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)

Lazar and his sister Andjelka sit by a candle in their home in the eastern Serbian town of Majdanpek, December 4, 2014. Electricity workers in Serbia struggled through snow, ice and treacherous terrain on Thursday to restore electricity to an eastern town left shivering without power, heating or running water for a fourth day. (Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters)

Members of the Dominican Armed Forces participate in a commemorative act on the 170th anniversary of national independence at the esplanade of Santo Domingo, on February 27, 2014. (Photo by Orlando Barria/EPA)

A boy looks for sellable materials close to the burning garbage in the permanent waste land under Sylhet City Corporation for a living, on January 15, 2015. (Photo by Md. Akhlas Uddin/Pacific Press)

A young man weaves palm fronds into the shape of a cross before the start of a Mass to observe Palm Sunday, at the Metropolitan Cathedral, in Managua, Nicaragua, Sunday, March 29, 2015. For Christians, Palm Sunday marks the start of Holy Week ahead of Easter, commemorating Jesus Christ's entrance into Jerusalem, when his followers laid palm branches in his path. (Photo by Esteban Felix/AP Photo)

Children attend a war safety awareness class conducted by civil defence members, in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Numan town in Idlib province, Syria May 14, 2016. (Photo by Khalil Ashawi/Reuters)

Russia's Ekaterina Birlova casts a shadow on the sand as she serves to Poland during a women's beach volleyball match at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, August 9, 2016. (Photo by Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Photo)

Two cats watch a mouse walking on the pavement in Kuwait City on March 8,2017. (Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP Photo)