Now celebrating its 40th year, Nikon Small World is widely regarded as the leading forum to recognize proficiency and photographic excellence of photography taken under the microscope. To select the winners, competition judges analyzed entries from all over the world covering subjects ranging from chemical compounds to up-close-and-personal looks at biological specimens. The 2014 winners will be revealed on October 30th. In 2014, the competition received over 1,200 entries from more than 79 countries around the world. (Photo by Dr. Igor Robert Siwanowicz/Nikon Small World 2014)

Pro-Russian rebels stand near a monument during a ceremony to honour the World War Two defenders of Donetsk from Nazi forces, in Donetsk, in this September 8, 2014 file photo. (Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters)

Lazar and his sister Andjelka sit by a candle in their home in the eastern Serbian town of Majdanpek, December 4, 2014. Electricity workers in Serbia struggled through snow, ice and treacherous terrain on Thursday to restore electricity to an eastern town left shivering without power, heating or running water for a fourth day. (Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters)

An Israeli army officer gives explanations to journalists during an army organised tour in a tunnel said to be used by Palestinian militants for cross-border attacks, July 25, 2014. (Photo by Jack Guez/Reuters)

A fox runs out onto the pitch before the start of the second half. Celtic League 2012/13, Round 19, Leinster v Ulster, RDS, Ballsbridge, Dublin, March 30, 2013. (Photo by Paul Mohan)

Western lowland gorilla Kijivu holds her newborn baby at the Prague Zoo in the Czech Republic. (Photo by Isifa/Getty Images)

In this Sunday, June 27, 2010 file photo two men compete in an ostrich race at Highgate ostrich farm in Oudtshoorn, South Africa. Clambering onto an ostrich for a ride used to be popular among tourists in a South African town of Oudtshoorn known of as the “ostrich capital of the world”. Not so much anymore. Two major ostrich farms in Oudtshoorn have stopped offering ostrich rides to tourists, responding to concerns about the birds’ welfare. A third farm is sticking with the feature, saying it is regulated and that ostriches do not experience discomfort. The Highgate farm, however, continues to offer ostrich rides. (Photo by Shuji Kajiyama/AP Photo)

Syrian Internal Security Forces dance in celebration during their graduation ceremony, at Ain Issa desert base, in Raqqa province, northeast Syria, Thursday, July 20, 2017. Some 250 residents of Syria's Raqqa province are the latest batch to graduate from a brief U.S-training course that is preparing an internal security force to hold and secure areas as they are captured from Islamic State militants. (Photo by Hussein Malla/AP Photo)