Gold medallist Kayla DiCello of the U.S. celebrates on the podium after winning the women's all-around final alongside silver medallist Brazil's Flavia Saraiva and bronze medallist Jordan Chiles of the U.S. at the Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile on October 23, 2023. (Photo by Agustin Marcarian/Reuters)

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 Chicago Police Officer runs toward gunfire as looters break into downtown stores in the early hours of the morning on August 10, 2020. (Photo by RMV/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

The USA’s Beatriz Hatz competes at Women's Long Jump -T64 final at the Stade de France stadium, during the 2024 Paralympics, Saturday, August 31, 2024, in Paris, France. (Photo by Ümit Bektaş/Reuters)

A pitch invader tries to get through to Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal during the UEFA Nations League 2024/25 League A Group A1 match between Portugal and Scotland at Estadio do SL Benfica on September 8, 2024 in Lisbon, Portugal. (Photo by Pedro Nunes/Reuters)

“Be prepared” is the motto of petite Doris Sherrell, vocalist and dancer with “Blackouts of 1942”. In the event of a bombing, the young lady had her social security number tattooed on one leg by artist Jack Julian, and address placed on the other limb for means of identification in Los Angeles, September 29, 1942. (Photo by AP Photo)

Revellers chat on Havana's Malecon seafront before performing at a carnival parade, Cuba, August 12, 2016. (Photo by Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

A photograph of Cuba's former President Fidel Castro decorates a wall inside a state-run market in Havana, March 8, 2016. (Photo by Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)