Check out images from the 2022 Nikon Small World Photo Contest – Globe News Insider

Life is beautiful on all scales, from big to small.

A fascinating look under the developing scales in the hand of a giant day gecko embryo from Madagascar (Ferma Grandis) won 1st place in the Nikon Small World Microscopy Contest 2022. The winning image, assembled from hundreds of images taken with a confocal microscope over two days, was created by researchers Grigory Tymin and Michel Milinkovich from the University of Geneva . The couple studies the genetics and physics of embryonic development.

The hand is artificially colored, with sprouting nerves in cyan and collagenous structures in the orange and yellow areas. Collagen is the building block of life, he says, Milinkovitch. Knowing where collagen is located can help researchers better understand how the body and tissues develop.

The areas of bone where calcification has started are the lightest in the image, Tymin said. Developing tendons and ligaments stretch out like orange branches. Blood cells pool and line up in new blood vessels on a gecko’s fingertip.

Milinkovitch says the picture emphasizes beauty in all sizes. The snap reads: “You can see this beautiful finger pattern, beautiful as a hand. Then zoom in and you can see spongy bone. Zoom in and you can see the tendons. Zoom in and you can see the fibers of the tendons. Then zoom in and you can see the blood cells.”

The gecko photo is one of 92 amazing images accepted for this year’s competition. The winner of the 48th annual competition was announced on October 12th. Here are some other favorites.

get milk

From afar, this image may look like a bunch of grapes.

Caleb Dawson, a cancer immunologist at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medicine in Parkville, Australia, used confocal microscopy to take thousands of pictures to see the tiny muscle-like cells wrapping around the milk-producing spheres. Did. He used dyes and antibodies to mark the cells yellow and magenta in this second-place image.

Dawson says cells respond to the hormone oxytocin. Oxytocin is released during breastfeeding and helps push milk out of what are called alveoli. help clarify.

sniffed candle

Ole Bielfeldt had to move quickly to catch the last gasp of the extinguished candle.

Candle wax is made up of hydrogen and carbon atoms, and when it’s lit it mostly turns into carbon dioxide. However, not all hydrocarbons burn and accumulate as soot on surfaces near the candle. “When the flame goes out, there is still enough heat left in the glowing wick to break down the wax molecules for a while, but not enough to burn the charcoal,” says Bierfeldt, a photographer in Cologne. says. “So the smoke will trail until it cools.”

Using a fast shutter speed and bright LED lights, Bielfeldt was able to capture floating unburned carbon particles and placed sixth.

iridescent slime mold

Hidden among the leaves and rotting logs in the damp forest are small works of art like this one lamproderma slime mold.

On a overcast October day in San Anselmo, California, photographer Alison Pollack was digging through a pile of fallen leaves when she spotted a shimmering leaf. After taking her leaves home and examining them under a microscope, she was captivated by the iridescence of the wrinkled heads and the slime molds. After around 40 hours of work and their 147 combined images, Pollack has managed to create an impressive snapshot. She likes to embody relationships as nurturing, such as B. her parents and her child, two lovers or her brother and sister. The photo won 5th place in the competition.

Most slime molds have smooth heads and reproduce by releasing spores into the environment. Pollack says the pair may have dried out too quickly, stunting their growth and wrinkling their heads. But it’s okay to say, “The textures are great for me.”

deadly predator

Everyone fears predatory weasels, especially this poor fly.

Murat Öztürk from Ankara, Turkey took 10th place in this year’s competition. A surprising (and disturbing) snap of a stink bug using its lower jaw to crush a fly with its eyes.

tiger beetle (chindelinae), because it runs very fast in pursuit of its prey, insects are temporarily blinded. The beetle in the photo stopped many times to find out where the fly was and finally snatched the food. Thanks to the beetle’s strong, sharp jaws, “the chances of a creature caught by this insect surviving are extremely slim,” says Ozturk.

Coral closeup

On opal reefs off Australia, cauliflower corals (warts) Polyps appear green. But the same organism changes when viewed under a microscope in a laboratory.

To reveal the individual cells of the polyp, Brett Lewis, a marine scientist at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, stitched together more than 60 images taken over 36 hours. Corals naturally fluoresce in a mixture of blues, purples and pinks when exposed to different wavelengths of light. The algae that live in the polyps appear orange or pink, while the coral tissue shimmers blue. The picture won 12th place in the competition.

According to Lewis, one of the surprising things about this photo is that in some places the algal cells shine through the light blue haze. This is because coral tissue is transparent. Algae give coral its color.

Looking inside corals can help scientists understand their ecology, says Lewis. For example, his research aims to elucidate how young polyps form a strong base when attached to a surface. This is an important step in building or restoring coral reefs.