Buzz
This year’s most breathtakingly vivid images weren’t snapped with a traditional camera—they were captured through the lens of a microscope.
The Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition celebrates exceptional photographs and videos of biological subjects taken using light microscopes. Annually, nearly 2,500 entries from scientists in over 70 countries are submitted, with only 10 selected as winners.
Reflecting on this year’s winners, the BioScapes website notes, “The elegance, impact, and scientific significance of these remarkable visuals have mesmerized the judges and captivated audiences around the globe.”
Explore the 10 award-winning entries from 2014 and get ready to be amazed:
1. Dr. William Lemon, Dr. Philipp Keller, Fernando Amat // HHMI Janelia Research Campus; Ashburn, Virginia
Their award-winning video, available on OlympusBioScapes.com, showcases various stages of Drosophila (a type of small fly) embryonic development. Captured in 30-second intervals over 24 hours, starting three hours post-egg laying, the footage concludes with the newly hatched larva attempting to move out of view.
2. Thomas Deerinck // National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research, University of California; San Diego, California
Deerinck’s image, resembling a floral arrangement at first glance, actually depicts a rat brain cerebellum.
3. Dr. Igor Siwanowicz // HHMI Janelia Research Campus; Ashburn, Virginia
Dr. Siwanowicz’s award-winning image captures the vibrant, Crayola-like colors of barnacle appendages, which are used to draw plankton and other nutrients into the barnacle’s shell.
4. Dr. Csaba Pintér // Keszthely, Hungary
The Phyllobius roboretanus weevils play a vital role in perpetuating the cycle of life.
5. Madelyn May // Hano, New Hampshire
Another glimpse into rat brains! Madelyn May secured fifth place with her confocal microscopy image of a rat brain’s cerebral cortex. The cell nuclei appear cyan (a blend of green and blue), astrocytes are highlighted in yellow, and blood vessels are depicted in red.
6. Dr. David Johnston // Southampton General Hospital Biomedical Imaging Unit; Southampton, United Kingdom
Dr. Johnston’s image features a magelonid polychaete worm larva discovered in a plankton sample from Southampton Water, off the UK’s southern coast. The specimen measured roughly 2mm in length.
7. Oleksandr Holovachov // Ekuddsvagen, Sweden
Holovachov masterfully captures a butter daisy (Melampodium divaricatum) flower at 2x magnification using fluorescence techniques.
8. Dr. Matthew S. Lehnert, Ashley L. Lash // Kent State University at Stark; North Canton, Ohio
This image features the spiky proboscis (mouthparts) of a vampire moth (Calyptra thalictri) collected by Jennifer Zaspel in Russia. It highlights the dorsal legulae, tearing hooks, and erectile barbs that enable the moth to feed on fruit juices and mammal blood.
9. Dr. Igor Siwanowicz // HHMI Janelia Research Campus; Ashburn, Virginia
Dr. Siwanowicz’s image showcases the gear-like trochanters (the femur’s connection to the hip bone) of the green boneheaded planthopper (Acanalonia conica), which allow it to accelerate at an astonishing 500 times the force of gravity. This discovery reveals that gears, once thought to be exclusively human-made, naturally exist in the animal kingdom.
10. Dr. Philipp Keller, Fernando Amat, and Misha Ahrens // HHMI Janelia Research Campus; Ashburn, Virginia
Dr. Keller, the first-prize winner, also secured tenth place with his video showcasing neural activity across an entire zebrafish brain in vivo. This groundbreaking 33-second footage represents the first instance where single-neuron activity in a living vertebrate brain has been recorded with such unparalleled detail.
All images courtesy 2014 Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition®; www.OlympusBioScapes.com
