Bullfighter Julian Lopez “El Juli” of Spain performs during the second bullfight of the 2011 season at the Monumental bullring on July 10, 2011 in Barcelona, Spain. This will be the last year for Bull fighting at the Monumental bullring as the parliament of Catalonia has voted to ban bullfighting as of January 1, 2012. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Participants enjoy mud during the 14th Annual Boryeong Mud Festival at Daecheon Beach on July 16, 2011 in Boryeong, South Korea. The mud, which is believed to have beneficial effects on the skin due to its mineral content, is sourced from mud flats near Boryeong and transported to the beach by truck. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Yolanthe Cabau attends amfAR MILANO 2011 at La Permanente on September 23, 2011 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images for amfAR)

Miss Venezuela Ivian Sarcos receives her Miss World 2012 sash from Miss World 2011 by Miss World 2010, Alexandria Mills (R) in the Miss world 2011 World Final on November 6, 2011 in London, England. (Photo by Jeremy O'Donnell/Getty Images)

Tom Wilder, 17 from Kent, dives in the mud at the Glastonbury Festival site at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 23, 2011 in Glastonbury, England. Music fans had to brave more rain today at the five-day festival which opened yesterday. This year the festival will feature headline acts U2, Coldplay and Beyonce. The festival, which started in 1970 when several hundred hippies paid 1 GBP to watch Marc Bolan, has grown into Europe's largest music festival attracting more than 175,000 people over five days. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Carlos Boozer #5 of the Chicago Bulls grabs a rebound next to David West #30 of the New Orleans Hornets at the United Center on March 7, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. The Bulls defeated the Hornets 85-77.

Madison Sager (L), Jocelyn Sager and Susan Ihry (C) make their way through the West Acres Mall JCPenney store after 3 a.m. on November 25, 2011 in Fargo, North Dakota. The trio began shopping at 10 p.m. the night before at Walmart. (Photo by Chris Franz/Getty Images)

“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)