The most impressive photos of the microverse: the results of the Nikon competition are summed up

The Nikon Small World competition has been running for almost half a century. The photographer’s work is at the intersection of art and science, and

winners are judged on a balance of technical skill, aesthetic impact and originality.

A network of blood vessels in the mouse intestine. Photo: Satu Pawoonsalo and Dr. Sinem Karansam

This year the main prize went to the first in itsLike this image by Gregory Timin of the University of Geneva. Using total fluorescence staining and a confocal microscope, he painstakingly stitched together hundreds of individual images to construct an image of the entire embryonic arm of a Madagascan giant gecko.

Photo: Grigory Timin and Dr. Michel Milinkovich

“Its length is about 3 mm. It's just a huge specimen for high-resolution microscopy,” Timin explained. To compose one photo, he used about 200 GB of data.

Photo: Dr. Caleb Dawson

Second place went to an equally incrediblephotographed by Australian scientist Caleb Dawson (above). The photograph is a stunning image of lactating breast tissue. The photograph shows the sacs that produce milk (alveoli).

Long legged spider. Photo: Andrew Posselt

The photographers also showed a gloomy portrait of a wasp sting, a close-up of sand particles and a close-up of a spider.

The rest of the photos can be viewed on the competition website.

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