Burlesque dancer INGA performs during the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend's Burlesque Showcase hosted by John Waters at the Orleans Arena on April 19, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

A horse handler poses with a horse during a beach parade at Muizenberg beach, in Cape Town, South Africa on January 5, 2024. (Photo by Esa Alexander/Reuters)

Pedestrians look at “doll” model Lulu Hashimoto standing on the street during a photo opportunity for Reuters in Tokyo, Japan August 23, 2017. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

People watch police destroy confiscated illegal firecrackers in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China, January 29, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

A man invades the Red Carpet and is held by security at the “How To Train Your Dragon 2” Premiere at the 67th Annual Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2014 in Cannes, France. The man stuck his head up America`s skirt before being dragged away by security. Pictured: Djimon Hounsou, Cate Blanchett, America Ferrera and Kit Harington. (Photo by Camilla Morandi/IPA)

A hot air balloon flies close to the ground in the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel during an international hot air balloon festival October 14, 2014. (Photo by Nir Elias/Reuters)

Burlesque dancer and Lucha VaVoom co-founder Rita D'Albert gets dressed before the Lucha VaVoom “Night of the Vampire” performance in Los Angeles, California October 29, 2014. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/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)