Photos: Microscopic images reveal small wonders

Now in its 35th year, the Nikon Small World competition recognizes the art of photomicrography, with specimens spanning biological, industrial, and geological sciences.

Judges assess images for both scientific and artistic qualities, with the leading images displaying strengths in both areas. The images' impact, technical proficiency, originality, and informational contribution to the scientific community are all criteria used to evaluate the entries.

This 20th place winner is a 40x image of a rusted old coin. It was captured by Havi Sarfaty of the Tallinn Israel Veterinary Association in Ramat-Gan, Israel.

19th place
Yanping Wang
Beijing Planetarium
Beijing, China
Snowflake (40x)
Reflected and Transmitted Light

18th place
Julia Sero
Children's Hospital Boston
Harvard Medical School
Boston, Mass.
Human skin on fibronectin with growth factor (60x)
Confocal

17th place
Rebekah R. Helton
Department of Biological Sciences
University of Delaware
Newark, Del.
Stopwatch (2.5x)
Confocal (with Depth Coding)

16th place
Massimo Brizzi
Microcosmo Italia
Empoli, Firenze, Italy
Snail eggs (200x)
Differential Interference Contrast

15th place
Fabrice Parais
DIREN Basse-Normandie
Herouville-Saint-Clair, France
Atherix ibis (fly) aquatic larva (25x)
Stereomicroscopy

14th place
Tora Bardal
Department of Biology
NTNU Center of Fisheries and Aquaculture
Trondheim, Norway
Lobster egg (3.2x)
Darkfield

13th place
John Hart
Hart3D Films
Boulder, Colo.
Recrystallized melted mixture of acetanalide, resorcinal, and carbon tetrabromide (33x)
Transmitted Polarized Light

12th place
Tsutomu Seimiya
Tokyo Metropolitan University
Tokyo, Japan
Flow pattern in draining soap film (10x)
Simple Microscope

11th place
Dominik Paquet
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Adolf Butenandt Institute
Munich, Germany
"Alzheimer" Zebrafish, stained for Tau (red), neurons (green), and pathologic Tau (blue) (10x)
Confocal

10th place
Arlene Wechezak
Anacortes, Wash.
Algae and diatoms (10x)
Darkfield

9th place
Bernardo Cesare
Dipartimento di Geoscienze
Università degli Studi di Padova
Padova, Italy
Olivine inclusions in gabbro (magmatic rock) (5x)
Polarized Transmitted Light

8th place
Lloyd Donaldson
Scion, Next Generation Biomaterials
Rotorua, New Zealand
Cotton fibers stained with berberine sulphate and color depth shaded (200x)
Confocal Fluorescence

7th place
Shirley Owens
Michigan State University (retired)
East Lansing, Mich.
Hair-like trichomes on Thunbergia alata (Black-eyed Susan vine) (450x)
Confocal Fluorescence and Reflection

6th place
Havi Sarfaty
Israel Veterinary Association
Ramat-Gan, Israel
Discus fish scales (20x)
Transmitted Light

5th place
Bruno Vellutini
Centro de Biologia Marinha Universidade de Sao Paulo
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Oral surface of a young seastar (40x)
Darkfield

4th place
James Hayden
The Wistar Institute
Philadelphia, Penn.
Anglerfish ovary (4x)
Two-channel Autofluorescence

3rd place
Pedro Barrios-Perez
Institute for Microstructural Sciences National Research Council of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario
Wrinkled photoresist (200x)
Brightfield

2nd place
Gerd A. Guenther
Düsseldorf, Germany
Sonchus asper (spiny sowthistle) flower stem section (150x)
Darkfield

1st place
Heiti Paves
Tallinn University of Technology
Tallinn, Estonia
Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress) anther (20x)
Confocal

Interested in seeing how your own microscopic photos stack up? Submissions for next year's competition are due April 30, 2010.