The structure of an holm oak leaf that resembles an underwater landscape, the neuron of a rat that resembles a down jacket and the trunk of a fly worthy of a science fiction film: these are some of the winning photos of the Small World microphotography contest promoted by Nikon and open to all, photographers and scientists.
Proboscis of a common fly (source: Oliver Dum, Medienbunker Produktion Bendorf, Rheinland Pfalz, Germany)
Winning the first prize of the 47th edition of the competition is the incredible photo of an holm oak leaf, a composition made from 200 individual shots thanks to which, by altering the colors, Jason Kirk of Baylor College of Medicine was able to show the various structures that make up the leaf including the pores in deep purple and in white the trichomes in white, the growths that protect the leaf from extreme environmental conditions . The difficulty, explained Kirk, was in the low depth of focus available with the microscope: only a superimposition of many shots was able to show the depth of the various components of the leaf.
The structures present in an holm oak leaf (source: Jason Kirk, Baylor College of Medicine Houston)
The second place went to neuroscientists Esmeralda Paric and Holly Stefen, of the Macquarie University of Australia, who immortalized a network of 300,000 neurons which, divided in two populations, they reconnected through the growth of bridges, ie axons.
The final result is worthy of a work of art that seems to represent an urban structure.
Two networks made up of 300,000 neurons, connected to each other by axon bridges (source: Esmeralda Paric and Holly Stefen, Macquarie University)
In third place instead a detail of a pig louse (Haematopinus suis), whose enlarged legs recall the claws of a crab and the louse uses them to move among the fuzz.
Detail of a pig louse (Haematopinus suis) (source: Frank Reiser, Nassau Community College)
Among the 20 photographs awarded by the Small World 2021 is the shot by neuroscientist Andrea Tedeschi, of Ohio State University, showing every single blood vessel in the brain
Blood vessels of the brain (source: Andrea Tedeschi, Ohio State University)
and that of the Sicilian nature photographer Felice Placenti, who immortalized cotton fibers on which pollen spores are trapped.
Pollen spores on cotton fibers (source: Felice Placenti, Nature and Landscape Photography Syracuse, Sicily)
In the video category, the first place was won by the Australian Fabian Weston with a shot showing the incredible trafficking of microorganisms inside the intestine of a termite.
