An Emirati child plays with an airplane model near the venue of the Mazayin Dhafra Camel Festival, on December 20, 2012 near the city of Madinat Zayed, 150 kms west of Abu Dhabi. The festival, which attracts participants from around the Gulf region, includes a camel beauty contest, a display of UAE handcrafts and other activities aimed at promoting the country's folklore. (Photo by Karim Sahib/AFP 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)

A huge colony of Pacific Walrus on Arakamchechen Island in the Northern Bering Sea. (Photo by Francois Gohier/Ardea/Caters News)

American actress Liza Koshy lies on the red carpet at the 96th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 10, 2024. (Photo by Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters)

This image released by Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures shows Ana de Armas in a scene from “No Time To Die”. (Photo by Nicola Dove/Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures via AP Photo)

American rapper Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, known professionally as Doja Cat, says “alright” before declaring she's quitting music in the last decade of March 2022. (Photo by dojacat/Instagram)

After being shunned for years, American actress Demi Moore is back in horror movie The Substance, which has stunned viewers with its shocking blood, gore and nudity. (Photo by Interview Magazine's September 2024)

Model wearing dress made by chocolate during the fashion show at the World's Largest Chocolate Show Salon Du Chocolat held at Le Gourmet, Galeries Lafayette at Dubai Mall in Dubai on May 12, 2022. (Photo by Pawan Singh/The National)