A tiny structure on the leaf of a cannabis plant appears as a fairy-tale tree adorned with purple bubbles for leaves. A green crab spider, which could comfortably sit on a kernel of corn, seems to train four of its eight eyes directly on you. Brain tumor cells, colored in vivid green and purple on a black background, look like a moody floral abstract. Capturing the smallest elements of our world in dazzling detail—and celebrating the science behind them—has been a hallmark of the Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition for 50 years. Nikon Instruments Inc. announced the 2024 competition winners today, but really, we’re all winners when it comes to viewing these gasp-worthy works of art and labors of the lab.

This year’s top winning image has an added bonus—it could one day save your life. The ground-breaking image of mouse brain tumor cells took Augusta University’s Bruno Cisterna and Eric Vitriol months of trial and error to create, and shows the cells’ architecture in unprecedented detail. Information gleaned from the image on how specific cell structures function and break down could one day lead to more effective treatments for a host of neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS.

Other notable images that got the Nikon nod included what appears to be an extraterrestrial pugilist (it’s actually the “snout” of a palm weevil) and, the winner of our hearts, a cross-section of a fern stem that looks more like Jabba the Hutt, or maybe Grimace after a rough night, than a piece of plant.

The Nikon Small World judges selected 88 images to honor from the thousands submitted. Here are some of our favorites from the official Top 20, honorable mentions, and images of distinction.

It's not an alien fixing for a fight, but it can pack a punch. Female palm weevils use their rostrum, or "snout," photographed here by Tanta University's Sherif Abdallah Ahmed, to deposit eggs in palm tissue, causing extensive damage to the plants.
It’s not an alien fixing for a fight, but it can pack a punch. Female palm weevils use their rostrum, or “snout,” photographed here by Tanta University’s Sherif Abdallah Ahmed, to deposit eggs in palm tissue, causing extensive damage to the plants.

Peacocks are showy birds, of course, but Swedish scientist-turned-photographer Håkan Kvarnström captured the dizzying detail behind their razzle-dazzle display in this 4X objective lens magnification of a single plume feather.
Peacocks are showy birds, of course, but Swedish scientist-turned-photographer Håkan Kvarnström captured the dizzying detail behind their razzle-dazzle display in this 4X objective lens magnification of a single plume feather.

Two of the competition's images of distinction had a touch of whimsy: a bashful-seeming water mite (<em>Arrenurus</em>) posing for amateur photographer Jacek Myslowski at 6.3X objective lens magnification (left) and acclaimed slime mold photographer Alison Pollack's delightful portrait of <em>Lamproderma arcyrioides</em>, at 10X objective lens magnification, with just the right "head tilt."
Two of the competition’s images of distinction had a touch of whimsy: a bashful-seeming water mite (Arrenurus) posing for amateur photographer Jacek Myslowski at 6.3X objective lens magnification (left) and acclaimed slime mold photographer Alison Pollack’s delightful portrait of Lamproderma arcyrioides, at 10X objective lens magnification, with just the right “head tilt.”

Nature photographer Chew Yen Fook has earned acclaim for coauthoring several birding guides to Southeast Asia, but he went in a different direction entirely for this image of distinction: zooming in on graffiti adorning a section of the Berlin Wall at 10X objective lens magnification .
Nature photographer Chew Yen Fook has earned acclaim for coauthoring several birding guides to Southeast Asia, but he went in a different direction entirely for this image of distinction: zooming in on graffiti adorning a section of the Berlin Wall at 10X objective lens magnification .

Longtime nature and science photographer David Maitland added a bit of humor to the competition with this cross-section of the stem of a bracken fern (<em>Pteridium aquilinum</em>) at 5X objective lens magnification. The resemblance to Grimace after too much partying, or Jabba the Hutt after too much, we don't know, Jabba-ing, is uncanny—or do we just suffer from facial pareidolia?
Longtime nature and science photographer David Maitland added a bit of humor to the competition with this cross-section of the stem of a bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) at 5X objective lens magnification. The resemblance to Grimace after too much partying, or Jabba the Hutt after too much, we don’t know, Jabba-ing, is uncanny—or do we just suffer from facial pareidolia?

Photomicrographer Paweł Błachowicz captured the stern gaze(s) of a tiny green crab spider at 20X objective lens magnification to win 13th place in the competition.
Photomicrographer Paweł Błachowicz captured the stern gaze(s) of a tiny green crab spider at 20X objective lens magnification to win 13th place in the competition.

The infrastructure of mouse brain cell tumors is seen at 40X objective lens magnification in the first-place winning image by Augusta University's Bruno Cisterna and Eric Vitriol. It took Cisterna three months to perfect his method of staining and photographing the cells, which may one day help scientists understand how cellular infrastructure breaks down.
The infrastructure of mouse brain cell tumors is seen at 40X objective lens magnification in the first-place winning image by Augusta University’s Bruno Cisterna and Eric Vitriol. It took Cisterna three months to perfect his method of staining and photographing the cells, which may one day help scientists understand how cellular infrastructure breaks down.