These incredible microscope photos reveal a bizarre universe beyond our reach

honey bee eye pollen nikon small world
Method: Reflected Light 120x
Ralph Claus Grimm/Nikon Small World

The world we see every day is just one view of life on Earth.

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But microscope photography — which can record details in objects that no human eye can — shows a universe of high-resolution bee stingers, tadpole brains, moth wings, and other creepy-crawly delights.

The 2015 Nikon Small World competition collects the finest microscope photos from around the world. 

Nikon will release the winners on October 14. Until then, browse the finalists below.

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Rove beetle head

Parker_27751_1
Method: Confocal 10x
Joseph Parker/Nikon Small World

Juvenile starfish

juvenile starfish nikon small world
Method: Confocal 10x
Nikon Small World
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Intake of a humped bladderwort, a freshwater carnivorous plant

Intake of a humped bladderwort nikon small world
Method: Confocal 100x
Igor Siwanowicz/Nikon Small World

Adult marine worm

Nikon Small World Crutchley_28400_1
Method: Macroscopy 30x​
Nikon Small World
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Tentacles of a carnivorous plant

carnivorous plant tentacles
Method: Image Stacking 20x
Nikon

Mouse neurons in culture

Nikon Small World Colombo_28050_1
Method: Confocal 10x
Nikon Small World
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Torn photographic film (Fujifilm)

Zgoda_28033_1
Method: Reflected Light 10x
Teresa Zgoda/Nikon Small World

Numerical traces on a Blu-ray disc

Nikon Small World Brizzi_28352_1
Method: Fiber Optic Illumination 10 0x
Nikon Small World
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The rad ula or feeding structure of a limpet (an aquatic snail)

Nikon Small World Crutchley_28400_2
Method: Darkfield Epi. 40x
Nikon Small World

Anther of a flowering Arabidopsis thaliana plant

Anther of a flowering Arabidopsis thaliana plant nikon small world
Method: Confocal 20x
Heiti Paves/Nikon Small World
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Blood vessels and neural cells in a mouse retina

Nikon Small World Deerinck_28592_2
Method: Confocal 200x
Nikon Small World

Root tip of a dicot plant

Spears_28566_1
Method: Differential Interference Contrast 25.5x
David Spears/Nikon Small World
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Red fossil coral slab

Barker_28302_1
Method: Reflected Light 20x
Norm Barker/Nikon Small World

Degenerating LCD screen liquid

Nikon Small World Bohley_28218_1.JPG
Method: Polarized Light 100x
Christian Bohley
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Jewel beetle hairs

Toledano_28404_1
Method: Macroscopy, Image Stacking 32x
Luca Toledano/Nikon Small World

Mouse bicep muscle cross-section

Nikon Small World Bergmeister_27656_1
Method: Fluorescence -immunohistochemistry 20x
Dr. Konstantin Bergmeister
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Mouth parts of a blowfly

Sloss_28579_1
Method: Brightfield 750x
Raymond Morrison Sloss/Nikon Small World

Crystallized flame retardant

Tanaka_28963_1
Method: Polarized Light, Retardation Control 25x
Yoji Tanaka/Nikon Small World
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Living rotifer

Walz_28465_1
Method: Darkfield 400x
Bernd Walz/Nikon Small World

Antenna of a male moth

Siwanowicz_28974_2
Method: Confocal 100x
Igor Siwanowicz/Nikon Small World
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Australian grass seed

Australian grass seed
Method: Darkfield 5x
Viktor Sykora/Nikon Small World

African clawed toad tadpole's head

Rankin_28158_1
Method: Confocal 10x
Helen Rankin/Nikon Small World
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Vilene fabric with drops of glue

Nikon Small World Gunther_28866_1
Method: Brightfield, Fluorescence 80x
Dr. Marta Guervos

Head of a long-jawed spider

Nikon Small World Drange_28358_1
Method: Reflected Light 10x
Geir Drange
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Light emitted by a single cell over time

Saleeb_28696_1
The single photon emission pattern of a cell in time
Rebecca Saleeb, Robert Henderson & Paul Dalgarno/Nikon Small World

Vascular bundles of papyrus plant

Nikon Small World Maitland_28279_3.JPG
Method: Differential Interference Contrast 200x
Dr. David Maitland
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Garnet stone with magnetite inclusions

Palke_28468_1
Method: Polarized Light 15x
Aaron Palke/Nikon Small World

Moth wing scales

Parsons_28074_1
Method: Image Stacking 300x
Donald Parsons/Nikon Small World
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Water flea

Myslowski_28102_1
Method: Fluorescence 200x
Jacek Myslowski/Nikon Small World

Underside of a frog tadpole

Pfister_28410_1
Method: Confocal 10x
Katherine Pfister/Nikon Small World
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Human stem cells that have morphed into neurons

Recasens_28096_1
Method: Fluorescence 20x
Ariadna Recasens/Nikon Small World

Feeding rotifers

feeding rotifers nikon small world
Method: Brightfield 100x
Charles B. Krebs
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Hairyback worm (bottom) next to algae (top right)

Hairyback worm next to algae
Method: Differential Interference Contrast 400x
Roland Gross

Spore capsule of a moss

Nikon Small World Koskinen_28254_1
Method: Reflected Light
Henri Koskinen
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Crystalized acne medication

Nikon Small World Hart_28311_1
Method: Polarized Light 33x
Dr. John Hart

Cross-section of a fossilized bone from a prehistoric horse

Gomez_27580_1
Method: Polarized Light 100x
Dr. Santiago Gomez
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Clam shrimp

clam shrimp nikon small world
Method: Darkfield, Focus Stacking 25x
Ian Gardiner/Nikon Small World

Mouse colon colonized with microbes from inside a human

mouse colon colonized with human microbiota nikon small world
Method: Confocal 63x
Kristen Earle, Gabriel Billings, KC Huang & Justin Sonnenburg
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Mitochondria in a live cancer cell

Fiolka_28043_1
Method: 3D Structured Illumination Microscopy 63x
Dr. Reto Paul Fiolka

Cross-section of a leaf on a water lily bud

Nikon Small World Maitland_28279_2.JPG
Method: Brightfield 12.5x
Dr. David Maitland
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Rat cerebellum cross-section

Nikon Small World Deerinck_28592_1
Method: Confocal 200x
Nikon Small World

Vampire moth mouthparts, used to feed on fruit and mammals

Nikon Small World Lehnert_28188_1
Method: Confocal 10x
Dr. Matthew S. Lehnert
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Larva of a horseshoe worm

Nikon Small World Kirby_27924_1
Method: Darkfield 450x
Dr. Richard R. Kirby

Cow lung artery cell, with structural fibers (black), mitochondria (red), and DNA (blue)

Nikon Small World Lambert_28654_1
Method: 3D-Structured Illumination Microscopy 60x
Dr. Talley J. Lambert
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Mouse tongue cross section

Nikon Small World Kofron_27326
Method: Confocal 60x
Dr. Matthew Kofron & Tayaramma Thatava

Close-up of ancient Chinese pottery

Nikon Small World Lu_27995_1
Method: Macroscopy 4x
Yvonne (Yi-Chieh) Lu
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A black witch-hazel leaf producing crystals to defend against hungry animals

A black witch-hazel leaf producing crystals nikon small world
Method: Differential Interference Contrast 100x
Dr. David Maitland

A micro-engraving on a glass microscope slide created in the year 1880

Nikon Small World Lynk_28112_1
Method: Darkfield 100x
Howard Lynk
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Ostrich fern cross section

Nikon Small World Mikhaltsov_28121_1.JPG
Method: Brightfield 250x
Anatoly Mikhaltsov

Bacterial DNA and a chemical probe binding inside bacteria, just following division

Nikon Small World Markus_28643_2
Method: DNA-YOYO-1: green pixels for high res & purple for wide field; Cy5-probe: yellow pixels for high res & orange for wide field
Dr. Robert Markus & Dr. Jafar Mahdavi
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Gold and titanium electrodes covered by graphene sheet

Nikon Small World Matkovic_28084_1
Method: Brightfield 500x
Dr. Aleksandar Matkovic

Foraminifera shells from the sea

Nikon Small World Maolagain_28137_1
Method: Reflected Light 40x
Caoimhghin Ó Maolagáin
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Cow artery cells

Nikon Small World Markus_28643_1
Method: Structured Illumination Microscopy 1,100x
Dr. Robert Markus

Buoyancy organs of a phantom midge larva

Linstead_28558_1
Method: Polarized Light 125x
David Linstead/Nikon Small World
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Eye of a honey bee covered in dandelion pollen

honey bee eye pollen nikon small world
Method: Reflected Light 120x
Ralph Claus Grimm/Nikon Small World

Stinger of a honey bee

Leung_29009_1
Method: Confocal 20x
Harry Leung/Nikon Small World
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Colony of single-celled organisms

Agostino_27878_1
Method: Differential Interference Contrast 160x
Arturo Agostino/Nikon Small World

Nostoc — a blue-green algae — showing its chlorophyll organelles (red)

Anamthawat Jonsson_28039_1
Method: Fluorescence 400x
Kesara Anamthawat-Jonsson, Andrey N. Gagunashvili, and Ólafur S. Andrésson/Nikon Small World
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A 10.5-day-old muse embryo

Artichoker_27746_1
Method: Confocal 11x
Maria Boulina, Akira Chiba, and Hasitha Samarajeewa/Nikon Small World

Individually colored neurons in a live fruit fly larva

Boulina_28803_1
Method: Fluorescence, Confocal
/Nikon Small World
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Suction cups on a diving beetle foreleg

Suction cups on the diving beetle foreleg nikon small world
Method: Image Stacking, Photo-merge 50x
Giorgio Seano and Rakesh K. Jain/Nikon Small World

Skin of a sea urchin

Howey_28173_1
Method: Polarized Light 63x
Richard Howey/Nikon Small World
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Pollen grains of a peace lily

Guervos_ 28001_1
Method: Confocal 63x
Marta Guervos/Nikon Small World

Human neural stem cells

Levinthal_28501_1
Method: Fluorescence 200x
Cynthia Levinthal/Nikon Small World
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Fern sorus at varying stages of maturity

fern sorus at varying stages of maturity nikon small world
Method: Fluorescence, Image Stacking 20x
Rogelio Moreno Gill/Nikon Small World

Mites on insect pupa

Moreno Gill_27640_2
Method: Darkfield, Image Stacking 20x
Rogelio Moreno Gill/Nikon Small World
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A 3-D reconstruction of brown fat in a mouse

Malide_28267_1
Method: Third Harmonic Generation Microscopy 40x
Daniela Malide/Nikon Small World

Lab-grown bud of a human mammary gland

Miller_28195_1
Method: Confocal 100x
Daniel H. Miller and Ethan S. Sokol/Nikon Small World
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Shells from a deep-sea dredge in the Southwestern Pacific Ocean

Simmons_28759_1
Stereomicroscopy 4x
Robert B. Simmons/Nikon Small World

Nerves and blood vessels in a mouse ear skin

Nerves and blood vessels in a mouse ear skin nikon small world
Method: Confocal 10x
Tomoko Yamazaki/Nikon Small World
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Cross section of fairburn agate from the Black Hills of South Dakota

Moore_28194_1
Method: Fiber Optic Illumination 63x
Douglas Moore/Nikon Small World

Plastic pieces of a drifting fishing net

Simmons_28759_3
Method: Stereomicroscopy 5x
Robert B. Simmons/Nikon Small Wold
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Zinc-stressed bacteria; red cells are healthy, yellow are impaired, and green are dead

Newby_28872_1
Method: Fluorescence 600x
Robert Newby/Nikon Small World

DNA packaged inside a cell nucleus

Prakash_28210_1
Method: Super-Resolution Microscope
Kirti Prakash/Nikon Small World
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Live imaging of blood vessels (red) in a mouse brain with a tumor (yellow/green)

Live imaging of blood vessels in a mouse brain with a glioblastoma tumor nikon small world
Method: Optical Frequency Domain Imaging System
/Nikon Small World

Young buds of a flowering plant

Prunet_28937_1
Method: Confocal 40x
Nathanael Prunet/Nikon Small World
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A 3-day-old peanut worm larva (yellow: cilia; blue: DNA; red: serotonin in the nervous system)

Boyle_28570_1
Method: Confocal 40x
Michael J. Boyle/Nikon Small World

Power button of a mobile phone collected from the ocean bottom, which includes bryozoan crust (right) and marine worm tube (left)

Simmons_28759_2
Method: Stereomicroscopy 4x
Robert B. Simmons/Nikon Small Wold
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Liquid crystal

Zanchetta_28148_1
Method: Polarized Light 20x
Giuliano Zanchetta/Nikon Small World

A liverwort plant's water sacs, which are often home to tiny aquatic animals called rotifers

Tremblay_29018_1
Method: Brightfield at 100x
Susan Tremblay/Nikon Small World
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Internal structures of a fungus mold

Roberts_27385_1
Method: Fluorescence 63x
Samantha Roberts and Amy Gladfelter/Nikon Small World

Nanoparticles suspended in water between two electrodes

Zhang_28109_1.JPG
Method: Brightfield 40x
Jie Zh Jie Zhang/Nikon Small World
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Mouse embryo cells

Tetsuaki_27895_1
Method: Confocal Live-Cell Imaging 100x
Tetsuaki Miyake/Nikon Small World

The mouth of a stentor, a filter-feeding microbial animal

Moreno Gill_27640_3
Method: Brightfield 40x
Rogelio Moreno Gill/Nikon Small World
Photos Animals
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