A “Free Syrian Army” fighter in the Bustan Pasha neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria, August 21, 2013. (Photo by James Lawler Duggan)

“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)

Venezuela's food shortages, inflation and crumbling medical sector have become such a source of anguish that a growing number of young women are reluctantly opting for sterilizations rather than face the hardship of pregnancy and child-rearing. Traditional contraceptives like condoms or birth control pills have virtually vanished from store shelves, pushing women towards the hard-to-reverse surgery. While no recent national statistics on sterilizations are available, doctors and health workers say demand for the procedure is growing. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

Workers carry sacks of tea leaves at a tea estate in Nagaon district in the northeastern state of Assam, India, August 22, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Mary Hickey poses with her collection of dolls at her home in Ashbourne, Ireland October 9, 2013. Hickey has been collecting the dolls for over thirty years and now owns over 420 dolls. (Photo by Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)

Members of the staff wait for the start of the maiden press conference for China's all-girl “boyband” FFC-Acrush in Beijing, China April 28, 2017. Picture taken April, 28, 2017. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

A woman wearing her traditional headgear attends celebrations to mark the Gudi Padwa festival, the beginning of the New Year for Maharashtrians, in Mumbai, April 6, 2019. Gudi Padwa is the Hindu festival that falls on the first day of Chaitra month and marks the beginning of the Lunar Calendar, which dictates the dates for all Hindu festivals, also known as Panchang. (Photo by Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters)

Indya Moore attends the 2019 Time 100 Gala at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 23, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)