“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 new species of monkey found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and identified as Lesula (Cercopithecus lomamiensis) is seen in this undated photograph from an article published September 12, 2012 in the science journal PLOS One. The monkey was first seen in 2007 by researchers John and Terese Hart of the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale Research Project. The finding of C. lomamiensis represents only the second new species of African monkey to be discovered in the past 28 years, according to the research article. (Photo by Hart J. A., Detwiler K. M., Gilbert C. C./Reuters)

“Mr. Brainwash (“MBW”) is a pseudonym for Thierry Guetta. According to the Banksy directed film Exit Through the Gift Shop, Guetta is a French citizen who now lives in Los Angeles, having been a proprietor of a clothing store and videographer who evolved into a street artist and gallery artist, influenced by the street artists he documented through video over the years. According to the film, Guetta was first introduced to street art by his cousin, the French street artist, Invader”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Artist Mr. Brainwash stands with his paintings “The Queen” (R) and “Kate Moss” at the Opera Gallery on October 3, 2011 in London, England. Works by pop artist and film maker Thierry Guetta, known as Mr. Brainwash, are on display at the gallery from October 6th to 31st, 2011. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

These images have been created using a colour scanning electron microscope (SEM) by the award-winning Eye of Science, comprised of snapper Oliver Meckes and biologist Nicole Ottawa. For a decade the pair, based in Reutlingen in the south of Germany, worked with an old SEM they saved from the scrapheap, but for the last five years they have used a £250,000 FEI Quanta Series Field Emission SEM. Oliver said: “Flowers are beautiful in 'normal' view, but when you look closer, some parts get very bizarre and unexpected structures appear – flowers within flowers, worlds within worlds”. Photo: The floret of a Chamomile flower up close and personal. (Photo by Oliver Meckes/Barcroft Media)

Real life doll Alina Kovalevskaya poses for a photograph on May 29, 2014 in Odessa, Ukraine. Alina Kovalevskaya is a walking, talking, breathing living doll on the lookout for her real-life Ken. The 21-year-old is from Odessa, Ukraine – the same city as real-life Barbie Valeria Lukyanova, who has made headlines around the world for her unique look and controversial opinions. The pair were friends, but their relationship has since soured. Alina has made a splash online, with her YouTube videos showing off her doll-like charms attracting hundreds of thousands of views. (Photo by Aleksey Solodunov/Barcroft Media)

Jorge, an immigrant from Mexico, exits a subway station dressed as the Sesame Street character Elmo in Times Square, New York July 30, 2014. Elmo and Cookie Monster have long delighted young viewers on TV's “Sesame Street”, but the recent antics of New York street performers dressed as the beloved characters have drawn the ire of city officials and now the show's producers. Sesame Workshop, which owns the rights to Big Bird, Ernie and the assorted puppet monsters on the 45-year-old program, said on July 29, 2014 it was drafting plans to stop performers who dress up as the characters from appearing in Times Square, where they pose for photos with tourists and then demand tips. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

A surfer dressed as Santa gets to his feet as he braves the cold seas and near flat waves during the annual Surfing Santa as part of the Santa Run and Surf 2016 at Fistral Beach in Newquay on December 4, 2016 in Cornwall, England. Now in its third year, the santa surf and fun run is organised by Fistral Surf Center and Cornwall Hospice Care and raises funds for local charities. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)