“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)

A police poses on the durians during festival durian on the giant mount of durian at northern slopes of Mount Arjuna in East Java. Each year, nine villages in Wonosalam district hold a festival to give thanks for an abundance of this stinky, spiky fruit, which they pile in a 10-meter-high pyramid and distribute among the hungry masses. (Photo by Sigit Pamungkas/JG Photo)

The Y-40 Deep Joy is the worlds deepest pool. Y-40 is projected by Architect Emanuele Boaretto and supported by the “Boaretto Group Hotel and Resort”. The name Y-40 is inspired by mathematical symbols. “Y” is the ordinate axis of the Cartesian system and “–40” means the world's record depth or our pool- that is 40 meters underground. (Photo by Courtesy Y40 Deep Joy)

Italian architect Giovanni Pesamosca’s work is reaching scenic new heights. His cabin is perched on the edge of Foronon Buinz in Italy’s Julian Alps. The pre fabricated structure was placed at the spectacular location in memory of deceased climber Luka Vuerich, and is now providing free accommodation complete with jaw dropping panoramic views for up to nine people… the intrepid kind willing to make a long trek to 8303 feet (2531 meters) above sea level.

Located at La Casa Del Arbol or “The Treehouse” in Baños, Ecuador, this small house was built for the stunning view on the Tungurahua Volcano it offers. But the real attraction is the swing attached to one of the tree's branches. It is far from your average swing, and it is surnamed the "Swing at the End of the World" for a good reason. Located off a giant cliff at over 2,600 meters above sea level and with absolutely no safety features, this swing promises a serious thrill to whoever is brave enough to ride it.

The Ring of Life is a 515-foot (approximately 157 meters) landmark built in the city of Fushun, China. The landmark is built with an observation deck accessible by elevator, as well as 12,000 LED lights. Having abandoned local entertainment projects due to the small local population, urban planners settled on building a sightseeing landmark instead in order to attract a tourist industry to the region. The structure uses approximately 3,000 tons of steel and cost an estimated $16M U.S. dollars.

A visitor relaxes in a sleeping module at Tokyo's tube Hotel “Capsule Inn Akihabara” on February 6, 2007 in Tokyo, Japan. The two-square-meter sleep modules are equipped with a TV, Radio and Wireless LAN and are priced at 3500 yen per night. Uptil recently it has mainly been the office workers who stay at such tube hotels when they cannot go home, but recently they are attracting many foreign travellers due to their Japanese style. (Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images)

A visitor poses inside a three story upside-down family sized house at the Huashan Creative Park in Taipei, Taiwan April 7, 2016. Over 300 square meters of floor space of the upside-down house, filled with home furnishings, was created by a group of Taiwanese architects at a total cost of around US$600,000 and took 2 months to complete, according to the organisers. (Photo by Tyrone Siu/Reuters)