“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)

In this Tuesday, February 28, 2017 photo, 3-month-old Junior Alexis Patino, son of FARC rebel Deisy Garcia, sleeps next to his mother's weapon at a rebel camp in a demobilization zone in La Carmelita, in Colombia's southwestern Putumayo state. Amid the makeshift tents and communal kitchens where Colombia's largest rebel army is preparing to lay down its weapons, a new sound is emerging: the cries of babies. (Photo by Fernando Vergara/AP Photo)

Amanda Lepore attends the “Doll Parts” book launch party at The Standard, Highline on April 18, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by J. Kempin/Getty Images)

Dan Copeland, left, and Alex Morneau of Biddeford, Maine, former high school cheerleaders, perform back flips while enjoying the record breaking heat, Thursday, May 18, 2017, at Old Orchard Beach, Maine. The temperature climbed well into the 90s in many locations throughout the state. (Photo by Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo)

Avigail Collins and Daisy Lowe attend Liudmila X Avigail Collins Launch Party on July 13, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Kintzing.com for Liudmila x Avigail Collins/SilverHub/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

People smear black ash with hands onto each other to wish for good luck and fortune during a traditional festival of the Yi ethnic minority in Qiubei County, Yunnan province, China July 18, 2017. (Photo by Ren Dong/Reuters/CNS)

Renee LeGrand, of Foothill Ranch, Calif., takes a picture among wildflowers in bloom Monday, March 18, 2019, in Lake Elsinore, Calif. About 150,000 people flocked over the weekend to see this year's rain-fed flaming orange patches of poppies lighting up the hillsides near Lake Elsinore, a city of about 60,000 residents. The crowds became so bad Sunday that Lake Elsinore officials closed access to poppy-blanketed Walker Canyon. By Monday the #poppyshutdown announced by the city on Twitter was over and the road to the canyon was re-opened. (Photo by Gregory Bull/AP Photo)

A view of electricity wires, in Caracas, Venezuela, 03 April 2019. West Venezuela started receiving electricity intermittently in the states of Zulia, Falcon, Merida and Trujillo after 100 hours without power. (Photo by Miguel Gutierrez/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)