Fascinating Macro Images Capture The World As You’ve Never Seen It Before.  

Ever wanted to see the head of a tapeworm up close? How about the eye of a daddy long legs?

Us neither – but thanks to Nikon, you can get up close and personal with nature’s weirdest phenomena.

The camera company launched their 43rd annual Small World photomicrography competition, and the resulting images are pretty phenomenal.

From moth eggs trapped in a spider web to blood vessels in a human tongue, the competition has captured the minutiae of nature that we never knew we needed to see.

There’s also plenty of pictures of man-made entities, too – from paracetamol crystals to plastic fracturing on a credit card hologram.

The winning image, shot by researchers at the Netherlands Cancer Institute, captured a beautiful golden halo surrounding a human skin cell, caused by an excessive amount of keratin in the cell.

It’s an example of the incredible work scientists are doing to fight cancer – and gives us insight into what the weird world of cells really looks like.

Which image is your favourite? Let us know in the comments below!

H/T Nikon 

1st place. Immortalized human skin cells (HaCaT keratinocytes) expressing fluorescently tagged keratin. 40x (objective lens magnification.)

2nd place. Senecio vulgaris (a flowering plant) seed head. 2x magnification.

3rd place. Living Volvox algae releasing its daughter colonies. 100x magnification.

4th place.Taenia solium (tapeworm) everted scolex. 200x magnification.

5th place. Mold on a tomato. 3.9x magnification.

6th place. Lily pollen. 63x (objective lens magnification.)

7th place. Individually labeled axons in an embryonic chick ciliary ganglion. 30x (objective lens magnification.)

8th place. Newborn rat cochlea with sensory hair cells (green) and spiral ganglion neurons (red). 100x magnification.

9th place. Growing cartilage-like tissue in the lab using bone stem cells (collagen fibers in green and fat deposits in red). 20x for collagen; 40x for fat deposits magnification.

10th place. Phyllobius roboretanus (weevils).80x magnification.

11th place. Plastic fracturing on credit card hologram. 10x (objective lens magnification.)

12th place. Opiliones (daddy longlegs) eye. 20x (objective lens magnification.)

13th place. Exaerete frontalis (orchid cuckoo bee) from the collections of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. 10x (objective lens magnification.)

14th place. Common Mestra butterfly (Mestra amymone) eggs, laid on a leaf of Tragia sp. (Noseburn plant.) 7.5x (objective lens magnification.)

15th place. 3rd trimester fetus of Megachiroptera (fruit bat.) 7.5x (objective lens magnification.)

16th place. Parus major (titmouse) down feather. 25x (objective lens magnification.)

17th place. Dyed human hair. 40x magnification.

18th place. Synapta (sea-cucumber) skin. 100x magnification.

19th place. Embryonic body wall from a developing Mus musculus (mouse). 100x (objective lens magnification.)

20th place. Spergillus flavus (fungus) and yeast colony from soil. 40x magnification.

Honourable mention. Jumping spider. 6x magnification.

Image of distinction. Abdominal proleg of Lasiocampa (a caterpillar). 3.7x magnification.

Honourable mention. T raxacum officinale (dandelion) cross section showing curved stigma with pollen. 25x magnification.

Honourable mention. Broccoli. 4.9x magnification.

Image of distinction. Nsutite and Cacoxenite (minerals.) 5x (objective lens magnification.)

Image of distinction. Natural bridge (Petiole nodes) connecting the abdomen and thorax of an ant. 5x (objective lens magnification.)

Image of distinction. Pyromorphite (mineral). 2.5x (objective lens magnification.)

Image of distinction. Asilidae (rubber fly) eye section. 20x (objective lens magnification.)

Image of distinction. Moth eggs in spider silk. 16x magnification.

Image of distinction. Nerves (in green) under the skin of a mouse (hair follicles are shown in red and blue.) 40x magnification.

Image of distinction. Paracetamol (common painkiller) crystals. 20x (objective lens magnification.)

Image of distinction. Early stage development of Alcea rosea (an ornamental flower). 5x (objective lens magnification.)

Image of distinction. Natural sponge. 100x magnification.

Image of distinction. Simple Eyes of Ectemnius (digger wasp) with condensation. 20x (objective lens magnification.)

Image of distinction. Small moth. 5x (objective lens magnification.)