Shiite Muslim devotees reach to receive a blessing from the tomb of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Mohammed's grandson, at the Imam's shrine in Iraq's central holy city of Karbala on September 6, 2023, during the Arbaeen religious festival commemorating his seventh century killing. (Photo by Hussein Faleh/AFP Photo)

A Christmas boot and gifts featuring the image of Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump are displayed ahead of Trump's campaign event in Waterloo, Iowa on December 19, 2023. (Photo by Scott Morgan/Reuters)

Members of the Washington Wizards Dancers dance during a timeout against the Utah Jazz in the second quarter at Capital One Arena in Washington, District of Columbia on January 25, 2024. (Photo by Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports)

Osman Abdulahi carries fish at the Orobo beach in Hamarweyne district of Mogadishu, Somalia on November 5, 2021. (Photo by Feisal Omar/Reuters)

A Russian soldier takes part in drills at the Kadamovskiy firing range in the Rostov region in southern Russia, Wednesday, December 22, 2021. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says that Russian and U.S. negotiators will sit down for talks early next year to discuss Moscow's demand for Western guarantees precluding NATO's expansion to Ukraine. (Photo by AP Photo/Stringer)

Ella Bucio of Mexico takes part in a training session before Women's Speed Semi Final at the FIG Parkour World Championships in Tokyo on October 15, 2022. (Photo by Philip Fong/AFP Photo)

A hungry tiger was almost left with a ROARing headache – after nearly colliding into a pane of glass as it dived underwater for a slab of meat. (Photo by Caters News)

“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)