Filipino students performs during the parade at the 125th Philippine’s Independence Day at Dubai World Trade Centre on June 10, 2023. (Photo by Leslie Pableo for The National)

View of an oil-stained bird on the shore of a contaminated lake in Maracaibo, Venezuela on June 22, 2023. The Azul Ambientalistas foundation denounced on 22 June the “state of emergency” in which the Maracaibo Lake, the largest in Venezuela, finds itself, due to oil spills that, it assured, are affecting the lake economy and the health of the people. (Photo by Henry Chirinos/EPA)

Julian Ryerson of Borussia Dortmund during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and 1. FC Union Berlin at Signal Iduna Park on April 8, 2023 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by Alexandre Simoes/Borussia Dortmund via Getty Images)

Danny Batsalkin holds a rifle during the annual National Rifle Association (NRA) meeting in Dallas, Texas, U.S., May 18, 2024. (Photo by Shelby Tauber/Reuters)

Supermodel Bella Hadid (L) arrives at the Peppermint Club to watch her bestfriend, Jesse Jo Stark, perform her music in Los Angeles, CA on August 29, 2018. (Photo by Photographer Group/Splash News and Pictures)

A squirrel and lizard both refuse to give way in an unlikely standoff on a wall in Mohali, India in the first decade of February 2024. (Photo by Anuj Jain/Solent 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)

Leopard seal chasing a Gentoo penguin in Antarctica. This image wins the gold prize in the behaviour – mammals category, and the grand prize of World Nature Photographer of the Year. (Photo by Amos Nachoum/World Nature Photography Awards)