“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)

A brown bear waits for food at the zoo in Madrid, Spain on July 30, 2016. (Photo by Jorge Sanz/Pacific Press/SIPA Press/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A Snowboarder participates in a waterslide contest, which consists of gliding over a water pool embedded in snow, during the closing event of the ski resort of Nendaz, southwestern Switzerland, Monday, April 21, 2014. (Photo by Maxime Schmid/AP Photo/Keystone)

A girl carries a rifle as she attends a rally by followers of the Shi'ite Houthi movement commemorating the death of Imam Zaid bin Ali in Sanaa, Yemen October 26, 2016. (Photo by Khaled Abdullah/Reuters)

Float builder Andrea works on a float which depicts Russia's President Vladimir Putin as warmonger, at the float hall of the Mainz Carnival Association (MCV), in Mainz, Germany, 02 February 2016. The MCV invited journalists to a preview of this year's floats for the upcoming Shrove Monday carnival parade. The main carnival season festivities will happen around Rose Monday on 08 February. (Photo by Fredrik von Erichsen/EPA)

Revellers enjoy air temperatures near freezing as they participate in the annual New Year's polar bear dip in the icy waters of Charlottetown harbour on Wednesday, January 1, 2020, in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. (Photo by Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press via AP Photo)

A pilgrim crawls in front of the Navy band outside the Holy Church of Panagia of Tinos, on the Aegean island of Tinos, Greece, on Saturday, August 15, 2020. For nearly 200 years, Greek Orthodox faithful have flocked to Tinos for the August 15 feast day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, the most revered religious holiday in the Orthodox calendar after Easter. But this year there was no procession, the ceremony – like so many lives across the globe – upended by the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Thanassis Stavrakis/AP Photo)