A pair of otters share a soft kiss over seaweed on the Isle of Mull, Scotland in the first decade of October 2025. (Photo by David Akers/Solent News & Photo Agency)

A newly born Indian white tiger cub yawns in its enclosure at Liberec Zoo, Czech Republic, April 25, 2016. (Photo by David W. Cerny/Reuters)

Three female friends dancing in nightclub. (Photo by Cultura Creative (RF)/Alamy Stock Photo )

In the mountains of central Vietnam, a colossal pair of hands lifts a golden thread of walkway high above the clifftops, as if the mountain itself has sprouted limbs. Here: A giant hand structure at the Gold Bridge is seen on Ba Na hill near Danang city, Vietnam on August 1, 2018. (Photo by Reuters/Kham)

A river otter (lontra longicaudis) of 6-weeks-old looks in the mirror during a bath in the Animal Welfare Unit of the Zoo in Cali, Colombia, on October 22, 2019. The baby otter was found abandoned brought to the Cali Zoo for breeding, for its extensive experience in raising these species. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature the river otter (lontra longicaudis) are in danger of extinction, because of mining, agriculture, pollution of rivers and housing construction in their habitat. (Photo by Luis Robayo/AFP Photo)

A view of the silhouettes of people, passing across a bridge over the frozen Lake Murat, trying to go on their daily lives despite the cold during winter season in Agri, Turkiye on February 10, 2025. (Photo by Abdullah Soylemez/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Revellers take part in the Holi Party Festival at the Niemeyer Center in Aviles, northern Spain, August 29, 2015. The event is inspired by the Hindu Holi spring festival of colour celebrated mostly in India but has recently spread to other countries. (Photo by Eloy Alonso/Reuters)

Now celebrating its 40th year, Nikon Small World is widely regarded as the leading forum to recognize proficiency and photographic excellence of photography taken under the microscope. To select the winners, competition judges analyzed entries from all over the world covering subjects ranging from chemical compounds to up-close-and-personal looks at biological specimens. The 2014 winners will be revealed on October 30th. In 2014, the competition received over 1,200 entries from more than 79 countries around the world. (Photo by Dr. Igor Robert Siwanowicz/Nikon Small World 2014)