American swimmer Lydia Jacoby poses for a portrait during the Team USA media summit ahead of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, at an event in New York, U.S., April 17, 2024. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

Beach volleyball athletes from Lithuania and Spain train in Paris on July 25, 2024. (Photo by Louisa Gouliamaki/Reuters)

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)

Palestinian athlete Ahmed Abu Hasira demonstrates his parkour skills during a lockdown amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Gaza City on September 8, 2020. (Photo by Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

People drink in the street in the Soho area of London, on April 12, 2021 as coronavirus restrictions are eased across the country in step two of the government's roadmap out of England's third national lockdown. Britons on Monday toasted a significant easing of coronavirus restrictions, with early morning pints – and much-needed haircuts – as the country took a tentative step towards the resumption of normal life. Businesses including non-essential retail, gyms, salons and outdoor hospitality were all able to open for the first time in months in the second step of the government's roadmap out of lockdown. (Photo by Tolga Akmen/AFP Photo)

Australian professional boxer Ebanie Bridges at the weigh-in ahead of their IBF World Bantamweight Title fight against Shannon O'Connell during the weigh in at Aspire, Leeds, United Kingdom on Friday, December 9, 2022. (Photo by Andrew Couldridge/Action Images via Reuters)

Russian Olympic Committee's goaltender Mariia Sorokina (foreground L) and teammate Veronika Korzhakova (foreground R) attempt to stop a shot by Switzerland's Phoebe Staenz (R) during the women's preliminary round group A match of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games ice hockey competition between players of Russia's Olympic Committee and Switzerland, at the National Indoor Stadium in Beijing on February 4, 2022. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Reuters)

Gold medallist Kayla DiCello of the U.S. celebrates on the podium after winning the women's all-around final alongside silver medallist Brazil's Flavia Saraiva and bronze medallist Jordan Chiles of the U.S. at the Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile on October 23, 2023. (Photo by Agustin Marcarian/Reuters)