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See the Nikon Small World in Motion contest winners
An under the microscope look at developing neurons and COVID-infected cells are among the winners of the 49th annual Nikon Small World In Motion video contest.
A vivid, extreme closeup of a rodent optic nerve head took home top honors at this year’s Nikon Small World photo competition, which recognizes excellence in photography under the microscope.
The annual contest, founded in 1974, received nearly 1,900 entries from 72 countries this year, organizers said. Photos are judged on originality, informational content, technical proficiency and visual impact.
MORE: Watch: Dazzling time-lapse of developing neurons wins Nikon's annual video contest
Last year’s contest made headlines for one of its "images of distinction" that showed an extremely creepy closeup of an ant.
The rodent eye nerve that won first place prize in 2023 was taken by Hassanain Qambari, assisted by Jayden Dickson of the Lions Eye Institute.
1st Place
Hassanain Qambari & Jayden Dickson
The Lions Eye Institute Department of Physiology & Pharmacology Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Rodent optic nerve head showing astrocytes (yellow), contractile proteins (red) and retinal vasculature (green)
Confocal, Fluorescence, Image Stacking
20X (Objective Lens Magnification) (Nikon Small World) 2nd Place
Ole Bielfeldt
Macrofying
Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Matchstick igniting by the friction surface of the box.
Brightfield, Image Stacking
2.5X (Objective Lens Magnification) (Nikon Small World) 3rd Place
Malgorzata Lisowska
Independent Value Based Healthcare Consultant
Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland
Breast cancer cells
Brightfield, Image Stacking
40X (Objective Lens Magnification) (Nikon Small World) 4th Place
John-Oliver Dum
Medienbunker Produktion
Bendorf, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
Venomous fangs of a small tarantula
Image Stacking
10X (Objective Lens Magnification) 5th Place
Dr. David Maitland
www.davidmaitland.com
Feltwell, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Auto-fluorescing defensive hairs covering the leaf surface of Eleagnus angustifolia exposed to UV light
Fluorescence, Image Stacking
10X (Objective Lens Magnification) (Nikon Small World) 6th Place
Timothy Boomer
WildMacro.com
Vacaville, California, USA
Slime mold (Comatricha nigra) showing capillitial fibers through its translucent peridium
Image Stacking
10X (Objective Lens Magnification) (Nikon Small World) 7th Place
Dr. Grigorii Timin & Dr. Michel Milinkovitch
University of Geneva
Department of Genetics and Evolution Geneva, Switzerland
Mouse embryo Light Sheet
4X (Objective Lens Magnification) (Nikon Small World) 8th Place
Stefan Eberhard
University of Georgia Athens, Georgia, USA
Caffeine crystals
Polarized Light
25X (Objective Lens Magnification) (Nikon Small World) 9th Place
Vaibhav Deshmukh
Baylor College of Medicine
Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics Houston, Texas, USA
Cytoskeleton of a dividing myoblast; tubulin (cyan), F-actin (orange) and nucleus (magenta)
Fluorescence, Structured Illumination Microscopy (SIM)
63X (Objective Lens Magnification) (Nikon Small World) HM
Dr. Arthur Chien & Dr. Ann Na Cho
Macquarie University
Microscopy Facility
Macquarie University, New South Wales, Australia
Organ-on-chip system enabling the synaptic conjugation between 3D human embryonic stem cells
Confocal
10X (Objective Lens Magnification) (Nikon Small World) "The colorful image provides an important contribution to the study and reversal of diabetic retinopathy, which affects one in five persons with diabetes worldwide," contest organizers said in a news release.
Second place went to Ole Bielfeldt for his photo of a matchstick igniting by the friction surface of the box. The image was taken within one eight-thousands of a second and utilized imaging stacking.
Malgorzata Lisowska won third place for her image of breast cancer cells.
In addition to the top three winners, Nikon Small World recognized 83 other photos, including honorable mentions and "images of distinction."
In 2011, Nikon Small World launched a sister competition — Nikon Small World in Motion — to showcase technology advances for recording movies or digital time-lapse photography through the microscope. You can see those winners here.