Miss Universe Puerto Rico, Karla Guilfu, parades in a swimsuit during the Miss Universe 2023 preliminary gala in San Salvador, El Salvador, 15 November 2023. (Photo by Rodrigo Sura/EPA/EFE)

A hummingbird is photographed during the National Orchid Exhibition at the Jose Celestino Mutis Botanical Garden in Bogota, Colombia Septermber 20, 2018. Picture taken September 20, 2018. (Photo by Luisa Gonzalez/Reuters)

Gigi Hadid, from centre left, and Irina Shayk, lead models as they wear creations for the Versace Spring Summer 2022 collection during Milan Fashion Week, in Milan, Italy, Friday, September 24, 2021. (Photo by Luca Bruno/AP Photo)

A supporter of former US President Donald Trump waits outside of Trump's President Day event at the Hilton Palm Beach Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, on February 20, 2023. (Photo by Giorgio Viera/AFP Photo)

A girl stands with arms outstretched at North Narrabeen on January 27, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. Around 30 indigenous children from Brewarrina, Weilmoringle, and Goodooga in the far North West NSW travelled to Sydney to participate in the program. The initiative is part of the Bush to Beach programme, which now in its 19th year, gives indigenous children a unique opportunity to learn and explore Sydney's beach culture. (Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

A Nepalese woman wearing a mask as a precaution against the coronavirus stands next to the clothing store in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, April 26, 2022. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

A cadet from the Interior Ministry with the word Fidel painted on her face attends a rally honoring the late Cuban leader at the Revolution Plaza in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, November 29, 2016. Schools and government offices were closed Tuesday for a second day of homage to Fidel Castro, with the day ending in a rally on the wide plaza where the Cuban leader delivered fiery speeches to mammoth crowds in the years after he seized power.Fidel Castro passed away Friday Nov. 25. He was 90. (Photo by Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo)

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)