Photographic marvels in a petri dish
The annual Nikon Small World photomicrography competition recently announced the winning images. The award-winning images ranged from microscopic organisms to cancer-fighting drugs, carbon nanotubes, and even soap.
The contest has been awarding the best of the best of microscopic photography since 1974. This year, nearly 2,000 images were submitted from around the world, the most entries ever for the competition.
This 6x picture of a chicken embryo was captured by Tomas Pais de Azevedo of Lisbon, Portugal, using stereomicroscopy. It was named an Image of Distinction by the judges, but won first prize in the popular vote opened up to the public.
Photo credit: Tomas Pais de Azevedo/Nikon
Caption: Jennifer Guevin/CNET News
This 200x photomicrograph of marine diatoms was taken by Michael Stringer, of Westcliff-on-Sea, in the United Kingdom. A retired ophthalmic nurse practitioner, Stringer collects and studies diatoms, a kind of algae, from local tributaries and makes a hobby of microscopic photography.
For this image, Stringer used high contrast and color application to create dramatic effect in his image of the oft-photographed genus Pleurosigma. His diatoms won him first place overall in the contest (worth US$3,000 toward the purchase of Nikon equipment).
Photo credit: Michael Stringer/Nikon
Caption: Jennifer Guevin/CNET News
Paul Marshall of Ottawa, Ontario, took this 30x image of an atypical growth run of carbon nanotubes. He used a Nikon CoolPix E995 camera with a microscope to capture the image, which won second place overall in the competition (US$2,000 worth of Nikon equipment).
Photo credit: Paul Marshall/Nikon
Caption: Jennifer Guevin/CNET News
This is a 1300x image of tissue from Convallaria majalis, or Lily of the Valley, taken by Albert Tousson. It shows distinct cell walls (red) with starch granules (yellow and green). Tousson took the image while testing out a new confocal imaging system for the High Resolution Imaging Facility of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. It ended up winning third place overall in the contest.
Photo credit: Albert Tousson/Nikon
Caption: Jennifer Guevin/CNET News
This snowflake, shown at 35x magnification, was submitted by Laurence Acland of Toronto, Ontario.
Photo credit: Laurence Acland/Nikon
Caption: Jennifer Guevin/CNET News
Monica Pons of Barcelona, Spain, submitted this 10x view of a Arabidopsis thaliana root. Arabidopsis' short life cycle and simple genome make it a very common subject for plant genetics studies. It won 17th place in the Small World contest.
Photo credit: Monica Pons/Nikon
Caption: Jennifer Guevin/CNET News
Charles Kazilek submitted this 100x magnification of the fibers of Japanese specialty paper. Kazilek, from Tempe, Ariz., took the image as part of a research project studying handmade paper.
Photo credit: Charles Kazilek/Nikon
Caption: Jennifer Guevin/CNET News
This photo shows a leaf gall on an oak tree at four times its actual size. Galls are caused when parasites like insects or mites attack a plant, often laying eggs in plant tissue to create a protective enclosure where the egg can grow.
Photo credit: Daniel Vega/Nikon
Caption: Jennifer Guevin/CNET News
This curious little fellow is a larva of a deep-sea crustacean in the genus Sergestes. The 30x image was submitted by Solvin Zankl of Germany and won 20th place in the overall contest.
Photo credit: Solvin Zankl/Nikon
Caption: Jennifer Guevin/CNET News
This nasty looking creature is Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, a parasitic worm similar to the human hookworm. The 40x image was submitted by J. Claire Hoving from the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine of the University of Cape Town in South Africa.
Photo credit: J. Claire Hoving/Nikon
Caption: Jennifer Guevin/CNET News
This is the stuff of nightmares for the allergic among us. It's pollen from a gladiola (zoomed into 2,500 times its actual size). The image was submitted by Shirley Owens, a retiree from Michigan State University.
Photo credit: Shirley Owens/Nikon
Caption: Jennifer Guevin/CNET News
This 200x wood cross section, submitted by Jose Almodovar of Puerto Rico, was named an Image of Distinction.
Photo credit: Jose Almodovar/Nikon
Caption: Jennifer Guevin/CNET News
This is a 14x image of rare mineral called arsenuranospathite. It was submitted by Stephan Wolfsried of Germany.
Photo credit: Stephan Wolfsried/Nikon
Caption: Jennifer Guevin/CNET News
This 20x fiber-optic illumination of a computer chip was submitted by Norm Barker of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Photo credit: Norm Barker/Nikon
Caption: Jennifer Guevin/CNET News
Another Image of Distinction, this is a 50x magnification of soap bubbles in a petri dish, submitted by Viktor Sykora of the Czech Republic.
Photo credit: Viktor Sykora/Nikon
Caption: Jennifer Guevin/CNET News
This 10x image shows a soybean leaf infected with Phakopsora pachyrhizi. Better known as Soybean Rust, the fungus has overtaken soybean crops in Australia and Asia in the past and has more recently affected soybean farms in the Southeastern and Midwestern United States. The image was submitted by Torri Hancock, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service.
Photo credit: Torri Hancock/Nikon
Caption: Jennifer Guevin/CNET News
This is a 100x magnification of scales on the wing of Urania riphaeus, the Sunset moth. The fiber-optic illumination was submitted by Charles Krebs from Issaquah, Wash.
Photo credit: Charles Krebs/Nikon
Caption: Jennifer Guevin/CNET News
This 10x stereomicroscopy photo shows a flower from Zygocactus truncatus, more commonly known as a holiday cactus or Christmas cactus. It was submitted by Viktor Sykora, of the Czech Republic.
You can find the complete gallery of award-winning photos from the competition here. Got one of your own? The deadline for entries for next year's competition is April 30, 2009.
Photo credit: Norm Barker/Nikon
Caption: Jennifer Guevin/CNET News
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