A boy dressed as the Star Wars character Darth Vader attends a Star Wars themed church service, at the Zion Church in Berlin, Sunday, December 20, 2015. About 500 people, some carrying light saber props or wearing Darth Vader masks, attended the service, more than twice as many as usual on a Sunday. (Photo by Markus Schreiber/AP Photo)

“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)

Flamengo soccer fans cheer a goal scored by Gabriel against Argentina's River Plate in the Copa Libertadores final match, broadcast on a giant screen at a watch party at the Macarena Stadium, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, November 23, 2019. The first single-match final will be played in front of more than 65,000 fans at Lima’s Monumental Stadium. The match was originally scheduled for Santiago’s National Stadium, but it was moved because of street protests in Chile. (Photo by Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo)

People mourn as they receive the dead bodies of victims of an Israeli strike on March 3, 2024 in Rafah, Gaza. As of Thursday February 29th, more than 30,000 people had been killed in Gaza since the start of the war on Oct. 7, according to the territory's health ministry. Also this week, more details have emerged of a potential new ceasefire deal that could start before Ramadan, pending further negotiations by Israel, Hamas and foreign mediators. (Photo by Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images)