Mohammed Al-Shinbari, 24, balances objects using what he calls a mix of mind and body, in his family house in Beit Hanun town in the northern Gaza Strip, 30 November 2019. Al-Shinbari says he can put almost any object in balance. (Photo by Mohammed Saber/EPA/EFE)

Large waves crash onto seafront at Tynemouth in the North East, UK late Sunday afternoon on October 15, 2023. (Photo by Ian Sproat/Picture Exclusive)

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)

Colombia midfielder Natalia Gaitan (3) goes up for a header against Mexico midfielder Nayeli Rangel (7) in Moncton, June 9, 2015. (Photo by Matt Kryger/USA TODAY Sports)

Models walk the runway for Sergio Hudson during New York Fashion Week: The Shows at Spring Studios on February 13, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows)

A woman takes photos of a child on a sports ground covered with hailstones following a hail storm in the Siberian city of Omsk, Russia on June 27, 2023. (Photo by Alexey Malgavko/Reuters)

A British Spitfire and an American P-51 Mustang from Ultimate Warbird Flights take to the Northamptonshire on August 14, 2020 skies to mark the 75th anniversary of VJ Day. (Photo by Richard Pohle/The Times)

The space shuttle Atlantis lifts off from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida May 14, 2010. (Photo by Pierre Ducharme/Reuters)