The 51st annual Nikon Small World photomicrography competition has unveiled its stunning winners, capturing the intricate beauty of microscopic life that typically remains invisible to the naked eye. This year's competition drew an impressive 1,925 entries from scientists, artists, and photography enthusiasts across 77 countries, showcasing extraordinary images of weevils, spores, slime molds, and cellular structures magnified to reveal their hidden splendor.
Taking first place this year was photographer Zhang You's remarkable image of a rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae) perched on a grain of rice with its wings dramatically spread. The weevil was naturally preserved on a windowsill, captured in what appeared to be its final attempt to escape. Zhang You had previously photographed rice weevils but had never captured one with its wings fully extended, making this shot particularly special and scientifically valuable.
The second-place winner came from Dr. Jan Rosenboom, who captured colonial algae (Volvox) spheres floating in a single drop of water. Volvox represents a fascinating genus of green algae that forms spherical colonies containing up to 50,000 individual cells, creating mesmerizing geometric patterns when viewed under magnification. Third place went to John-Oliver Dum for his striking image of pollen trapped in a garden spider web, photographed using 20x objective lens magnification that revealed the intricate details of both the web's structure and the captured pollen grains.
The competition's top 20 entries showcase an incredible diversity of microscopic subjects, each telling a unique scientific story. Dr. James Hayes earned fourth place with his image of heart muscle cells displaying condensed chromosomes after cell division, captured at 100x magnification. Fifth place featured Dr. Igor Siwanowicz's photograph of spores from a small tropical fern (Ceratopteris richardii), showing blue and purple structures that scientists study to better understand plant evolution.
Medical and biological research themes dominated many of the winning entries. Dr. Francisco Lázaro-Diéguez captured sixth place with his beautifully detailed image of rat liver cells, which researchers use to study organ metabolism and detoxification processes. Stella Whittaker's seventh-place entry showcased iPSC-derived sensory neurons labeled to highlight tubulin and actin proteins under immunofluorescence microscopy, revealing the complex internal structures of nerve cells.
The competition also highlighted fascinating ecological interactions and natural processes. Dr. Igor Siwanowicz earned eighth place with an image showing mallow pollen germinating on a flower's stigma while being parasitized by a filamentous fungus, capturing multiple biological processes occurring simultaneously. Ninth place went to Wim van Egmond's photograph of the fungus Talaromyces purpureogenus, known for producing distinctive red, diffused pigments.
Several entries in the top 20 focused on cellular and molecular structures that advance our understanding of biology and medicine. The tenth-place image by Dr. Dylan Burnette and Dr. James Hayes showed iPSC-derived heart muscle cells with condensed chromosomes in metaphase, a critical stage of cell division. Marek Miś captured eleventh place with his detailed photograph of sunflower trichomes, the hair-like outgrowths found on plant surfaces that serve various protective and regulatory functions.
The competition's lower-ranked but equally impressive entries included diverse subjects ranging from geological specimens to parasitic relationships. Halli Lindamood and Eric Vitriol's twelfth-place image revealed the actin cytoskeleton in cyan and endoplasmic reticulum in red within a cancer cell located in a mouse brain, providing valuable insights for medical research. Henri Koskinen earned thirteenth place with his image of slime mold (Arcyria major) releasing spores, capturing this bright coral-pink organism that lives on decaying wood and fades to dull reddish-brown as it ages.
The remaining top 20 entries demonstrated the competition's broad scientific scope and artistic merit. Notable inclusions were Manfred Heising's photograph of quartz with biotic goethite filaments, Zhang You's second winning entry showing a geometer moth laying eggs, and Rogelio Moreno Gill's image of fern spore sacs located on the underside of fronds where reproduction occurs. The competition concluded with Zachary Sanchez's twentieth-place photograph of marine copepods, small aquatic crustaceans that play vital roles in ocean ecosystems.
For more than five decades, the Nikon Small World competition has served as a bridge between scientific research and artistic expression, bringing the microscopic world into public view and highlighting the extraordinary beauty that exists at scales invisible to human eyes. This year's winning entries continue that tradition, combining technical excellence with aesthetic appeal to reveal the hidden wonders of our natural world.
