A woman dressed as the Star Trek character “Leeta” (C) and man dressed as “Rom” (2R) arrive to attend the “Destination Star Trek London” convention at the ExCeL centre on October 19, 2012 in London, England. The three-day convention, which opened to the general public today, will be attended by all five actors who played captains throughout the 46-year-old series. (Photo by Oli Scarff)

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)

A woman attends a boxing class at Princess Women's Boxing Club in Shanghai December 3, 2014. Women have boxed as long as the sport has existed but for years they were relegated out of national and international competitions in many countries around the world. Female boxers entered the ring in an exhibition match at the 1904 Olympic Games, but it was more than a century later when they were given the green light to make their Olympic debut in London in 2012. (Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters)

Initially the project started when I was working in Atlanta. About four years ago, a roommate of mine had a Yorkie and we thought it would be funny to take some photos of this really cute dog with a few handguns. Once my friends saw the photos they started asking me to take pictures of their dogs with other firearms... (Photo and caption by Ben Haulenbeek/Puppies with guns calendar 2015)

Members of the Compagnie 1602 take part in a procession in Geneva December 14, 2014. The annual procession of the Fete de l'Escalade has been held since 1926 and commemorates local resistance to the December 11, 1602 surprise attack by the troops of the Duke of Savoy. A popular symbol of the resistance is the figure of Mere Royaume pouring hot soup from her caldron onto the soldiers. A chocolate replica of the cauldron is widely available during the three-day celebrations. This year marks also the 200-year anniversary of the entry of the Canton of Geneva in the Swiss Confederation. (Photo by Pierre Albouy/Reuters)

A shop assistant creates a window display in a Next store in central London December 30, 2014. British clothing retailer Next's sales rose 2.9 percent in the run up to Christmas mostly due to online and catalogue purchases, hitting the upper end of its predictions and it said full-year profit would rise by about 11.5 percent. (Photo by Neil Hall/Reuters)

“The Mahamasthakabhisheka (or Mahamasthak Abhishek) is an important Jain festival held once every twelve years in the town of Shravanabelagola in Karnataka state, India. The festival is held in veneration of an immense 18 meter high statue of the Bhagwan (or Saint) Gomateshwara Bahubali. The anointing last took place in February 2006, and the next ceremony will occur in 2018”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A Jain Sadhu (2nd L) and devotees gather and pray at the feet of the monolithic statue of Jain sage Gomateswara during preparations for the Mahamastak Abhisheka ceremony February 7, 2006 in Shravanabelagola, India. The Mahamastak Abhisheka ceremony is held just once every twelve years where the statue will be bathed with milk, yogurt, saffron, gold coins and other religious items. The statue is said to be the world's largest monolith. The ceremony officially runs February 8-19. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Gers, traditional Mongolian tents, are seen on a hill in an area known as a ger district in Ulan Bator June 26, 2013. Approximately 60 percent of the population of Ulan Bator live in settlements known as ger districts and in many cases residents have limited access to basic services such as water and sanitation. According to a 2010 National Population Center census, every year between thirty and forty thousand people migrate from the countryside to the capital Ulan Bator. Ger districts in the city have been expanding rapidly in recent years. Mongolia is the world's least densely populated country, with 2.8 million people spread across an area around three times the size of France. (Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters)