#microscopy

#microscopy

From a remarkable demonstration of flower self-pollination to algae swimming in a water droplet in a Japanese 50 Yen coin, the winners of this year's Nikon Small World in Motion competition capture some of the natural world's most beautiful, otherworldly, and otherwise invisible phenomena. The top prize was awarded to Michigan-based photographer Jay McClellan, who captured a timelapse of a thymeleaf speedwell flower, incorporating image stacking techniques to depict the blossom at 5x magnification. McClellan's video of crystallizing cobalt, copper, and sodium chlorides was awarded an honorable mention, too.

The biomedical animator Drew Barry is known for his dazzling visualisations of biological processes that unfold on microscopic scales. As enlightening as it is arresting, his imagery straddles the line between science and art, as seen in his work as the in-house animator for the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia, and in his music video collaboration with Björk.

I had been feeling overwhelmed about the state of the world: the climate crisis, ecological devastation, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and growing political toxicity.