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Olympus BioScapes competition features stunning images

"For 11 years, Olympus has sponsored this competition to shed light on the importance of research," said Hidenao Tsuchiya.

By Brooks Hays
The competition's winner, the embryonic development of a fruit fly. Photo by William Lemon/ Fernando Amat/Philipp Keller/HHMI Janelia Research Campus.
1 of 5 | The competition's winner, the embryonic development of a fruit fly. Photo by William Lemon/ Fernando Amat/Philipp Keller/HHMI Janelia Research Campus.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Every year, the Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition shines a light on some of the most impressive and visually stunning images of human, plant and animal subjects captured via light microscopes. This year's winners were unveiled on Tuesday, and 2014's crop of images captured a captivating array of tiny moments -- moments normally hidden from the human eye.

Included among the top ten are a variety of awe-inspiring biological processes, including the development of a fruit fly, rapidly firing neurons inside zebrafish's brain, the oral appendages of a barnacle, and more.

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"For 11 years, Olympus has sponsored this competition to shed light on the importance of research and draw attention to the amazing intersection of science and art," said Hidenao Tsuchiya, Chairman of Olympus Scientific Solutions Americas, part of the Japan-based optics manufacturer Olympus Corporation.

"Olympus BioScapes movies and images have spurred public interest in and support of microscopy, drawn attention to the vital work that goes on in laboratories worldwide, and inspired young people to seek careers in science," Hidenao added.

Out of the dozens and dozens of submitted images, the competition's judges selected not a still image but a video as the winner -- a series of moving images that reveals the surreal story of a fruit fly's embryonic development.

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