The winners of the 49th annual Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition have been revealed. This year’s first-place prize was awarded to Hassanain Qambari, assisted by Jayden Dickson for his image of a rodent optic nerve head. The second-place winner is Ole Bielfeldt with his image of a matchstick igniting against the surface of a matchbox. Third place was awarded to Malgorzata Lisowska for her image of breast cancer cells.

In addition to the top three winners, the Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition recognized 83 photos out of nearly 1,900 photo entries from 72 countries.

“The past 49 years of this competition have borne witness to many innovative and pioneering advancements in scientific imaging technology,” Eric Flem, Senior Manager, CRM and Communications at Nikon Instruments, said. “I am consistently awed by how these advancements make it possible to create art out of science for the public to enjoy,” he added.

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• Read More: 30 Jaw-Dropping Science Images From The 2023 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition

#1 2nd Place - Ole Bielfeldt

Macrofying
Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

"Matchstick igniting by the friction surface of the box."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#2 11th Place - Dr. Diego García

Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Real Sociedad Española de Física
Madrid, Spain

"Crystallized sugar syrup."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#3 14th Place - John-Oliver Dum

Medienbunker Produktion
Bendorf, Rheinland Pfalz, Germany

"Sunflower pollen on an acupuncture needle."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#4 8th Place - Stefan Eberhard

The University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia, USA

"Caffeine crystals."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#5 12th Place - Sherif Abdallah Ahmed

Tanta University
Faculty of Science
Department of Zoology
Tanta, Egypt

"Cuckoo wasp standing on a flower."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#6 17th Place - Yuan Ji

World Expo Museum
Shanghai, China

"Chinese moon moth (Actias ningpoana) wing scales."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#7 20th Place - Daniel Castranova And Dr. Brant M. Weinstein

National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Bethesda, Maryland, USA

"Adult transgenic zebrafish head showing blood vessels (blue), lymphatic vessels (yellow), and the skin and scales (magenta)."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#8 3rd Place - Malgorzata Lisowska

Independent Value-Based Healthcare Consultant Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland

"Breast cancer cells."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#9 Image Of Distinction - Cagri Yalcin

Impressions Microscopiques
Amsterdam, Noord Holland, The Netherlands

"Crystals of malonic acid dissolved in ethanol."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#10 Image Of Distinction - Walter Machielsen

Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands

"Buckthorn trichomes."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#11 Image Of Distinction - Danny J. Sanchez

Mineralien LLC
Valley Village, California, USA

"Golden rutile in quartz."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#12 Image Of Distinction - Yusuf Ziya Öztürk

TCDD Teknik Müh. Müş. A.Ş.
Ankara, Çankaya, Turkey

"Bee"

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#13 4th Place - John-Oliver Dum

Medienbunker Produktion
Bendorf, Rheinland Pfalz, Germany

"Venomous fangs of a small tarantula."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#14 Image Of Distinction - Dr. Frantisek Bednar

Svosov, Zilinsky, Slovakia

"Slime mold (Trichia crateriformis)."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#15 Image Of Distinction - Raghuram Annadana

Raghuram Annadana Photography
Bangalore, Karnataka, India

"Developing stamen and stigma inside a Hibiscus flower bud."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#16 Image Of Distinction - Charles B. Krebs

Charles Krebs Photography
Issaquah, Washington, USA

"Mushroom gills showing sporophores (sporangiophores)."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#17 Image Of Distinction - Dr. Håkan Kvarnström

Bromma, Stockholm, Sweden

"Amoeba (Arcella)."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#18 Honorable Mention - Dr. Amy Engevik

Medical University of South Carolina
Department of Regenerative Medicine & Cell Biology
Charleston, South Carolina, USA

"Neonatal mouse intestinal tissue cells."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#19 Image Of Distinction - Alison Pollack

San Anselmo, California, USA

"Slime mold (Diderma tigrinum)."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#20 Image Of Distinction - Michael Landgrebe

Weissensberg, Bavaria, Germany

"Fossil diatom."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#21 Image Of Distinction - Dr. Pichaya Lertvilai

University of California, San Diego
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
La Jolla, California, USA

"Coral (Acropora granulosa) fluorescing under blue light."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#22 Image Of Distinction - Timothy Boomer

WildMacro
Vacaville, California, USA

"Slime mold (Didymium sp.) fruiting bodies."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#23 1st Place - Hassanain Qambari And Jayden Dickson

Lions Eye Institute
Department of Physiology & Pharmacology
Perth, Western Australia, Australia

"Rodent optic nerve head showing astrocytes (yellow), contractile proteins (red) and retinal vasculature (green)."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#24 Image Of Distinction - Ricardo Roberto Fernández Martínez

IES Virgen de la Luz
Department of Biology and Geology
Avilés, Asturias, Spain

"Tail of planktonic shrimp larvae."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#25 Honorable Mention - Ángel Navarro Gómez

Madrid, Spain

"Carpenter bee (Xylocopa violacea) head and antenna."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#26 5th Place - Dr. David Maitland

Feltwell, Norfolk, United Kingdom

"Auto-fluorescing defensive hairs covering the leaf surface of Eleagnus angustifolia exposed to UV light."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#27 18th Place - Scott Peterson

New Hope, Minnesota, USA

"A cryptocrystalline micrometeorite resting on a #80 testing sieve."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#28 15th Place - Dr. Pichaya Lertvilai

University of California, San Diego
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
La Jolla, California, USA

"Fluorescent image of an Acropora sp. showing individual polyps with symbiotic zooxanthellae."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition

#29 13th Place - Satu Paavonsalo And Dr. Sinem Karaman

University of Helsinki
Individualized Drug Therapy Research Program, Faculty of Medicine
Helsinki, Finland

"Blood and lymphatic vasculatures in the ear skin of an adult mouse."

Image credits: Nikon Small World Photography Competition