A woman sits next to a dog during the fifth edition of the “Mi Mascota” (My Pet) fair in Malaga, southern Spain, November 27, 2016. (Photo by Jon Nazca/Reuters)

Belarusians wearing national costumes celebrate a Pull the Kolyada Up the Oak rite in the village of Martsiyanauka, some 77 km (48 miles) east of capital Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, January 21, 2016. The merry ancient rite Pull the Kolyada Up the Oak marks the end of Orthodox Christmas celebrations in Belarus. On Jan. 21 a wheel, the so-called Kolyada, would be pulled up an oak or any old tree. The Belarusians believed that the ritual heralds a good harvest, luck and happiness for the entire year. (Photo by Sergei Grits/AP Photo)

A Cambodian tuk tuk driver and guide with a tarantula in his mouth shortly after is was dug from the ground on June 7, 2010 in Skuon, Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia. The trade for spiders and other insects as food and for medicinal purposes has been in effect since the 1970's in Cambodia but only very recently have tourists been finding a way to see where the spiders are hunted in the nearby countryside. One guide, who can be found in Kampong Cham Town has started offering tours to tourists who can find him. (Photo by Tim Whitby/Getty Images)

Actor Bella Thorne (L) and model Amber Rose at the NYLON Young Hollywood Party at AVENUE Los Angeles on May 2, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for NYLON)

Cambodian motorcyclists drive near a double rainbow, following the conclusion of a ceasefire deal between Cambodia and Thailand, in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on July 29, 2025. (Photo by Daniel Ceng/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Omsin, a 25 year old femal green sea turtle, rests next to a tray of coins that were removed from her stomach after a surgical operation at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, March 6, 2017. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/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)

Third place: the rear leg, claw and respiratory trachea of a louse (Haematopinus suis). (Photo by Frank Reiser/Nassau Community College/Nikon Small World Photomicrography 2021)