“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)

San Diego Comic-Con International, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego, and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans.

Photo: Comic-Con International: San Diego 2012. (Photo by Eddric Lee)

A sign is posted in front of the new Yoga Room at San Francisco International Airport's terminal two on January 26, 2012 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Terashima Takeshi and Akaishi Kazuya of Japan block a shot from Indonesia during day one of the ISTAF Super Series at Palembang Sport Convention Center on February 23, 2012 in Palembang, Sumatra, Indonesia. (Photo by Nicky Loh/Getty Images for UFA Sports)

Valerie Hernandez Matias representing Puerto Rico poses in a swimsuit during the 54th Miss International beauty pageant in Tokyo November 11, 2014. Matias won the Miss International title. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Brazilian natives of the Pareci tribe play head football with a hand-made ball for a demonstration, during the first day of the International Games of Indigenous Peoples, in Cuiaba, state of Mato Grosso, on November 10, 2013. 1500 natives from 49 Brazilian ethnic groups and from another 17 countries are gathering in Cuiaba until November 16 to compete in some 30 athletic disciplines, many of their own. (Photo by Christophe Simon/AFP Photo)

The 8th annual Miss International Queen beauty pageant was held in Pattaya in Thailand. The twenty-one contestants from fifteen countries were all born male, so the Miss International Queen 2012 pageant is not an average beauty pageant.

Photo: Panvilas Mongkol, a contestant from Thailand, waits for the start of the final night of Miss International Queen 2012 transgender/transsexual beauty pageant in Pattaya November 2, 2012. Some 21 contestants from 15 countries, all of them born male, compete in the week-long event for the crown of Miss International Queen 2012. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

The Hot air balloon is flying at the Warsteiner International Hot Air Balloon Show in the Arnsberger Forest National Park on September 2, 2011 near Warstein, Germany. Approximately 200 hot air balloons are scheduled to take part in the nine-day event sponsored by the Warsteiner brewery. (Photo by Mathis Wienand/Getty Images)