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)

Rickshaw drivers wade through a flooded road after heavy rains swept through Guwahati, in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, on June 26, 2014. Seven people have been killed there in flash floods, landslides and heavy rainfall, local media reported Friday. (Photo by Utpal Baruah/Reuters)

Handout grab taken from YouTube of Commander Chris Hadfield who has said goodbye to life on the International Space Station by making a cover version of David Bowie's Space Oddity. Issue date: Monday May 13, 2013. (Photo by Commander Chris Hadfield/YouTube/PA Wire)

Two years ago, Mark Rober was an engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, part of a team that worked on the Curiosity rover. For Halloween, he strapped an iPad to his chest and another to his back. Then he turned them on and used the devices’ cameras and screens to make it appear as if he had a gaping hole in the middle of his torso. (Photo By Mark Rober)

Nowadays, crossbreeding and gene splicing are creating things that would never have occurred in nature. Thanks to gene splicing, modern man can witness mice that glow in the dark, goats that produce milk which is then used to make bulletproof vests, and even cows that produce milk that is almost identical to human breast milk. One of the latest feats of human genius is the creation of Thompson and Morgan. By combining the genes of tomatoes and potatoes they were able to create a “TomTato”, which is essentially a plant that grows tomatoes and potatoes at the same time. With creations such as this, the world’s hunger problem may be resolved in a few decades.