Ireland's Lucy Mulhall (L) tackles USA's Ilona Maher during the World Rugby Women's Sevens series match between Ireland and the United States at the Allianz Stadium in Sydney on January 29, 2023. (Photo by Jeremy N.G./AFP Photo)

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)

“Ecotricity's Greenbird vehicle, designed and piloted by Richard Jenkins, broke the land speed world record for a wind-powered vehicle in 2009. Greenbird recorded a top speed of 126.4 mph (203.4 km/h), and sustained a speed of 126.2 mph (203.1 km/h) for the required time of three seconds, beating the previous, American held, record of 116 mph (186.7 km/h), set by Bob Schumacher in the Iron Duck in March 1999 at the same location”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Richard Jenkins poses for photographs with the world's fastest wind powered land Vehicle at Science Museum on August 3, 2009 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

A quartet of showgirls in costume sit at an outdoor table and drink from mugs at Disneyland amusement park, Anaheim, California, 1955. (Photo by Loomis Dean/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Vlada Nikolchenko of Ukraine performs with the ribbon during the 36th European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, November 29, 2020. Athletes from 23 countries participate in the championship in Kyiv. (Photo by Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo)

“A very delicate person, beneath the flamboyance”. Jasper, Ladbroke Grove, 1977. “In the 1970s, Australia was rather cut off. I’d always wanted to live abroad, so I moved to Rome and then London. I was an art historian, but started studying photography part-time. I was interested in the demi-monde culture and began mixing in all sorts of circles. Jasper was a rather wonderful character...”. (Photo by Jane England)

Ukrainians attend an open military training for civilians on a training range in Kiev, Ukraine, 06 February 2022. According to a survey conducted by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) from December 2021, 50.2 percent of Ukrainians said they would resist in case of a Russian military intervention into their city, town or village. Every third respondent to the poll said they were ready to engage in armed resistance, and 21.7 percent said they were ready to participate in civil resistance actions. (Photo by Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A female referee counts as member of Uganda's Soft Ground Wrestling is pinned to the ground during a training session at their camp in Mukono on February 28, 202. Uganda's Soft Ground Wrestling is getting attention worldwide and becoming an Internet sensation. Members showcase their wrestling skills on their YouTube channel, performing inside makeshift bamboo ring posts with string ropes and soil. Currently, Soft Ground Wrestling has 200 members, most of them from unprivileged backgrounds, and include both men and women training vigorously as they dream of becoming professional wrestlers. (Photo by Badru Katumba/AFP Photo)