Photo

The Beautiful Insanity of Close-Up Nature Photos

The world reveals its terrors under a microscope.
Image may contain Text and Art

With all due respect to larger-than-life phenomena like Slenderman and social media, sometimes the scariest things are in the tiniest packages. Don't believe us? These shortlisted images from this year's 43rd annual Nikon Small World competition might convince you.

  • Teresa Zgoda
    01
    The toothy frown of a *Taenia solium*—which you might know as a tapeworm. It attaches to its host’s intestine with the help of suckers and a small beak called a rostellum. Yup. Sleep tight.
  • Charles Krebs
    02
    The bulging, lidless eye of a daddy longlegs. Will it haunt your dreams? Who are we to say?
  • Bram Van den Broek, Andriy Volkov, Kees Jalink, Nicole Schwarz, Reinhard Windoffer
    03
    A thermal map of the Sarlacc from *Return of the Jedi*—wait, no, that’s not right. These are human skin cells (HaCaT keratinocytes) expressing fluorescently tagged keratin.
  • David A Johnston
    04
    Lily pollen might not appear nightmarish on first glance, but as anyone with seasonal allergies can tell you, looks can be deceiving.
  • Christian Gautier
    05
    Dressing up like a terrible person at a terrible summer cocktail party this year? You’ll need terrible pants—and look no further than this skin of a synapta. (That’s a sea cucumber for you non-marine biologists.)
  • Levon Biss
    06
    An *Exaerete frontalis* (orchid cuckoo bee), from the collection of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
  • David Millard
    07
    Eggs of the common Mestra butterfly, laid on a leaf of a noseburn plant.
  • Rick Adams
    08
    Haven’t had a good scream in a while? Enjoy this image of a third-trimester fetus of a Megachiroptera (fruit bat).
  • Harald Andersen
    09
    GAZE, WEAK MORTALS, ON THE HORRORS OF—oh, that’s just dyed human hair. Never mind\!
  • Ryo Egawa
    10
    Floral bouquets are passé as a romantic gesture. This Valentine's Day, get the object of your affection some (squints at paper) “individually labeled axons from a ciliary ganglion of an embryonic chick.” Or, y'know, some chocolates.
Laura Mallonee is a writer for WIRED covering photography. ... Read More
Contributor
TopicsAMP Stories
Read More
Pics of Exploding Flowers, From a Master of High-Speed Photography
The flowers in this series of photographs were dipped in liquid nitrogen then subjected to a blast from an air cannon.
Joseph Flaherty
The Rich History of Soviet Photography, Told in 18 Images
Soviet Photo was the beating heart of the USSR’s photography scene from 1926 to 1997.
Margaret Rhodes
The Best WIRED Photo Stories of 2017
WIRED Photo featured some amazing places and people this year. These were the best of the best.
Laura Mallonee
5 Awesome Instagram Photos from Manhattanhenge
Photographers and amateurs alike took to the streets of NYC for the last Manhattanhenge of the year.
Jenna Garrett
If Your Photos Aren't Good Enough, You're Not Close Enough
Lisa Krantz, a staff photographer at the San Antonio Express-News, just won the Scripps Howard Award in photojournalism for the second time for a portfolio of pictures that shows the multiple dimensions of her subjects.
Jakob Schiller
A Decade-Long Experiment Is Unlocking the Mysteries of the Ocean’s ‘Deep Reefs’
Scientists left structures up to 100 meters under the surface. Here’s what they found when they retrieved them 10 years later.
Byrd Pinkerton
Humans Watched This Supernova Explode Nearly a Millennium Ago. Now You Can See It in High Definition
The new image isn’t just stunning—it may also provide clues about how this star survived its own explosion.
Jorge Garay
Earth’s Condition Is ‘Serious and Getting Worse’ as Climate Change Intensifies
Seven of 16 planetary vital signs are in their most extreme state ever recorded, and El Niño is here to make matters even worse.
Brian Kahn
Demi Adejuyigbe Thinks You Should Only Post 3 Times a Day
The comedian sees being online as similar to visiting the zoo. “I don’t need to interact with that,” he says. “It’s just a thing that I enjoy, and then I walk away.”
Miles Klee
Inside the Supermassive Debate Over the James Webb Telescope’s ‘Little Red Dots’
The Webb telescope sees tiny red dots everywhere. Astronomers can’t agree on what they are, but some believe they may be enormous stars with black holes inside.
Charlie Wood
The 9 Best Movies to Stream This Month
Barbarian, The Fly, and Altered States are among the films deserving of your eyeballs this month.
Matt Kamen
9 WIRED-Approved Gifts for the Techie in Your Life
Don’t buy a loved one something you wouldn’t want for yourself. These are the must-haves that tech enthusiasts have on their wish lists this year.
Luke Larsen