Fascinating images from the Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition.

by The REJIGIT Blog


October 2018

The 2018 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition (Science & Art under the Microscope) is the 44th year of Nikon recognising proficiency and photographic excellence using photography under the microscope. This year the competition received approximately 2,500 entries from 89 countries.   Check out Nikon Small World on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram!

First place was awarded to Emirati photographer Yousef Al Habshi and his winning image entry captures part of the compound eyes and surrounding greenish scales of an Asian Red Palm Weevil Beetle (Metapocyrtus subquadrulifer) which is typically less than 11 mm and is found in the Philippines. Reflected Light. 20x magnification. Al Habshi’s photographic work has assisted in advancing the work of his partner, Professor Claude Desplan, of New York University Abu Dhabi and has contributed to a better understanding of the Red Palm Weevil and how to better control the insect’s population.

.

A selection from the Top Twenty of the 2018 entries;

2nd Place: Rogelio Moreno, Panama. Panama Fern sorus (structures producing & containing spores) - Autofluorescence. 10x magnification.

3rd Place: Saulius Gugis, Naperville, Illinois. Spittlebug nymph in its bubble house. 5x magnification.

5th Place: Dr. Tessa Montague, Harvard University, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Parasteatoda tepidariorum (spider embryo). Stained embryo surface (pink), nuclei (blue) and microtubules (green). Confocal. 20x magnification.

6th Place: Hanen Khabou, Vision Institute, Department of Therapeutics, Paris. Primate foveola (central region of the retina). Fluorescence. 40x magnification.

9th Place: Dr. Haris Antonopoulos, Athens, Greece. Security hologram, Darkfield epi-illumination. 10x magnification.

11th Place: Nilay Taneja & Dr. Dylan Burnette,Vanderbilt University, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Nashville, Tennessee. Human fibroblast undergoing cell division, actin (gray), myosin II (green) and DNA (magenta). Structured illumination microscopy. 60x magnification.

15th Place: Antoine Franck, CIRAD (French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development), Saint Pierre, Réunion, Reunion Island. Varroa destructor (mite) on the back of a Apis mellifera (honeybee). 1x magnification.

16th Place: Dr. Amanda D. Phillips Yzaguirre, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California. Mouse oviduct vasculature. Confocal. 10x magnification.

18th Place: Justin Zoll Photography, New York. Amino acid crystals (L-glutamine & beta-alanine). Polarised light. 4x magnification.

The cover image is one the competitions "Images of Distinction" and was submitted by Anne Algar from Hounslow, U.K. The specimen subject is a Phantom midge larva captured using polarised light and 4x magnification.

Images courtesy of Nikon Small World via Hot Paper Lantern.

The 2018 competition Judges were;  Dr. Joseph Fetcho - Professor, Associate Chair of the Department of Neurobiology & Behaviour at Cornell University.  Dr. Tristan Ursell - Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at the Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Oregon. Adam Dunnakey - Broadcast journalist at CNN International. Jacob Templin - Senior video producer at Quartz. Eric Clark (Moderator) - Research Coordinator & Applications Developer at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University.

A full colour calendar featuring the 2018 winning entries will be produced and will be available via www.nikonsmallworld.com

The Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition is open to anyone with an interest in photography or video and participants may upload digital images and videos directly at www.nikonsmallworld.com