Winners of Nikon's 'Small World in Motion Competition' that captures the microscopic world visible only through a microscope are announced

Optical equipment manufacturer Nikon has announced the winners of the 2024 Small World in Motion Competition, which focuses on movies and time-lapse photographs taken with optical microscopes.

2024 Small World in Motion Competition | Nikon's Small World
https://www.nikonsmallworld.com/galleries/2024-small-world-in-motion-competition

1st place: Increased mitosis in Drosophila melanogaster embryos
The first place winner was Bruno Velutini of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, who filmed a Drosophila melanogaster embryo undergoing mitosis. In just 30 seconds, the video shows the process of chromosome division, cell proliferation, and embryo differentiation .

2024 Nikon Small World in Motion Competition - First Place - YouTube


The movie was filmed using a light sheet microscope with a 20x objective magnification. 'The biggest challenge was to position the embryo correctly and optimize the imaging conditions to get clear, high-quality images over long periods of time,' says Velutini. 'It was crucial to balance the light exposure without damaging the sample.'

2nd place: Water droplets evaporating from the scales of a peacock butterfly
The second place winner was a movie of water droplets evaporating from the scales covering the wings of a peacock butterfly , filmed by Jay McClellan. The video was edited using 'image stacking,' which involves overlapping and averaging multiple photos taken in a time-lapse with a 5x objective lens magnification.

2024 Nikon Small World in Motion Competition - Second Place - YouTube


Butterfly scales have the effect of repelling water, and butterflies can fly even in the rain because their wings are covered with scales. In the movie, you can see how round water droplets on the scales evaporate and gradually become smaller.

3rd place: Oligodendrocyte precursor cells in the spinal cord of zebrafish
Oligodendrocyte precursor cells are cells that differentiate into oligodendrocytes that make up the myelin sheath that surrounds the axons of nerve cells. The third place winner was a movie of oligodendrocyte precursor cells in the spinal cord of a zebrafish, taken with a 20x objective lens on a confocal microscope . The movie was taken by Jia-Xin Li of the University of Oregon Medical School.

2024 Nikon Small World in Motion Competition - Third Place - YouTube


◆4th place: Friction transition in microtubule-based active liquid crystals
A movie shot with a fluorescence microscope by Ignasi Velez-Ceron, Francesc Sagües, and Jordi Ignés Murol of the Department of Materials Science and Physical Chemistry at the University of Barcelona won fourth place. It captures the phase transition caused by friction in an active nematic liquid crystal using tubulin and kinesin , which are proteins that make up microtubules .

2024 Nikon Small World in Motion Competition - Fourth Place - YouTube


5th place: Baby tardigrade riding on a nematode
This photo was taken with a dark-field microscope and a 10x objective lens, showing a tiny tardigrade riding on a wriggling nematode . The tardigrade moves its legs back and forth to skillfully ride on the dynamically moving nematode. The photographer is Quinten Geldhof.

2024 Nikon Small World in Motion Competition - Fifth Place - YouTube


In addition to the five winning entries, the 31 honorable mention entries are also listed on Nikon's Small World in Motion official website, so if you're interested, be sure to check them out. The Small World in Motion Competition is open to anyone aged 18 or over who is not an employee of Nikon or a competing optical equipment manufacturer.