Nikon Small World 2011 competition winners: photographs through the microscope

The winners of the 2011 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition have been announced. This year's top honours go to Dr Igor Siwanowicz with a micrograph that demonstrates the beauty in "ugly". When a small bug landed on Dr Siwanowicz’s hand and began digging its mandibles into his skin, he didn't swat it away. Instead, he removed a tiny test tube from his pocket – which he carries for occasions such as these – and captured it as a potential subject for his photomicrography passion. This chance meeting with a Common Green Lacewing led to him being named the winner of the 2011 Nikon Small World competition.

Now in its 37th year, the contest recognises excellence in photomicrography, honouring images that successfully showcase the delicate balance between scientific technique and artistic quality. A full gallery of winning images, along with Images of Distinction can be viewed at www.nikonsmallworld.com

1st Place: Dr. Igor Siwanowicz, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, Martinsried, Germany. Portrait of a Chrysopa sp. (green lacewing) larva (20x), Confocal

2nd Place: Dr. Donna Stolz, University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Blade of Grass (200X), Confocal stack reconstruction, Autofluorescence

3rd Place: Frank Fox, Fachhochschule Trier, Trier, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. Melosira moniliformis, living specimen (320X), Differential Interference Contrast

4th Place: Dr. Robin Young, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Intrinsic fluorescence in Lepidozia reptans (liverwort) (20X), Live mount, Confocal microscopy
Picture: Nikon Small World / 

5th Place: Alfred Pasieka, Germany. Microchip surface, 3D reconstruction (500X), Incident light, Normarski Interference Contrast

7th Place: Gabriel Luna, UC Santa Barbara, Neuroscience Research Institute, Santa Barbara, California, USA. Retinal flatmount of mouse nerve fiber layer (40X), Laser Confocal Scanning

8th Place: Dr. Bernardo Cesare, Department of Geosciences Padova, Italy. Graphite-bearing granulite from Kerala (India) (2.5X), Polarised light

9th Place: Dr. Jan Michels, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany. Temora longicornis (marine copepod), ventral view (10X), Confocal, Autofluorescence and Congo Red Fluorescence

10th Place: Joan Röhl, Institute for Biochemistry and Biology Potsdam, Germany. Daphnia magna (freshwater water flea) (100X), Differential Interference Contrast

11th Place: Dr. Jan Michels, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany. Ant head, frontal view (10X), Confocal, autofluorescence

12th Place: Thomas Deerinck, National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research, La Jolla, California, USA. HeLa (cancer) cells (300X), 2-Photon fluorescence

13th Place: Dr. Stephen S. Nagy, Montana Diatoms Helena, Montana, USA. Curare vine in cross-section, Chondrodendron tomentosum (45X), Brightfield, digitally inverted

14th Place: Yanping Wang, Beijing Planetarium, Beijing, China. Sand (4X), Reflected light

15th Place: James H. Nicholson, Coral Culture and Collaborative Research Facility, NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/CCEHBR & HML Charleston, South Carolina, USA. Porites lobata (lobe coral), live specimen displaying tissue pigmentation response with red fluorescence (12X), Epifluorescence with triple band (U/B/G)

16th Place: Dr. Christopher Guérin, VIB (Flanders Institute of Biotechnology), Ghent, Belgium. Cultured cells growing on a bio-polymer scaffold (63X), Confocal

17th Place: Dr. Witold Kilarski, EPFL-Laboratory of Lymphatic and Cancer Bioengineering, Lausanne, Switzerland. Litomosoides sigmodontis (filaria worms) inside lymphatic vessels of the mouse ear (150X), Fluorescent confocal microscopy

18th Place: Benjamin Blonder, David Elliott, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA. Venation network of young Populus tremuloides (quaking aspen) leaf (4X), Brightfield image of safranin-stained tissue

19th Place: Dr. Donna Stolz, The University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Mammalian cell collage stained for various proteins and organelles, assembled into a wreath (200-2000X), Single slice confocal cell mosaic

20th Place: Douglas Moore, University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, USA. Agatised dinosaur bone cells, unpolished, ca. 150 million years old (42X), Stereomicroscopy, fiber optics

We end this gallery with a selection of the pictures that were named as Images of Distinction by the competition judges. Dr John H Brackenbury, University of Cambridge, UK: Water droplet containing a pair of mosquito larvae (Laser-triggered high-speed macrophotography)

Walter Piorkowski, South Beloit, Illinois. Jumping spider anterior lateral and median eyes, Reflected light

Dr. Willard Strong, Microsphere Images, Oyama, Canada. Swallowtail butterfly (family Papilionidae) pupal stage chrysalis, tethered to its pupal home, Stereomicroscopy

Wim van Egmond, Micropolitan Museum, Rotterdam, Netherlands. Leptodora kindtii (giant waterflea) eye; living specimen, Differential Interference Contrast

Jose R. Almodovar, Microscopy Center, Biology Department, UPR Mayaguez Campus, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. Fresh water shrimp eye and head, Image Stacking Photography

Charles Krebs, Charles Krebs Photography, Issaquah, Washington, USA. Corixidae sp. (water boatman), Reflected light

Edwin Lee, Carrollton, Texas, USA. Lamium sp. (Henbit deadnettle) stamens and petal, wet mount, Polarised light
 

Dr. Douglas Clark, Paedia Corporation, San Francisco, California. Cethosia biblis (butterfly) dried wing scales, Incandescent, darkfield

Jesper Grønne, Photographer Groenne.eu, Silkeborg, Denmark. Natural formed frost crystal. Grew overnight on a fence in -15 degrees C, No special technique

Wolfgang Bettighofer, Kiel, Germany. Micrasterias apiculata (green alga) cell wall, living specimen, Differential Interference Contrast

John Gaynes, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah. 3 day post-fertilization zebrafish embryo, Confocal

Dr. Terue Kihara, German Centre for Marine Biodiversity Research (DZMB) - Seckenberg am Meer, Germany. Clausidium sp. nov., female with egg sacs, ventral view, Confocal

David Millard, Austin, Texas, USA. Fire agate, Diffuse incident illumination

Dr. Gregor Overney, Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, California, USA. 20GB hard disk read/write head slider, Episcopic oblique brightfield

Haris Antonopoulos, Athens, Greece. DVD-ROM front lens and part of movement coil, Reflected and transmitted light

Dr. Michael M. Raith, Steinmann Institut, University of Bonn Bonn, Germany. Leucite crystal from volcanic rock showing polysynthetic lamellar twins formed by the cubic- tetrago, Transmitted polarised light, crossed polarisation

Dr. Giorgio Seano and Dr. Roberto Sessa, Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment, Candiolo (Torino), Italy. Zebrafish embryos (Dario rerio) vascular system at seven days post-fertilisation, Confocal

Wim van Egmond, Micropolitan Museum, Rotterdam, Netherlands. Young Volvox sp. (green algae) colony, Differential Interference Contrast

Dr David Maitland (www.davidmaitland.com), Feltwell, UK: Double compound eyes of male Bibio marci. Larger - Reflected (Episcopic), Diffuse Illumination

David Millard, Austin, Texas: Vanessa atalanta (Red admiral butterfly) egg in Urtica dioica (Stinging nettle) - trichomesal

Pekka Honkakoski, Iisalmi, Finland: Rare column snowflake with thin, knifelike ice extensions (Triangle brightfield, oblique blue, opposite oblique red)

Debora Leite, University of Sao Paulo: Sugarcane root cross section

Stephen S Nagy, MD, Montana Diatoms, Helena, Montana: Tip of a Butterfly tongue (Polarised light, brightfield)

Dr Havi Sarfaty, Israeli Veterinary Association, Ramat-Gan, Israel: Mouth of common fly (Fiber optic illumination)

Marc van Hove, Centexbel, Merelbeke, Belgium: Tufting needle eye with yarn (Epi-brightfield)

Arik Shapira, Hod HaSharon, Israel: Internal parts of a wildflower

Poulomi Ray, Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA: Chick embryo intestine (20X) - Confocal

Satellite images of Earth show roads, air traffic, cities at night and internet cables

Felix's visualisations showing how human technology has taken over our crowded planet come just one week before the global population is set to top seven billion. The United Nations Populations Fund has revealed that by October 31st, there will be an extra billion people on the Earth compared to 1999.
Major road and rail networks in Europe, along with transmission line and underwater cable data, superimposed over satellite images of cities illuminated at night

Felix used US government sources like the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and the National Oceanic for railways, pipelines and roads as well as the Atmospheric Administration for the air traffic to piece together the visualisations.
Human technology presence over North America superimposed over satellite images of cities illuminated at night

"These pictures show several sides of global human activities," said 34-year-old Felix, from Montreal, Canada. "We see everything from paved and unpaved roads, light pollution, railways, electricity transmission lines. All the way to submarine cables, pipelines, shipping lanes and air traffic. The show the extent of our civilisation, the patterns of our global sprawl, how human-influenced our planet now is."
Human technology presence over Asia at night

Felix is the founder and director of Globaia, an organisation that seeks to enhance awareness of the impact and role of the human race on our world. He has spent 13 years researching and presenting his theories to students, fellow academics and the general public. "During this time I have been designing and presenting conferences on the global issues of our time," said Felix. "I believe a picture is worth a thousand words, so I slowly started to improve my design skills to be able to show what I was explaining."
Human technology presence over Africa at night

"There is a growing number of global datasets showing the extent of our ecological footprint," he said. "These are numbers and tables but I decided to use these datasets and to present them in a more realistic way. I started to gather data from numerous sources and to explore ways of assembling them."
Road and rail networks in South America superimposed over satellite images of cities illuminated at night

During his research Felix found that over three per cent of the world's land surface has now been covered in tarmac. This amounts to 1.7 million square miles and is a greater land area than the whole of India.
Human technology presence over Australasia at night

Despite the threat to nature that this rise of humanity represents, Felix is positive about the legacy of our species. "Today's global civilisation is the work of billions of people throughout history," he said. "It has been established through much effort, successes and sufferings - as well as wars, inventions, exchanges, crisis and socio-technological changes. The world at the start of the 21st Century is also the result of what we call the Great Acceleration - the most rapid transformation of the human relationship with the natural world in history. Many human activities reached take-off points sometime in the mid-20th Century and sharply accelerated towards the end of the century."
Air traffic routes over sea around North and South America

The UN Revision of World Populations study estimated that by 2050 another 2.3 billion could be added to the world population - mainly from the cities of Asia. This increase is equal to the entire population of the world in 1950. By the end of the 21st Century the world population could more than double to 15.8 billion people.
Air traffic routes over Eurasia

Road and rail networks and cities illuminated at night in Europe, along with transmission lines and underwater cables

 
 

Human technology presence over North America
Picture: Felix Pharand-Deschenes / SPL/ Barcroft Media

Major road and rail networks in Africa, along with transmission line and underwater cable data
Picture: Felix Pharand-Deschenes / SPL/ Barcroft Media

Major road and rail networks in Australasia, along with transmission line and underwater cable data
Picture: Felix Pharand-Deschenes / SPL/ Barcroft Media