“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)

An actor plays an injured passer-by during Exercise Strong Tower, the scene of a mock terror attack at a disused underground station in central London, Britain June 30, 2015. London police held their biggest-ever terrorism drill on Tuesday, pitting the emergency services against a group of marauding attackers, nearly 10 years since four young British Islamists killed 52 people in suicide bombings on London's transport network in July 2005. (Photo by Peter Nicholls/Reuters)

Thomas Thwaites of the United Kingdom accepts the 2016 Ig Nobel Prize in Biology for “creating prosthetic extensions of his limbs that allowed him to move in the manner of, and spend time roaming the hills in the company of, goats” during the 26th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. September 22, 2016. (Photo by Brian Snyder/Reuters)

Joanne the Scammer (L) and model Amber Rose attend the Amber Rose SlutWalk 2016 at Pershing Square on October 1, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Amanda Edwards/FilmMagic)

Deshauna Barber (C) of the District of Columbia poses with other contestants after being crowned Miss USA 2016 during the 2016 Miss USA pageant at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., June 5, 2016. (Photo by Steve Marcus/Reuters)

Friends outside the convention center during opening day of the annual Comic-Con International in San Diego, California, United States July 21, 2016. (Photo by WENN/SIPA Press)

A young man looks over his shoulder as men watching a soccer match in a nearby bar ask why he isn't watching the game, while walking with his date during the men's gold medal soccer match between Brazil and Germany during Rio 2016 on Saturday, August 20, 2016. (Photo by Aaron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)