“Microscope images forge an extraordinary bond between science and art, said Hidenao Tsuchiya, Olympus America's Vice President and General Manager for the Scientific Equipment Group. We founded this competition to focus on the fascinating stories coming out of today's life science research laboratories. The thousands of images that people have shared with the competition over the years reflect some of the most exciting work going on in research today – work that can help shed light on the living universe and ultimately save lives. We look at BioScapes and these beautiful images as sources of education and inspiration to us and the world”. – OlympusBioScapes

Photo: Pretarsus of the third leg of a female drone fly (Eristalis tenax), ventral view, by Dr. Jan Michels, Institute of Zoology, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Germany. (Photo by Olympus BioScapes)

“Exactly one year before the long awaited Sochi Olympics, Vladimir Putin went to Sochi personally to see how the construction is going. After receiving a report saying the ski jumps that were supposed to be ready in 2011, are not completed still, while their price has sky-rocketed from 1.2 billion to 8 billion roubles, he commented, “Good for you. Good job”, and then fired the vice president of the Olympic committee. Russian artist Vasily Slonov painted his view of the upcoming games, giving a new interpretation to the adored Russian mascot Cheburashka, and combining officially endorsed stereotypes of Russia with grimmer and less accepted ones”. – Ruskie.info. (Photo by Vasily Slonov)

Members of security forces secure Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, November 11, 2016. Egypt imposed a big security clampdown in its cities on Friday as mass demonstrations called to protest against austerity measures failed to take place. Riot police and armored vehicles filled the otherwise empty streets of central Cairo, but most people stayed at home. (Photo by Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)

Christian families living in a refugee camp stand under a tree in Kaga-Bandoro, Central African Republic, Tuesday February 16, 2016. Refugees in the north of Central African Republic say they hope the new president will bring peace but no one is heading home just yet. Thousands are still living in displacement camps in Kaga-Bandoro, a stronghold of the former Muslim rebel group known as Seleka that was in power for nearly a year. The one-time rebels say they are waiting to see how the election turns out before taking any action. (Photo by Jerome Delay/AP Photo)

Children fill plastic containers with water from a well on a street, close to a neighbourhood called “The Tank” in the slum of Petare in Caracas, Venezuela, March 17, 2016. Although their nation has one of the world's biggest hydroelectric dams and vast rivers like the fabled Orinoco, Venezuelans are still suffering water and power cuts most days. The problems with stuttering services have escalated in the last few weeks: yet another headache for the OPEC nation's 30 million people already reeling from recession, the world's highest inflation rate, and scarcities of basic goods. President Nicolas Maduro blames a drought, while the opposition blames government incompetence. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

Lukas Irmler balances on a 800 meter long highline 200 meters above Segnesboden, on Friday, June 28, 2019, in Flims, Switzerland. The highline is Switzerland's longest and will be set up untill Sunday in the Sardona World Heritage Region. (Photo by Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP Photo)

Half-naked girls against speed driving in Nizhny, Novgorod Region, Russia on September 5, 2016. Russian drivers are getting quite an eyeful in a bid to make them slow down thanks to topless women flashing speed limit signs at an accident blackspot. A trial of the road safety campaign demonstrated that it helped lower the speed of traffic near a pedestrian crossing in Severny village. (Photo by YouTube)

A girl stretches next to a pram on the embankment of the Moskva river in Moscow on October 18, 2018. The European part of Russia enjoys an unusually warm weather for the season with temperatures reaching up to 22 degrees centigrade. (Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP Photo)