikon Small World
Flows created by an 8-week-old starfish larva
William Gilpin, Vivek N. Prakash, Manu Prakash/Nikon Small World
Butterfly scales
seaweed
Anne Gleich/Nikon Small World
Air bubbles in evaporating tequila
James Hayden/Nikon Small World
Rubber coated with thin glass
James Hedrick/Nikon Small World
Beta-Alanine and Taurine Crystals
Matt Inman/Nikon Small World
Cultured grizzly fat cells
Heiko T. Jansen, Jamie Gehring, Kimberly Rigano, Charles Robbins/Nikon Small World
Deep sea crustacean
Tomonari Kaji/Nikon Small World
Mouse retinal ganglion cells
Mouse retina, flat
Keunyoung Kim/Nikon Small World
Centerpiece of a daisy
Peter Kinchington/Nikon Small World
Espresso coffee crystals
Vin Kitayama and Sanae Kitayama/Nikon Small World
Stamens of a black elderberry flower
Laurie Knight/Nikon Small World
Moss spore capsule
Henri Koskinen/Nikon Small World
Small shrimp tail
Charles Krebs/Nikon Small World
Cross section of lily of the valley
Falco Kruger/Nikon Small World
Transgenic mouse brain in 3D
Hei Ming Lai and Dr. Wutian Wu/Nikon Small World
Fruit fly testicle
Christopher Large/Nikon Small World
Mosquito larva
Edwin Lee/Nikon Small World
Area of the cerebellum in the brain
Marc Leushacke/Nikon Small World
Surface of a mouse embryonic kidney
Nils Lindstrom/Nikon Small World
Cross section of a barley trunk
Stephen Lowry/Nikon Small World
Silaginella leaves
Crystals of salicin, a painkiller extracted from willow bark
David Maitland/Nikon Small World
castillea seeds
Seed of dense corydalis
David Millard/Nikon Small World
Dione heliconid butterfly egg
David Millard/Nikon Small World
Tail gills of dragonfly larvae
Marek Mis/Nikon Small World
Air bubbles from molten ascorbic acid crystals
Marek Mis/Nikon Small World
Paddlefish leg
Marek Mis/Nikon Small World
Polished surface of Teepee Canyon agate
Douglas L. Moore/Nikon Small World
A frontonia ciliate cell showing ingested food, cilia, “mouth” and trichocysts.
Rogelio Moreno Gill/Nikon Small World
Algae cells
Water mite
Jacek Myslowski/Nikon Small World
Section of the cerebellum of the rat brain
Barbara Orsolits/Nikon Small World
Hippocampus brain slice
Jennifer Peters/Nikon Small World
Alpine biting midge
Salsify flower seeds
Csaba Pinter/Nikon Small World
Poisonous centipede fangs
Walter Piorkowski/Nikon Small World
Carbon Fiber Reinforced Section
Peter Pook/Nikon Small World
Blooming buds of rhizome flowers
Nathanael Prunet/Nikon Small World
Early stage mouse embryos
Gaelle Recher, M. Goolam, M. Zernicka-Goetz/Nikon Small World
Part of a plant stem
Edgar Javier Rincon/Nikon Small World
Ktyri
Jan Rosenboom/Nikon Small World
Haulioda fish
Alvaro Roura/Nikon Small World
Crystals of diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug
Adolfo Ruiz De Segovia/Nikon Small World
Four day old zebrafish embryo
Oscar Ruiz/Nikon Small World
Our world is full of such amazing things that we could not even imagine, but thanks to the talented photographers who are nearby at the most opportune moment, we have a wonderful opportunity to see what a fantastically beautiful world we live in. Let's enjoy together these incredible shots of the most exciting moments and discoveries, which will certainly come as a real surprise to many.
The turtle has saddled the jellyfish and is now riding on it.
The tallest tree on the planet is Hyperion. Its height reaches 115.6 meters and its age is approximately 800 years.
A man holds in his hands the Fukang meteorite, a precious gift from the Universe, which is 4.5 billion years old.
This is how astronauts in space see an eclipse.
A flock of birds illuminated by fire against a background of black smoke.
A Japanese temple in Kyoto turned into a fabulous place after a snowfall.
Shadows cast by clouds on the Earth.
A kayaker floats next to burning lava flowing into the ocean (Hawaii).
To date, this is the best quality image that has captured the Orion Nebula.
Photo of opal. It seems as if the dawn is being born inside the stone.
Thor's Well, called the “gate to the underworld” (USA, Oregon).
An image of the Sun taken in ultraviolet light.
This is the clearest photograph of Mercury ever taken.
All the beauty and power of a thunderstorm captured in one photo.
Macro image of the iris of the human eye.
Fancy pattern of ice on a pond.
For 20 years this monk prayed in the same place.
A perfectly preserved fragment of the tail of a feathered theropod dinosaur, whose age was about 99 million years, was discovered in a small piece of amber. Below is a photo of that same fragment.
This amazing fire cloud appeared over Portugal and immediately received the name “Hand of God”.
Sahara Desert covered with snow. The last time this could be observed was 37 years ago.
Everyone should see these rare and incredible photos! Each one is phenomenal in its own way, from the portrait of Hitler before he trimmed his mustache to the eclipse at sunset. Take a look for yourself:
1. This is what Hitler's mustache looked like before he had to trim it to put on a gas mask:
2. This is not a collage, but one ordinary photo that was not even processed in Photoshop:
3. This is what a plastic bottle looks like before it is filled with compressed air:
4. This artistic “loaf” (the technique is actually called “murrine”) by Lauren Stump is made of glass and costs $5,000 per “slice”:
5. These coins are not glued together, but simply carefully folded:
6. Eclipse and sunset at the same time:
7. These perfect pyrite cubes formed naturally in nature:
8. This is what a child’s skull looks like before his baby teeth fall out:
9. Paving stone laying machine:
10. How a person sees the world and how a cat sees it:
11. Fukang meteorite, pallasite, found in China in 2000:
12. 3D printed “gypsum” that uses ultrasound to fuse bones 38% faster:
13. UFO-Like Lenticular Cloud:
14. Marlon Brando before and after applying makeup for The Godfather:
15. The Black Crookshank fish can eat prey 10 times larger than itself:
16. Manhattan, New York in 1609 and now:
17. This is what the insides of a watch from Patek Philippe, manufacturer of the best watches in the world, look like:
18. Mexican-American wall in the Algodon sand dunes:
19. Incredibly accurate Revolution CT CT scanner from General Electrics:
20. Ideal geometry in a head of cabbage:
21. This is what a million colors look like in one picture (each pixel is different in color):
22. Submarine cable section:
23. Spacecraft launch, view from the ISS:
