You've never seen a spider, a caterpillar, or even a DVD reader quite like this before.
The winning photos this year in Nikon's annual Small World Photomicrography Competition offer a very up-close look at these three things and many others--and they're absolutely beautiful.
The annual competition, which is celebrating its 40th year, showcases some of the best microphotography from around the world. This year, more than 1,200 entries from at least 79 countries were vying for top honors. The entries were judged by biologist Dr. Paul Maddox, Slate science editor Laura Helmuth, and Popular Science's online director Dave Mosher.
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Which photo took first place? Panama resident Rogelio Moreno's image of a rotifer's open mouth. Rotifers are sometimes called microscopic "wheel" animals and are commonly found in freshwater.
Check out the top 20 winning photos below.
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1st Place:Mr. Rogelio MorenoPanama, Panama. Rotifer showing the mouth interior and heart shaped corona. Differential Interference Contrast40X
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2nd Place:Mr. Alessandro Da MommioDipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di PisaPisa, Italy. Rhombohedral cleavage in calcite crystal. Crossed Polars10X
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3rd Place:Noah Fram-SchwartzGreenwich, Connecticut, USA. Jumping Spider Eyes. Reflected Light20X
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4th Place:Ms. Karin PanserInstitute of Molecular Pathology I.M.P.Vienna, Austria. Caterpillar proleg with circle of gripping hooks in red. Confocal, Autofluorescence20X
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5th Place:Dr. Muthugapatti K. KandasamyBiomedical Microscopy Core, University of GeorgiaAthens, Georgia, USA. Bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells stained for actin (pink), mitochondria (green) and DNA (yellow). Super Resolution Microscopy0X
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6th Place:Dr. Douglas BrumleyDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Active fluid flow around P. damicornis (coral polyp). Fluorescence, Autofluorescence4X
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7th Place:Mr. Dennis HinksCleveland, Ohio, USA. Circuitry in DVD reader. Cross-polarized microscopy100X
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8th Place:Dr. Igor Robert SiwanowiczJanelia Farm Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)Ashburn, Virginia, USA. Appendages of a common brine shrimp. Confocal100X
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9th Place:Ms. Meritxell VendrellServei de Microscòpia, Universitat AutònomaBarcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) ovary fixed and stained to show lectins (red) and nuclei (blue). Confocal laser scanning microscopy63X
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10th Place:Dr. Paul Joseph RigbyCMCA, The University of Western AustraliaCrawley, Western Australia, Australia. Daisy petal with fungal infection and pollen grains, whole mount, unstained. Confocal autofluorescence 10X
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11th Place:Mr. Stefano BaroneCremona, Italy. House cricket's tongue (Acheta domesticus). Rheinberg illumination (Dark field with interference filter)25X
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12th Place:Mr. Douglas MooreUniversity Relations and Communications, University of Wisconsin - Stevens PointStevens Point, Wisconsin, USA. Montana Dryhead agate, unpolished. Axial lighting was provided by Leeds fiberoptic illuminators50X
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13th Place:Mr. Charles KrebsCharles Krebs PhotographyIssaquah, Washington, USA. Conochilus unicornis (rotifer), actively feeding. This rotifer species forms a free floating spherical colony. Differential Interference Contrast417X
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14th Place:Dr. Ali ErturkMunich, Germany. Mouse brain vasculature. Light-sheet fluorescent microscopy2X
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15th Place:Mr. Charles KrebsCharles Krebs PhotographyIssaquah, Washington, USA. Chrysochroa buqueti (jewel beetle) carapace, near eye. Diffused, Reflected Illumination45X
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16th Place:Dr. Nils LindstromDevelopmental Biology, The Roslin InstituteEdinburgh, Scotland, UK. Three transgenic kidneys cultured together, showing colliding branching collecting duct systems. Confocal20X
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17th Place:Mr. Rogelio MorenoPanama, Panama. Pleurotaenium ovatum (micro algae). Polarized Light, Lambda Plate40X
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18th Place:Mr. Jens H. PetersenMycoKeyEbeltoft, Denmark. Anagallis arvensis (scarlet pimpernel). Macroscopy80X
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19th Place:Dr. Sabrina KaulUniversity of ViennaVienna, Austria. Larval stage of the acorn worm Balanoglossus misakiensis, dorsal view, showing cell borders, muscles and apical eye spots. Confocal10X
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20th Place:Dr. Dylan T. BurnetteVanderbilt University School of MedicineNashville, Tennessee, USA. A crawling bone cancer (osteosarcoma) cell showing actin filament bundles in the lamella. Structured Illumination Microscopy8000X
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