Now celebrating its 40th year, Nikon Small World is widely regarded as the leading forum to recognize proficiency and photographic excellence of photography taken under the microscope. To select the winners, competition judges analyzed entries from all over the world covering subjects ranging from chemical compounds to up-close-and-personal looks at biological specimens. The 2014 winners will be revealed on October 30th. In 2014, the competition received over 1,200 entries from more than 79 countries around the world. (Photo by Dr. Igor Robert Siwanowicz/Nikon Small World 2014)

A mahout bathes his elephant in the river Sabarmati on a hot summer day in Ahmedabad, India May 21, 2017. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

A Thai visitor appears to be frightened by a life-size Velociraptor model also known as Raptor at the Dinosaur Planet theme park in Bangkok, Thailand, 25 March 2016. The 500 million baht (14 million US dollars or 12 million euro) theme park opening in the Thai capital aimed to attract more than 15,000 visitors a day featuring a chance to experience more than 200 dinosaurs from various species that are brought back to life. (Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA)

Egyptian 26-year-old dancer Nadine El Gharib, dances on the rooftop of her home in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, September 27, 2021. “Dance was crucial when COVID-19 started in terms of taking care of my well-being”, Gharib said. “When restrictions forced us to stop going to the Opera for classes I started online dance and it introduced me to a new world of dance. It was very inspiring”. (Photo by Nariman El-Mofty/AP Photo)

Kevin and Merith Starren have their picture taken by Merith's brother Mark Ernst (R) and nephew Logan Ernst (L) in front of a 50-foot snowman named “Granddaddy” in Gilman, Minnesota, March 6, 2014. (Photo by Eric Miller/Reuters)

Indian boy Hassan Malik works in a leather shoe factory at Topsia in Calcutta, eastern India, 19 November 2013. The leather industry occupies an important place in the Indian economy. It is an employment intensive sector with a vast potential for growth and exports but also a pollution intensive industry that relies on cheap labor. One of the major production centers for leather and leather products is located in Calcutta, West Bengal. Hundreds of tanneries are operated in the city’s Tiljala, Topsia and Tangra districts. They are mostly run by local families living and working under poor conditions. (Photo by Piyal Adhikary/EPA)

A woman in traditional Malaysian attire welcomes leaders to the official dinner at the venue of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia November 21, 2015. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)

In this Thursday, April 13, 2017, picture entertainers wearing rabbit costumes speak at a fair in Bucharest, Romania. Ahead of Easter, celebrated by both Orthodox and Catholic believers on April 16 processions of priests clad in golden robes carrying foliage on Palm Sunday in a recreation of Jesus' ride into Jerusalem, mixed with more commercial flavored celebrations like an Easter fair outside the giant palace built by late Communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu where entertainers strutted around wearing giant rabbit heads. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)