Members of the cast of Beowulf by Proper Job Theatre pose in costume ahead of their Viking procession through the streets of Kirklees, West Yorkshire in the first decade of November 2023, as part of Kirklees Year of Music 2023. (Photo by James Glossop/The Times)

Most people know Nikon as a purveyor of pro and consumer-grade digital cameras. But the company's expertise with optics bleeds over into related markets – it's one of the science community's major suppliers of microscopes. And each year the company asks the community to send it some of their favorite images of tiny objects. A panel of scientists and journalists have chosen the best of this past year's submissions, which Nikon has placed on its Small World site.

Photo: Honorable Mention. “Snow crystal, illuminated with colored lights (5x)”. (Photo by Dr. Kenneth Libbrecht, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Department of Physics, Pasadena, California, USA)

Mother hen chicken with cute tiny baby chicks all protected beneath her wings keeping warm outdoors only their 12 legs visible poking out the bottom outside. (Photo by Matthew Troke/iStockphoto via Getty Images)

American actress Logan Browning attends Cocktails with the SAG Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 16, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images)

American actress and model Megan Fox stuns in a lace crop top and matching stockings in Manhattan, New York as she strolled to a business meeting on September 12, 2021. (Photo by Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Spanish model Georgina Rodriguez in the last decade of September 2023 has shared an inside look at a private jet as she stunned fans in a short white dress. (Photo by @georginagio/Instagram)

A local helps a reveler with his costume made from beer and soda cans during the “Bloco da Latinha” street party Carnival parade in Madre de Deus, Brazil, Sunday, February 11, 2024. (Photo by Eraldo Peres/AP Photo)

Demonstrators react during a rally in support of legal and safe abortion and to mark the International Safe Abortion Day in Bogota, Colombia on September 28, 2021. (Photo by Luisa Gonzalez/Reuters)