Bob Steele, of Jefferson, Texas, positions his bears during The Great Bear Show at the Dubuque (Iowa) County Fair on July 25, 2012. (Photo by Jessica Reilly/Telegraph Herald)

“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)

“Rescuers were digging through mud and debris Friday to retrieve more bodies strewn across a farming valley in the southern Philippines by a powerful typhoon. The death toll from the storm has surpassed 500, with more than 400 people missing”. – Bullit Marquez via Associated Press

Photo: Children look at the a damaged road destroyed by flash floods at the height of Typhoon Bopha in the village of Andap, New Bataan town, Compostela Valley province, December 5, 2012. (Photo by Ted Aljibe)

An actor plays an injured passer-by during Exercise Strong Tower, the scene of a mock terror attack at a disused underground station in central London, Britain June 30, 2015. London police held their biggest-ever terrorism drill on Tuesday, pitting the emergency services against a group of marauding attackers, nearly 10 years since four young British Islamists killed 52 people in suicide bombings on London's transport network in July 2005. (Photo by Peter Nicholls/Reuters)

In a simpler time all a child or an adult needed to enjoy the outdoors was a ball and a stick. Or maybe an old tire tied to a high branch to fashion a swing. And the only instruction given to children was to “be home before dark”. Now there are iPads and computers and television screens and shrinking safe public spaces. But despite the distractions and limitations of space, these images show the charm of kicking a ball or skipping rope endures. Sometimes with modifications as a nod to changing times. Here: in this Saturday, June 20, 2015 photo, a boy runs while playing with a motorcycle wheel in Samugari, Ayacucho, Peru. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

This handout picture taken and released by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) on October 26, 2015 shows baby orangutans, which had previously suffered from respiratory problems, playing at a nursery in the rehabilitation centre operated by the BOSF on the outskirts of Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan. Endangered orangutans are falling victim to a devastating haze crisis that has left them sick, malnourished and severely traumatised as fires rage through Indonesia's forests, reducing their habitat to a charred wasteland. (Photo by AFP Photo/Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation/Indrayana)

Participants of the 77th edition of the annual Christmas swimming 'Coupe de Noel' jump into the waters of Lake Geneva, in Geneva, Switzerland, 20 December 2015. More than 1,540 men and women braved the water temperature of just 8 degrees Celsius as they swam a 120 meters distance at the traditional Christmas swimming in Geneva. (Photo by Salvatore Di Nolfi/EPA)

A paper rhacophorus arvalis (farmland green tree frog) of Taiwan (R) is surrounded by paper pandas at an exhibition called “Pandas on Tour” at the National Theater in Taipei on February 24, 2014. Some 1,600 paper made pandas are on display, designed by French artist Paulo Grangeon. (Photo by Mandy Cheng/AFP Photo)