15 Stunning, Mysterious Winners Of Small World Photo Awards

Some seem scary or odd, others simply stunning. But they always surprise for their beauty and artistry, and this year the winners of the 50th annual Nikon Small World Photomicrography contest are no exception.

Octopus eggs, spider eyes, mouse brain cells, water flees with embryos and slime mold are among the awarded images that come under the spotlight from a world hidden to the naked eye.

The competition has been evolving since its launch in 1974 in tandem with advances in imaging technology, and continues to showcase the intersection of science and art as it celebrates its golden anniversary.

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Bringing the wonders of the microscopic world to the general public, the competing photos showcase the beauty and complexity of life and objects seen through the light microscope, captivating scientists, artists and enthusiasts alike.

This year’s winning images were chosen from thousands of entries from 80 countries and a wide array of scientific disciplines. The overall winner took a $3,000 prize

The groundbreaking image of mouse brain tumor cells (below) by Dr.Bruno Cisterna, with assistance from Dr. Eric Vitriol, of Augusta University’s Medical College of Georgia won first prize. The photo reveals how disruptions in the cell’s cytoskeleton – the structural framework and “highways” known as microtubules – can lead to diseases such as Alzheimer’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (widely known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease).

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All the images of the top 10 winners, honorable mentions and Images of Distinction can be found here.

The photo displays differentiated mouse brain tumor cells and nuclei.

Above is the up-close view of a leaf of a cannabis plant. The bulbous glands are trichomes. The bubbles inside are cannabinoid vesicles.

Consider slime mold that could be mistaken for makeshift parabolic antenna.

This is a gorgeous cross-section of a leaf of European beach grass.

Like a spooky space ship, a brine shrimp seemingly floats through space.

A viewer could be forgiven for mistaking the ocelli between the compound eyes of a yellow jacket to be a cartoon rendering of a cat’s face.

It’s hard to imagine the future bodies that will emerge from a cluster of octopus eggs.

This anterior section of a palm weevil looks like it has donned a pair of boxing gloves and warming up for battle.

These aren’t webcams; rather, they’re the eyes of a green crab spider.

This transverse section of the stem of bracken fern could be a cartoonist’s impression of a talking…stem of bracken fern.

This insect egg has been invaded and “parasitized” by a wasp.

This is not the little two-spotted ladybug one is accustomed to seeing land on a finger but, in fact, it’s the autofluorescence on its face.

This is a cross-section image of a dandelion’s curved stigma covered in pollen.

Finally, another ladybug, this one spreading its wings in all its three-color splendor (if you count its eyes).

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