Nikon’s Small World in Motion Captures Microscopic Life at Its Trippiest

Nikon just announced the winners of its 14th annual Small World in Motion competition, and boy do they showcase the beauty our eyes can’t see! The Nikon Small World competition (of which the video competition is a part) is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

The videos included in the competition showcase microscopic life and phenomena, from water droplets evaporating from a butterfly’s wings to the rhythmic movements of tissue in a fruit fly’s embryo. The stunning footage reveals how even the most ordinary structures appear extraordinary up close, and capture scenes far too minuscule for the unaided eye to see.

Nearly 400 video entries were considered in this year’s competition; since that article would be a little long, here are five of our favorite honorable mentions and the top 5 winners, as voted on by a panel of experts in photography and the sciences. All videos are courtesy of Nikon Small World.

“Fruit fly embryos are in our homes, developing in our kitchens and our trash bins, are undergoing the same processes as shown in the video,” said Bruno Vellutini, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics and first-place winner for his video of the fly embryo. “I believe the video is particularly impactful because it shows us how these fascinating cellular and tissue dynamics are happening every day, all around us—even in the most mundane living beings.”

Vellutini has a point. Fruit flies are not often counted among the elephant, panda bear, coelacanth, anaconda, or any other permutation of amazing creatures that occupy our planet. But on a cellular level, the same complex—and indeed, beautiful—processes are helping animals from all walks of life survive.

As you can see in the video above, some of the other winners included shots of a tardigrade and a nematode, cells wiggling in a fish’s spinal cord, and a timelapse of water droplets on the wing scales of a peacock butterfly.

Some of the honorable mentions included in the video show crystal structures, a worm eating a water flea, and (buckle up) canine kidney cells arranged to make a microscopic replica of Vermeer’s Girl With a Pearl Earring. The cells were held in place using DNA tethers, and in a neat twist, show how humans can replicate their world on the microscopic scale.

To check out the other honorable mentions in the competition (of which there are many), you can head over to the Nikon competition website.