Now celebrating its 40th year, Nikon Small World is widely regarded as the leading forum to recognize proficiency and photographic excellence of photography taken under the microscope. To select the winners, competition judges analyzed entries from all over the world covering subjects ranging from chemical compounds to up-close-and-personal looks at biological specimens. The 2014 winners will be revealed on October 30th. In 2014, the competition received over 1,200 entries from more than 79 countries around the world. (Photo by Dr. Igor Robert Siwanowicz/Nikon Small World 2014)

A female bodybuilder apples oil to another performer backstage before an amateur competition in the Israeli city of Dimona, in this April 3, 2014 file photo. (Photo by Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters)

The Jet Propulsion Lab team's RoboSimian robot turns on a valve at a simulated disaster-response course during day one of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Robotics Challenge finals in Pomona, California, June 5, 2015. (Photo by David McNew/Reuters)

Rescue workers stand next to TK Bremen cargo ship which ran aground during a powerful storm, spilling oil off the coast of France's northwestern region of Brittany as it lies stranded on Kerminihy beach in Erdeven, on December 16, 2011. (Photo by Damien Meyer/AFP Photo)

Tourists kissing front of Malaysia's landmark Petronas Twin Towers with lights on before turned off to mark Earth Hour 2016 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 19 March 2016. Earth Hour takes place worldwide at 8.30 p.m. local time and is a global call to turn off lights for 60 minutes to raise awareness of the danger of global climatic change (Photo by Fazry Ismail/EPA)

Mount Sinabung volcano erupts, as seen from Tiga Pancur village, Karo Regency in Indonesia's North Sumatra province, in this October 8, 2014 file photo. (Photo by Y. T. Haryono/Reuters)

An employee of the National Park Service takes a selfie with President Barack Obama, left, in the background meeting with the crowd after a tour of Everglades National Park on Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22, 2015, in Florida. Obama used the visit to warn of the damage that climate change is already inflicting on the nation's environmental treasures. (Photo by Lynne Sladky/AP Photo)

The New World porcupine, family Erethizontidae, 1280 Gram born at 11 April 2015 Inventory in Zoo. Counting trade Fairs Weighing the Zoo is at 7 May 2015 too the 108 Birthday Zoo Hagenbeck Hamburg, Germany. (Photo by Imago/ZUMA Wire)