See the Scientific and the Mundane Become Surprisingly Dazzling When Viewed Through a Microscope, From Neurons to Ballpoint Pens
- On Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, Nikon Instruments Inc. announced the winners of its 52nd annual Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition, honoring remarkable images captured through the microscope.
- Established in 1974, the competition celebrates the intersection of ingenuity and artistry, inviting scientists and artists to reveal hidden worlds through photomicrography.
- First-Place winner Ole Bielfeldt, a Cologne-based student, used a custom rig to capture inkjet printer ink droplets in motion, reverse-engineering the printer to keep the printhead stationary.
- Judges recognized 86 images this year, including second-place winner John-Oliver Dunn's jumping spider photograph and third-place winners Kaelin Wulf and Rachel Flannery's neurons in an expanded mouse brain.
- Entries for the 2027 Small World and Small World in Motion competitions are now open, inviting photographers and videographers worldwide to submit their microscopic imagery.
15 Articles
15 Articles
1st place: Ink drops are thrown by a printer on the image paper made with a microscope lens. Ole Bielfeldt/Nikon Small World Ink drops suspended in the air, a spider covered with pollen and neurons inside the brain of a mouse are among the winning images of one of the main photo contests made with microscopes. The 2026 edition of Nikon Small World received 1,803 images from 69 countries and awarded 76 records. The contest arrived this year at it…
52 Award-Winning Photos From Nikon Small World Reveal an Unseen World
Nikon has announced the winners of its 52nd annual Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition. This year's winning photos celebrate the world's best and most captivating images captured through a microscope, showing the world in an up-close and unique way.
See Inside Cells Like Never Before in These Vivid Microscopic Images
Winning entries in the 2026 Nikon Small World competitions reveal the hidden interactions that govern everyday life. The post See Inside Cells Like Never Before in These Vivid Microscopic Images first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
