Members of the Uniao da Ilha do Governador Samba School perform during the first day of the Special Group Samba Schools parade of Carnival at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 07 February 2016. (Photo by Luiz Eduardo Perez/EPA)

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)

(L-R) American media personality and socialite Kylie Jenner and American model and television personality Gigi Hadid attend the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Stefanie Keenan/VF23/WireImage for Vanity Fair)

American model and actress Olivia Culpo attends the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2024 on October 15, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Victoria's Secret)

Female activists perform a choreography originated in Chile, and inspired by the Chilean feminist group Las Tesis, to protest against gender violence and patriarchy in front of the Greek parliament at Athens' Syntagma Square on December 22, 2019. (Photo by Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP Photo)

Musician Fefe Dobson onstage at the 25th Annual Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Waldorf=Astoria on March 15, 2010 in New York City.

Pope Francis waves as he arrives at the Kangemi slums on the outskirts of Kenya's capital Nairobi, November 27, 2015. (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

American model and television personality Amelia Gray walks the runway during the 2025 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York City, U.S., October 15, 2025. (Photo by Brendan McDermid/Reuters)