“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 white whale wears a wreath at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium-amusement park complex in Yokohama, Japan, on October 3, 2012. (Photo by Associated Press)

Artists perform during the press photocall for the show “LUZIA” of Cirque du Soleil at Royal Albert Hall on January 11, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Tristan Fewings/Getty Images)

A pod of white pelicans, one of the largest birds in Canada and the US, are seen on the shore of the Chapala lagoon in Cojumatlan de Regules, Mexico, on January 28, 2022. White pelicans travel thousands of kilometers migrating from the cold temperatures of North America. (Photo by Ulises Ruiz/AFP Photo)

A torch bearer poses for photographs during the Olympic Torch Relay Celebration event on July 21, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. As the Olympic torch relay makes its way around Tokyo, public relays have been cancelled in favour of daily ceremonies held behind closed doors, as authorities act to avoid large gatherings while the country endures a fourth wave of coronavirus. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/Getty Images)

Lily Nguyen of Jessop, from Maryland, leaps up in the air as a friend takes her photo in front of cherry blossoms which have reached their peak bloom, along the Tidal Basin, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 21, 2022. (Photo by Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Giraffes doing the splits to get a drink of water from the watering hole at the Zimanga Private Game Reserve in South Africa on March 31, 2022. (Photo by Hendri Venter/Animal News Agency)

A Pataxo woman listens to her cell phone as she waits for the start of the Indigenous people's meeting with Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as part of the 18th annual Free Land Indigenous Camp, in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, April 12, 2022. (Photo by Eraldo Peres/AP Photo)