With its huge eyes, comical name and diminutive size, Mark R. Smith’s image of a baby Hawaiian bobtail squid can’t help but raise a smile. A curiously endearing creature, the cephalopod is just 1.5cm across, its mantle cavity bearing more than a passing resemblance to a rather natty shower cap. But it is also a beautiful example of symbiosis – nature’s version of “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” – for on the underside of the squid is a light organ which houses bioluminescent bacteria. The squid offers the bacteria protection and food, while the bacteria emit a glow – a handy trait that the squid uses to offset its silhouette, helping it to evade predators in the depths below. Mark R. Smith’s entry combines several images of a Hawaiian bobtail squid with different focus lengths to create a final picture with greater depth of field than normal. (Photo by Mark R. Smith/Wellcome Images/Macroscopic Solutions)

A well-dressed bulldog has amassed thousands of fans online, after her owner took to dressing her up in wildly elaborate outfits and posting the pictures to the photo-sharing site Instagram. Tania Ahsan, 31, of New York, has posted online over 500 pictures of her patient pooch, Maya, and nearly 70,000 people have followed her exploits. Maya has been pictured as Queen Victoria, King Kong, Elvis Presley and Sherlock Bones, and far from wriggling out of the getups as soon as possible, Ahsan says Maya loves it. Here: Maya as a monkey and a banana. (Photo by Tania Ahsan/Caters News)

Television actress Catherine Fuller visits Trafalgar Square in London and feeds the famous pigeons. (Photo by Harry Kerr/BIPs/Getty Images). 26th June 1956

A dog named Luna high-fives a person in the Angelino Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, U.S., August 26, 2022. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

“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)

Painted glass Christmas and New Year decorations are pictured at the “Yolochka” (Christmas tree) factory, which has been producing glass decorations and toys for the festive season since 1848, in the town of Klin outside Moscow, Russia, November 24, 2016. (Photo by Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters)

Third place: the rear leg, claw and respiratory trachea of a louse (Haematopinus suis). (Photo by Frank Reiser/Nassau Community College/Nikon Small World Photomicrography 2021)

Shortlisted: “Two big eyes” by Miao Yong (Zejiang province, China). Damselflies look over the leaves. “I was photographing insects in a park near my home when suddenly I found two damselflies in the grass. They kept flying and it was very difficult to focus until suddenly they parked behind a leaf”. (Photo by Miao Yong/2017 Royal Society of Biology Photographer of the Year)