Two Inuit children at Point Barrow, Alaska, holding the tusks of a large walrus, probably killed for food, circa 1930. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)

Sara Sampaio attends “The Killing Of A Sacred Deer” screening during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 22, 2017 in Cannes, France. (Photo by David Fisher/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A woman attempts to cover a tear gas canister fired by police at a crowd in Srinagar protesting against the recent killings in Kashmir, August 17, 2016. (Photo by Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)

A group of PETA supporters protest Canada Goose's use of coyote fur, with “Canada Goose Kills” painted on their backs in New York, USA on October 18, 2018. (Photo by Erik Pendzich/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A mourner reacts as bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes lie at a hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 17, 2023. (Photo by Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

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)

A U.S. Navy F18 fighter jet takes off from aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson during a FONOPS (Freedom of Navigation Operation Patrol) in South China Sea, March 3, 2017. The U.S. military took journalists Friday to the carrier on routine patrol off the disputed South China Sea, sending a signal to China and American allies of its resolve to ensure freedom of navigation and overflight in one of the world's security hotspots. (Photo by Erik De Castro/Reuters)

In a photo taken on June 5, 2017 a traffic security officer stands on duty at an intersection in Pyongyang. Officially known as traffic security officers but universally referred to as traffic ladies, they are chosen for their looks in a society that remains traditionalist in many respects. They must leave the role if they marry, and have a finite shelf-life, with compulsory retirement looming at just 26. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP Photo)