Harry Sprinkle eats a meal at St. John's Bread and Life, a free meal service, on December 23, 2011 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. St. John's Bread and Life serves approximately 2,200 meals per day; the organization has existed since 1982. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

“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)

A view of a Van Gogh-inspired hot air balloon being inflated during the Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta at Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga province, north of Manila February 12, 2015. According to the organizer, a total of 32 hot air balloons are part of the four-day event. (Photo by Erik De Castro/Reuters)

In this photo provided by Andreas Langreiter via Global-Newsroom, Hannes Arch of Austria performs during the finals of the first stage of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, February 14, 2015. (Photo by Andreas Langreiter/AP Photo/Global-Newsroom)

Hot air balloons take part in the 38th International Balloon Festival of Chateau-d'oex, Switzerland, 23 January 2016. For nine days balloonists from 15 countries take part in the ballooning event in the Swiss mountain resort famous for ideal flight conditions due to an exceptional microclimate. The festival takes place from 23 to 31 January. (Photo by Cyril Zingaro/EPA)

A reveller is covered in tomato pulp and juice while participating in the annual Tomatina festival on August 31, 2011 in Bunol, Spain. An estimated 35,000 people threw 120 tons of ripe tomatoes in the world's biggest tomato fight held annually in this Spanish Mediterranean town. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

Tom Palmer, the England lock, dives off at the 134 meter high Nevis Bungy jump during an England IRB Rugby World Cup 2011 team visit on September 12, 2011 in Queenstown, New Zealand. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)