Photographing the Microscopic: Winners of Nikon Small World 2023

The results of the 2023 Small World Photomicrography Competition have just been announced, and organizers have once again shared some of the winning and honored images with us below. The contest invites photographers and scientists to submit images of all things visible under a microscope. More than 1,900 entries were received from 72 countries in 2023, the 49th year of the competition.

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  • Image of Distinction: Blue black weevil ( Metapocyrtus sp.) #
    Dr. Andrew M. Posselt, Mill Valley, California
  • Image of Distinction: Moss #
    Dr. Foo Yong Ng, Bangi, Selangot, Malaysia
  • Image of Distinction: Slime mold ( Trichia crateriformis ) #
    Dr. Frantisek Bednar, Svosov, Zilinsky, Slovak Republic
  • 5th Place Winner: Auto-fluorescing defensive hairs covering the leaf surface of Eleagnus angustifolia exposed to UV light #
    Dr. David Maitland, Feltwell, Norfolk, United Kingdom
  • Image of Distinction: Golden rutile in quartz #
    Danny Sanchez, Valley Village, California
  • 2nd Place Winner: Matchstick igniting by the friction surface of the box #
    Ole Bielfeldt, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
  • Image of Distinction: Cleared mouse embryo #
    Dr. Arthur Chien, Macquarie University, New South Wales, Australia
  • Image of Distinction: Feeding bryozoan colony zooids. Bryozoans are microscopic aquatic invertebrates that live in colonies. #
    Charles Krebs, Issaquah, Washington
  • Image of Distinction: Bee #
    Yusuf Ziya Öztürk, Ankara, Çankaya, Turkey
  • Image of Distinction: Mushroom gills showing sporophores (sporangiophores) #
    Charles Krebs, Issaquah, Washington
  • 15th Place Winner: Fluorescent image of an Acropora sp. showing individual polyps with symbiotic zooxanthellae #
    Dr. Pichaya Lertvilai, La Jolla, California
  • 20th Place Winner: Adult transgenic zebra-fish head showing blood vessels (blue), lymphatic vessels (yellow), and the skin and scales (magenta) #
    Daniel Castranova & Dr. Brant Weinstein, Bethesda, Maryland
  • 17th Place Winner: Chinese moon moth ( Actias ningpoana ) wing scales #
    Yuan Ji, Shanghai, China
  • Image of Distinction: Amoeba ( Arcella ) #
    Dr. Håkan Kvarnström, Bromma, Sweden
  • 14th Place Winner: Sunflower pollen on an acupuncture needle #
    John-Oliver Dum, Bendorf, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
  • 18th Place Winner: A cryptocrystalline micrometeorite resting on a #80 testing sieve #
    Scott Peterson, New Hope, Minnesota
  • Image of Distinction: Cabbage butterfly eggs #
    John-Oliver Dum, Bendorf, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
  • 1st Place Winner: Rodent optic nerve head showing astrocytes (yellow), contractile proteins (red), and retinal vasculature (green)
    # Hassanain Qambari & Jayden Dickson, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
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