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)

Painted glass Christmas and New Year decorations are pictured at the “Yolochka” (Christmas tree) factory, which has been producing glass decorations and toys for the festive season since 1848, in the town of Klin outside Moscow, Russia, November 24, 2016. (Photo by Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters)

Jimmy Bryan of Phoenix, Ariz., gets the checkered victory flag at the Indiana State Fairgrounds September 17, 1955 as he wins the “Hoosier Hundred” for the second consecutive year. Bryan averaged 83.98 miles an hour for the 100-lap, 100-mile AAA big car race. (Photo by AP Photo)

Yuri Gagarin does not always show up in full-scale astronautics. In this picture he smiles during his summer vacation in Sochi, Russia in 1961 with sunglasses and sunhat in the camera. (Photo by Imago/Eastnews)

A dog named Luna high-fives a person in the Angelino Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, U.S., August 26, 2022. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

Torchbearers Charles Antoine Kouakou, Fabien Lamirault, Elodie Lorandi, Nantenin Keita and Alexis Hanquinquant gesture after lighting the Cauldron to conclude the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games at Place de la Concorde on August 28, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Television actress Catherine Fuller visits Trafalgar Square in London and feeds the famous pigeons. (Photo by Harry Kerr/BIPs/Getty Images). 26th June 1956

“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)