“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)

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)

Andrea Rossato, Italy. Professional; Candid. Children enjoy the simple pleasures of a seaside holiday. (Photo by Andrea Rossato/Sony World Photography Awards)

The jewelled flower mantis, commonly found in Asia, is believed to be the inspiration for many martial artists is seen in Jakarta, Indonesia on August 2, 2016. (Photo by Prabu Dennaga/Barcroft Images)

Blankets cover the bodies of a woman (right) and a man (left background) hit by a northbound Penn Central train (background) as they waited with a crowd at Pennsylvania Railroad station in Elizabeth, N.J. on June 8, 1968 to view the southbound train carrying the body of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy to Washington. The woman was identified as Mrs. Antoinette Severini, 54, and the man, John Curia (age unavailable), both of Elizabeth. (Photo by AP Photo)

An adult female Masai giraffe rears on its hind legs as it resists efforts by Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) rangers to guide it into a transportation crate using ropes during an exercise to translocate large herbivores from Kedong Ranch due to land subdivisions and corralling that have disrupted wildlife migratory routes in Naivasha, Nakuru County, on November 16, 2025. Driven by two long ropes held by about twenty rangers, the blindfolded giraffe enters a tall trailer that is to transport it out of its natural habitat in the Rift Valley, which is deteriorating after having been resold. This is the first step in a meticulous relocation operation in the vast Kedong ranch, part of an ancestral corridor between Mount Longonot and Hell's Gate Park, near the iconic Lake Naivasha. (Photo by Tony Karumba/AFP Photo)

Common squirrel monkeys observe their Christmas present, a box full of mealworms, at the South America enclosure of the Budapest Zoo, in Budapest, Hungary, 24 December 2017. (Photo by Photo by Attila Kovacs/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

An Orchid Mantis (Hymenopus coronatus) is perched on the head of a frog hanging from a tree branch on March 15, 2017 in Padang, Indonesia. (Photo by Riau Images/Barcroft Images)