Heads of love dolls are seen on the shelf on March 9, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan. Japan's oldest and largest “love doll” maker Orient Industry, has been producing silicone love dolls since 1977, and has seen there is a trend for intimate relationships with silicone dolls in Japan. (Photo by Taro Karibe/Getty Images)

Sichuan Opera performer Wu Yonghong, 26 years, of the Jinyuan Opera Company performs for villagers at the Dongyue Temple on May 2, 2016 in Cangshan, Sichuan province, China. Sichuan opera is a vibrant, centuries-old tradition that showcases the joys and challenges of daily life in rural China with tales of love, tradition, and family honor. Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Members of the China Disabled Peoples Performing Art Troupe perform “My Dream” at Jorge Eliecer Gaitan Theater in Bogota on August 30, 2017. China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe Company composed of artists with some hearing, mental, motor, visual or speech disabilities, was founded in 1987 and is currently Honorary and Goodwill Ambassadors of Unesco for its great example of inclusion. (Photo by John Vizcaino/AFP Photo)

“Dubai is sometimes called the “City of Gold” because of its stunning growth from a sleepy Gulf port to a world-famous business crossroads in the space of a single generation. Its nickname has a literal meaning for traders in the precious metal. The city is building itself up as a center for the gold trade, between sources in Africa and consumers in the rising economies of China and India”. – Kamran Jebreili via Associated Press

Photo: A gold press operator collects 10 gram gold blanks to press them with the logo of the Emirates Gold company in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Gold prices remained relatively steady in 2012, close to $1,700 an ounce. (Photo by Kamran Jebreili/AP Photo)

Tens of thousands of vehicles damaged by super storm Sandy are being temporarily stored on runways and taxiways at Calverton Executive Airpark in Calverton, New York, on January 9, 2013 in this aerial view. Insurance Auto Auctions Inc, a salvage auto auction company specializing in total-loss vehicles, acquired the cars and trucks that were damaged, destroyed or flooded by the storm and needed a place to store them. The company made a deal with the Town of Riverhead to lease the airport land and then the vehicles are auctioned online. (Photo by Stan Honda/AFP Photo)

Bystanders look at MV Wakashio bulk carrier that had run aground and from which oil is leaking near Blue Bay Marine Park in south-east Mauritius on August 6, 2020. The carrier, belonging to a Japanese company but Panamanian-flagged, ran aground on July 25 and its crew was evacuated safely. The ship was empty at the time but was carrying 200 tonnes of diesel and 3,800 tonnes of bunker fuel, according to the local press. (Photo by Dev Ramkhelawon/L'Express Maurice/AFP Photo)

The world's most advanced humanoid shaped robot “Ameca” (R) gives a wink to visitor at Etisalat section at the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX) Global 2022 in the Gulf emirate of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 13 October 2022. The 42nd edition of the annual GITEX Global runs till 14 October 2022 and showcases around 5000 of IT companies from 90 countries. (Photo by Ali Haider/EPA/EFE)

Most people know Nikon as a purveyor of pro and consumer-grade digital cameras. But the company's expertise with optics bleeds over into related markets – it's one of the science community's major suppliers of microscopes. And each year the company asks the community to send it some of their favorite images of tiny objects. A panel of scientists and journalists have chosen the best of this past year's submissions, which Nikon has placed on its Small World site.

Photo: Honorable Mention. “Snow crystal, illuminated with colored lights (5x)”. (Photo by Dr. Kenneth Libbrecht, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Department of Physics, Pasadena, California, USA)