This incredible image of fern spores is just one of the many mind-blowing images that won the Olympus BioScapes Imaging Competition in 2012. Here are the top ten images and videos captured by life-science researchers.
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The first prize winner, Ralph Grimm, took home $5,000 worth of Olympus equipment for his first-place video of tiny creatures known as rotifers.
"These fascinating and beautiful images tell important stories that shed light on the living universe around us, showing us the intimate structures and dynamic events of life in ways that we cannot ordinarily see," Brad Burklow, of Olympus, said in a press release. "BioScapes movies and still images remind us of the fascination and beauty of the natural world, and highlight important work going on in laboratories across the globe."
The winners were announced yesterday, Dec. 16. You can see all the runners up on the Olympus website. A selection of these images and movies will be displayed on a museum tour this year.
Ralph Grimm caught this movie of Rotifers, snagging first prize. Rotifers are tiny creatures that live in freshwater environments around the world. The constant movements of the hair-like cillia sweep food into their mouths.
Arlene Wechezak snapped this image of red algae. The image shows its reproductive machinery.
Igor Siwanowicz took this image of a common East-coast fern. It shows a cluster of spore-filled reproductive units and the specialized protective hairs around it.
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