When a French politician remarked that a monument should be raised in honour of American independence at a dinner party in 1865 he probably didn't imagine that the result would become an international icon of freedom. ...

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)

An Emirati child plays with an airplane model near the venue of the Mazayin Dhafra Camel Festival, on December 20, 2012 near the city of Madinat Zayed, 150 kms west of Abu Dhabi. The festival, which attracts participants from around the Gulf region, includes a camel beauty contest, a display of UAE handcrafts and other activities aimed at promoting the country's folklore. (Photo by Karim Sahib/AFP Photo)

Dinah Jane, from left, Normani Kordei, Lauren Jauregui, and Ally Brooke of Fifth Harmony perform a medley at the MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on Sunday, August 27, 2017, in Inglewood, Calif. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP Photo)

Revellers enjoy themselves during Hogmanay celebrations in Edinburgh, Scotland on December 31, 2017. (Photo by Russell Cheyne/Reuters)

Actress Alison Brie hosts in the Netflix comedy-drama“Glow” Season 1 TV Series, 2017. (Photo by Erica Parise/Netflix/Kobal/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Boats moored in the middle of Dal lake are silhouetted against the setting sun on January 15, 2018 in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian administered Kashmir, India. Kashmir, the Muslim majority state, known as the “Paradise on Earth” has for centuries captured the imagination of many writers, poets and film makers and is integral to the tourist trade. Kashmir has been a contested land between nuclear neighbors India and Pakistan since 1947, the year both the countries attained freedom from the British rule. (Photo by Yawar Nazir/Getty Images)

One of the last incoming trains arrives outside the main train station after Deutsche Bahn cancelled all train traffic in Germany due to heavy storms, Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, January 18, 2018. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)