Small World, Smaller Creatures

In the microscope-aided photography competition, these embryos stand out

By Julia Wallace

Posted on Oct 24, 2008 11:10 PM EDT

This shot of a nine-day-old chick embryo won first place in the popular vote on Nikon Small World's website. The New York Times's John Tierney thinks that's just because it's so dang cute, but I beg to differ: as ridiculously cool as it is, it looks something like a fruit snack-cum-monster. De Azevedo obtained this image by staining the embryo with green dye, immersing it in wintergreen oil, and photographing it with a stereomicroscope. Courtesy Nikon Small World Photo Micrography Competition; Photographed by Tomas Pais de Azevedo

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Nikon’s annual Small World Competition has been awarding prizes to the country’s best microscope-aided photography since 1977. The contest winners always present a reliably fascinating and freakish slice of life at a Lilliputian level. Last week, this year’s 115 winners were announced.

Since this is a column about reproduction—and since everyone loves to gaze upon an embryo every now and then—here’s a selection of the best of the unborn, ranging from the merely small to the seriously minuscule.