“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)

Female pilot Anna climbs out the cockpit of Japanese electronics company Suidobashi Heavy Industry's newly unveiled robot “Kuratas” at the Wonder Festival in Chiba, suburban Tokyo on July 29, 2012. The “Kuratas” robot, which will go on sale with a price tag of one million USD, measures four meters in height, weighs four tons and has four wheeled legs that can either be controlled remotely through the 3G network or by a human seated within the cockpit. (Photo by Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP Photo)

A solar-powered plane takes off from Jiangbei International Airport in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Tuesday, April 21, 2015. The Solar Impulse 2 departed Chongqing on Tuesday for a 1190-kilometer (642-mile) flight to the city of Nanjing in eastern China, the sixth leg of its around-the-world flight. (Photo by Chinatopix via AP Photo)

Zhao Qiang walks across a street in Shenyang, Liaoning province, April 14, 2014. Zhao, a community officer of the China Disabled Persons' Federation, was diagnosed with multiple when he was two, with the resulting tumour affecting the growth of his left leg, his grandmother told local media, citing a doctor's diagnosis. His uncle modified his shoes, fitting them with stools, to allow Zhao to stand and walk. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

In this January 7, 2017 photo, Judeley Hans Debel squats down to remove a boot from Tic Tac, holding out his prosthetic leg after his therapeutic riding lesson at the Chateaublond Equestrian Center in Petion-Ville, Haiti. Anne-Rose Schoen, who founded the equestrian center, said perhaps the most important thing about therapeutic riding is it makes youngsters happy in a country where disabled people face enormous challenges. (Photo by Dieu Nalio Chery/AP Photo)

Palestinian girl Manar Al-Shinbari (R), 15, who lost her both legs by what medics said was Israeli shelling at a UN-run school where she was taking refuge during the 50-day war last summer, is helped by her sister to put on her headscarf in an apartment in Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip January 13, 2015. Manar's mother and three of her brothers were killed in the same incident. The girl's family house was destroyed by Israeli shelling during the war. (Photo by Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

In this February 28, 2015 photo, teammates struggle to lift a bull off the trapped leg of a charro, during the bull riding event at a charreada in Mexico City. National Charros Association President Manuel Basurto Rojas said: “We in charreria are taking things into our own hands. We have codes, we have rules, for how to treat the animals. On the other hand, there is a lot of danger involved for the men doing these tricks”. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)

The Mexican ship Cuauhtemoc is pictured during the Tall Ships Races 2016 parade, in Lisbon, Portugal, July 25, 2016. The Tall Ships' Races are races for sail training “tall ships” (sailing ships). The races are designed to encourage international friendship and training for young people in the art of sailing. The races are held annually in European waters and consists of two racing legs of several hundred nautical miles, and a “cruise in company” between the legs. Over one half (fifty-percent) of the crew of each ship participating in the races must consist of young people. (Photo by Pedro Nunes/Reuters)