“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)

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)

Children surround a man, left, that fell down while walking on a street suspected of having contracted the Ebola virus in the city of Monrovia, Liberia, Tuesday, August 19, 2014. The World Health Organization says the outbreak has killed more than 1,200 people, while authorities struggle to contain its spread and treat the sick. (Photo by Abbas Dulleh/AP Photo)

These are the ambitious plans which suggest skyscrapers of the future may house an entire city. The Endless City project is an award-winning proposal by sure Architecture, who propose turning skyscrapers into complete ecosystems. London is the proposed city for the mixed-use tower – which would feature huge ramps linking different sections of the structure. The company, whose design won the SkyScrapers and SuperSkyScrapers Competition, insist the structure would be a great space-saver in dense cities which have previously spread outwards rather than upwards. (Photo by Caters News)

A man sits on the window of a burning building before falling from it, in central Lahore May 9, 2013. Fire erupted on the seventh floor of the LDA plaza in Lahore and quickly spread to higher floors leaving many people trapped inside the building. At least three people fell from the high floors trying to avoid fire that engulfed the building, local media reports. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

Nepalese women farmers spray mud water at each other while planting rice in a paddy field during the National Paddy Day in the village of Jitpur in Kathmandu, Nepal, 30 June 2015. On this day, known as Asar Pandra, farmers begin the annual rice planting season and mark the day with various festivities such as preparing rice meals with muddy water, spreads mud among farmers. The Mud being a symbol for a prosperous season. The agricultural sector contributes about 60 per cent to Nepal's gross domestic product. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA)

A police officer speaks to a driver shortly after midnight in Bucharest, Romania, Monday, November 9, 2020 informing him of the pandemic related night traffic restrictions that just came into effect. Romania introduces new restrictions aimed at limiting the spread of the COVID-19 infections following a week when it registered an all time high number of new infections. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)

A woman wearing a mask to help protect against the spread of coronavirus, tries to communicate with Efe, a cat living in Kugulu public garden, in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, November 30, 2020.Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced Monday the most widespread lockdown so far amid a surge in COVID-19 infections, extending curfews to weeknights and full lockdowns over weekends. (Photo by Burhan Ozbilici/AP Photo)