“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 white whale wears a wreath at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium-amusement park complex in Yokohama, Japan, on October 3, 2012. (Photo by Associated Press)

A British Army Rolls Royce armoured car outside the Royal Ulster Constabulary police station on York Street in Belfast following riots after an Orange Order parade. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). 20th June 1935

A group of Japanese schoolgirls marching in formation during a school visit to the third regiment to experience the soldier's way of life. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). Circa 1938

Thomas Thwaites of the United Kingdom accepts the 2016 Ig Nobel Prize in Biology for “creating prosthetic extensions of his limbs that allowed him to move in the manner of, and spend time roaming the hills in the company of, goats” during the 26th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. September 22, 2016. (Photo by Brian Snyder/Reuters)

Joanne the Scammer (L) and model Amber Rose attend the Amber Rose SlutWalk 2016 at Pershing Square on October 1, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Amanda Edwards/FilmMagic)

Worker Shi Shenwei pulls a wheelbarrow at the construction site of a Buddhist temple in the village of Huangshan, near Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China, September 28, 2016. For most construction workers, lunch is a welcome break to rest and refuel. Not for Shi Shenwei. the 23-year-old spends his midday break jumping and swinging through a maze of scaffolding poles, performing a fitness routine that has made him China's latest social media sensation. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Mel Harris shouts whilst a pick up truck belches smoke on the final night of the Deni Ute Muster in Deniliquin, New South Wales, Australia, October 1, 2016. In the small rural town of Deniliquin, on the edge of Australia's vast outback, around 20,000 “ute” lovers gathered in the mud to champion a national treasure deemed surplus to requirements by the big car manufacturers. (Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters)