Gallery: Life Up Close: The Year's Best Microscope Views of Biology
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Biology can be fascinating at any scale, but the most intriguing aspects are often the ones we can't see without the aid of a microscope. Plants, animals, microbes, and even humans are completely alien, sometimes strange, and almost always beautiful this close up. This year's winners of the ninth annual [Olympus Bioscapes Digital Imaging Competition](http://www.olympusbioscapes.com/) are simply stunning. Every time I think I've seen [the most amazing microscope images](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/10/nikon-small-world-winners/), a new crop comes along to prove me wrong. The top ten images and videos were chosen from nearly 2,000 entries from 62 countries. The first place winner is Ralph Grimm, a teacher from Australia who made the video above of a colony of microscopic rotifers from a lily pad in his pond. It is the first video to win the competition. __Above:__ 1st Place --------- __Ralph Grimm,__ Jimboomba, Queensland, Australia __Subject:__ Colonial rotifers showing eyespots and corona. __Technique:__ Differential interference contrast microscopy __Magnification:__ 200x - 500x *Image: Ralph Grimm / Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition®*
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2nd Place --------- __Arlene Wechezak,__ Anacortes,WA __Subject:__ Red algae *Scagelia*, showing reproductive tetraspores and golden diatoms. __Technique:__ Darkfield *Image: Arlene Wechezak / Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition®*
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3rd Place --------- __Igor Siwanowicz,__ HHMI, Ashburn,VA __Subject:__ A common East coast U.S. fern, *Polypodium virginianum*, showing a cluster of spore-filled sporangia and specialized protective hairs called paraphyses. __Technique:__ Confocal microscopy *Image: Igor Siwanowicz / Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition®*
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4th Place --------- __Christian Sardet and Sharif Mirshak,__ The Plankton Chronicles Project, Villefranche-sur-Mer, France, and Montreal, Quebec, Canada __Subject:__ Claw of the crustacean amphipode *Phronima sp*., Muscles and rows of pigment cells (melanocytes) are visible. *Image: Christian Sardet and Sharif Mirshak / Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition®*
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5th Place --------- __Rogelio Moreno Gill__, Panamá City, Panama __Subject:__ Unicellular green alga *Micrasterias* from lake sample. __Technique:__ 22 stacked images, differential interference contrast *Image: Rogelio Moreno Gill / Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition®*
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6th Place --------- __James Nicholson__, NOAA/NOS/NCCOS Center for Coastal Environmental Health & Biomolecular Research, Fort Johnson Marine Lab, Charleston, SC __Subject:__ Live mushroom coral *Fungia sp*., close-up of mouth during expansion. __Technique:__ Tungsten illumination; the green color is bright autofluorescence *Image: James Nicholson / Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition®*
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7th Place --------- __Christian Klämbt and Imke Schmidt__, University of Münster, Münster, Germany __Subject:__ Beta-tubulin expression of a *Drosophila* third instar larval brain, with attached eye imaginal discs. __Technique:__ Confocal microscopy *Image: Christian Klämbt and Imke Schmidt / Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition®*
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8th Place --------- __Edwin Lee__, Carrollton, TX __Subject:__ Henbit (*Lamium amplexicaule*) stamens anthers and filaments. Henbit is an annual plant that is sometimes regarded as a weed. The stamens is the male reproductive part of the flower. During pollination, pollen from the anthers is carried by wind or insects to the stigma of the pistil of another flower, where fertilization takes place. __Technique:__ Phase contrast illumination __Magnification:__ 100x *Image: Edwin Lee / Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition®*
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9th Place --------- *Sahar Khodaverdi*, University of Tabriz,Tabriz, East Azerbaijan, Iran __Subject:__ Seed of *Delphinium*. __Technique:__ Multiple Z- stacked images, epi-fluorescence *Image: Sahar Khodaverdi / Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition®*
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10th Place ---------- __Charles Krebs__, Issaquah,WA __Subject:__ Butterfly "Prola Beauty" (*Panacea prola*) wing scales. __Technique:__ Diffused reflected illumination __Magnification:__ 200x *Image: Charles Krebs / Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition®*
