From Astronomical to the Microscopic
Blog vol 5.16. From Astronomical to the Microscopic
For a while, we have had our gaze on the heavens with solar and lunar eclipses, and most recently, a new miniature moon (so cool). Moving from the infinitely big to the infinitesimally small. In September, Nikon, a world leader in photography, ophthalmic lenses, and microscopy, announced the 2024 winners of the “Small World in Motion” contest.
Nikon has had a microphotography contest since 1975 and the winning photos over the past 50 years have been nothing short of stunning. With advancements in digital photography and in digital processing and storage, Nikon started a new competition in 2011 for motion videos. My CBC news feed highlighted the top 5 winners in this year’s competition, wow! Amazing! Take a look at this year's winners here.
One of the six judges for the contest, Samantha Yammine, put it best when she stated that this competition is “the perfect merger of art and science.” The still photos are in the same league.
“These things, these things were here and but the beholder,
Wanting;”
— 19th century English poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Hurrahing in Harvest
Hopkins’ words are a response to the glories of autumn, but apply equally well to the micro-worlds going on under our very noses as we rush about our days. The things you will see.
Mitotic waves in the embryo of a fruit fly, water droplets evaporating from the wing scales of a peacock butterfly, an oligodendrocyte precursor cell in the spinal cord of a zebrafish,… a baby tardigrade riding a nematode…
What a great contest. Thank you, Nikon.
This fall take time to go outside, enjoy the colours, the smells, the brisk breeze, and don’t lose sight of a world that is incredibly fascinating, so big AND so small.
The good doctor
