European bisons (also known as Wisent) at the Bison farm in Muczne, southeastern Poland, 30 December 2018. The Bison farm is a continuation of bison breeding in Bieszczady, which was started in 1963. Here visitors can admire the bison of Bialowieza-Caucasian line, also called the mountain race. The European Bison is the national animal of Poland. (Photo by Darek Delmanowicz/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)

A macro view of an ant taking a sip from a water droplet on the edge of a flower in Obihiro, Japan. Animal-Lover Miki Asai has gone a step beyond feeding bread to the ducks – by syringe-feeding water to tiny ants. The office worker from Obihiro City, Japan, squirts droplets near the tiny insects and then uses a macro lens to capture quenching their thirst. The amateur photographer started capturing these images near her house in July 2013 after spotting an ant struggling in the rain. (Photo by Miki Asai/Barcroft Media)

A curious grey seal investigates photographer Brian Matthews at Lundy Island off the north Devon coast, July 2024. *Photo by Brian Matthews/Solent News)

Long-eared owl chicks sit on a spruce branch in a park near St Petersburg, Russia on March 3, 2025. (Photo by Artem Priakhin/SOPA Images/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A white ibis takes a shower at Lake Eola in Orlando, Florida, US on September 29, 2025. (Photo byRonen Tivony/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

“DC3 Wreck”. A capture of a US military DC3 plane wreck at the southern black beach in Iceland. Photo location: Iceland. (Photo and caption by Naian Feng/National Geographic Photo Contest)

A man splashes in a puddle in Times Square during a heavy midday downpour in New York City, U.S., July 17, 2018. (Photo by Brendan McDermid/Reuters)