The Most Amazing Microscope Pictures of 2014

Who knew the microscopic world could be so stunning? The winners of Nikon's annual photomicrography competition were announced today, and the pictures range from beautiful (#8, among others) to adorable (the image of a snowflake) to terrifying (#3, especially for arachnophobes). The seventh place winner is also interesting, as it is the only picture that examines tech and one of the only pictures that does not feature a biological phenomenon, and the twentieth place winner morbidly shows the beauty of bone cancer.

 

Here are the most amazing pictures out of the winners, the honorable mentions, and the images of distinction:

 

1st Place: The interior of the mouth of a microscopic animal called a Rotifer

[Credit: Rogelio Moreno]

 

2nd Place: Rhombohedral cleavage in calcite crystal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Credit: Alessandro Da Mommio]

 

3rd Place: Jumping spider eyes

 

[Credit: Noah Fram-Schwartz]

 

4th Place: Caterpillar proleg with circle of gripping hooks

[Credit: Karin Panser]

 

6th Place: Active fluid flow around a coral polyp

[Credit: Dr. Douglas Brumley]

 

7th Place: Circuitry in DVD reader

[Credit: Dennis Hinks]

 

8th Place: Appendages of a common brine shrimp

[Credit: Dr. Igor Robert Siwanowicz]

 

11th Place: House cricket's tongue

[Credit: Stefano Barone]

 

13th Place: Actively feeding rotifers

[Credit: Charles Krebs]

 

15th Place: Jewel beetle carapace, near eye

[Credit: Charles Krebs]

 

19th Place: Larval stage of the acorn worm Balanoglossus misakiensis, dorsal view, showing cell borders, muscles and apical eye spots

[Credit: Dr. Sabrina Kaul]

 

20th Place: A crawling bone cancer (osteosarcoma) cell

[Credit: Dr. Dylan T. Burnette]

 

Honorable Mention

 

Air pearl in the middle of larva Stratiomyidae respiratory fringe

[Credit: Fabrice Parais]

 

Images of Distinction

 

Snowflake

[Credit: Michael Peres]

 

Calcite chip infested with Mastigocoleus testarum strain BC008

[Credit: Brandon Guida]

 

Jewel beetle carapace, near eye

[Credit: Charles Krebs]

 

Cat lip section, showing capillary bed of hairs, whiskers and musculature

[Credit: David Linstead]