Sixth Annual Competition Recognizes Videos Capturing Hidden Details of Microscopic World

Nikon Instruments Inc. today unveiled the winners of the sixth annual Nikon Small World in Motion Photomicrography Competition, awarding First Place to William Gilpin of Stanford University for his video depicting an eight-week-old starfish larva churning the water around its body as it searches for food. Gilpin and his colleagues studied the starfish larva as a model system for how physics shapes evolution, and were surprised and intrigued that a common organism like a starfish could create such an intricate and unexpected pattern in the water.

These complex currents are not only aesthetically pleasing – they depict a phenomenon that was previously unknown, and illustrate how starfish larvae have evolved intricate appendages to create these beautiful and physically taxing flow patterns. The elegant vortices of water efficiently pull particles towards the animal's body, but it comes at a price: reducing the larva's ability to swim to escape predators while also broadcasting its current location.

This microscopic larva, although only less than a millimeter in length, could have big implications. The cilia in the starfish larva that make these vortices possible are universal and present in most other organisms, including humans. “While starfish are the among the first animals that have evolved to control the environment around them in this manner, science proves that adaptations are likely mimicked by other more-complex animals later,” said Gilpin. “Biology aside, this process can also be the foundation for industrial purposes for something like advancements in water filters for precise manipulation of water.”

To create the video, Gilpin and his team used dark field microscopy to film the paths of small plastic beads that were directed by the flow currents around the starfish, similar to how photographers capture time-lapse videos of star trails in the night sky. They then stacked images in contiguous groups to make a time-resolved long-exposure video to showcase the movement.

To capture and share movement – and life - seen under the microscope is a relatively new phenomenon, powered by advances in video capabilities in recent years. This is only the sixth year of the “In Motion” category, led by scientists and artists like Gilpin pulling back the curtain on a dimension of life previously unseen to all but a select few.

“The beauty of this time-lapse video and the science behind it epitomizes how video is not only essential to scientific researchers, but to inspire future scientists to explore life around them,” said Eric Flem, Communications Manager, Nikon Instruments. “It is one thing to see a still image captured under the microscope, but to see this life in motion truly puts the intricacy and beauty of the world into perspective.”

Another feeding frenzy took second place in the 2016 Nikon Small World in Motion competition. The video by Small World veteran Charles Krebs of Issaquah, Washington, depicts the hunting technique of the predatory ciliate, Lacrymaria olor. The organism rapidly extends its neck, which can stretch more than seven times its body length in any direction, to capture its microscopic prey.

This year’s third place video, by Wim van Egmond of Berkel en Rodenrijs, Netherlands, reveals the unexpected beauty of the fungus Aspergillus niger, a common food contaminant, through a time-lapse of its flowering bodies. Each frame is a combination of about 100 images. This particular strain is a mutation that results in sporangia of different colors. Even the individual spores are clear in this highly-detailed video.

In addition to First, Second and Third prize winners, Nikon Small World in Motion recognized an additional 17 entries as Honorable Mentions.

Gilpin and his team hope their video will inspire others to explore and discover the hidden world. “It gives us a chance to share and explain scientific discoveries that we hope will appeal to many other scientists, as well as the public at large,” said Gilpin. “For us, it's incredible and exciting that something as widely-known as a starfish can exhibit an unexpected and beautiful behavior, and we hope to share our excitement with others.”

The 2016 judging panel includes:

• Dr. Joe Hanson: Biologist, science writer, and the creator and host of PBS Digital Studios’ science education show “It’s Okay To Be Smart.”
• Rachel Link: Producer for National Geographic curating content for the publication’s Short Film Showcase.
• Dr. Brian J. Mitchell: Associate Professor in Cell and Molecular Biology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
• Dr. Clare Waterman:  National Institute of Health (NIH) Distinguished Investigator at the Laboratory of Cell and Tissue Morphodynamics.
• Eric Clark (Moderator): Research Coordinator and Applications Developer at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida State University.

Find out more

NIKON SMALL WORLD IN MOTION WINNERS

First Place
William Gilpin, Vivek N. Prakash, and Manu Prakash
Stanford University
Stanford, California, USA
An eight-week-old starfish larva creates vortices in order to capture its main food source, swimming algae
Dark Field
4x

Second Place
Charles Krebs
Charles Krebs Photography    
Issaquah, Washington, USA
The predatory ciliate (Lacrymaria olor)
Differential Interference Contrast
200x/400x
 
Third Place
Wim van Egmond
Micropolitan Museum    
Berkel en Rodenrijs, Netherlands
The fungus Aspergillus niger growing fruiting bodies
Stacking/Time-lapse
10x

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Honorable Mention
Dr. Scott Chimileski
Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Hundreds of harmless cheese mites (Tyrophagus casei) bustle across a rind of cheddar cheese
Stereomicroscopy     
5x

Honorable Mention
Frank Fox
Konz, Germnay
Rotifer (Collotheca spec.) with tentacles
Dark Field
80x

Honorable Mention
Dr. Liang Gao
Stony Brook University, Department of Chemistry
Stony Brook, New York, USA
The developmental process of an early stage C. elegans embryo with individual cells rendered in different colors
Tiling Light Sheet Selective Plane Illumination
45x
 
Honorable Mention
Ralph Grimm
Queensland, Australia
Blood circulation in the tail of a cane toad tadpole (Bufo Marinus)
Differential Interference Contrast    
100x/200x

Honorable Mention
Ralph Grimm
Queensland, Australia
Aquatic (freshwater) tubeworm
Differential Interference Contrast    
100x
 
Honorable Mention
Gerd Günther
Düsseldorf, Germany
Living alga cells of Haematococcus found in a bird bath
Dark Field Illumination/Differential Interference Contrast    
100x-400x

Honorable Mention
Dr. Elliott Hagedorn and Brian Li
Boston Children's Hospital/Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
A fluorescent dextran dye is injected into circulation, which subsequently illuminates the common blood flow between the parabiotic zebrafish embryos.    
Stereoscope, Epifluorescence
 
Honorable Mention
Peter Juzak
Sony Fotoclub Hannover
Wennigsen, Lower Saxony, Germany
Paracetamol crystal growth
Polarized Light
120x

Honorable Mention
Dr. Philipp Keller and Raghav K. Chhetri    
Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute    
Ashburn, Virginia, USA
Spatially isotropic whole-animal functional imaging of a behaving Drosophila larva labeled with a calcium indicator
Custom-built IsoView light-sheet microscope
16x    
 
Honorable Mention
Dr. Philipp Keller, Kristin Branson, and Fernando Amat
Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute    
Ashburn, Virginia, USA
Automated cell tracking in an entire developing zebrafish embryo
Custom-built IsoView light-sheet microscope
16x

Honorable Mention
Dr. Robert Markus
University of Nottingham
Beeston, United Kingdom
Birth and first steps of a faucet snail
Polarization/Color Dark Field    
50x

Honorable Mention
Dr. Renaud Renault    
Institut Curie, Weizmann Institute
Paris, France    
Neurons seeded in two different micro-compartments extend their neurites through micro-tunnels to establish connections with each other    
Epi fluorescence/Time-lapse (30 hours each shot)    
20x
 
Honorable Mention
Jan Rosenboom
Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
A German wasp (vespula germanica) awakening
Light Microscopy
30x
 
Honorable Mention
Tsutomu Tomita
TIMELAPSE VISION INC.
In vitro visualization of natural killer cells attacking a cancer cell
Time-lapse/ Phase Contrast
100x
 
Honorable Mention
Wim van Egmond
Micropolitan Museum    
Berkel en Rodenrijs, Netherlands
Micrasterias rotata cell division
Dark Field/Time Lapse    
160x
 
Honorable Mention
Dr. Anthony Vecchiarelli & Dr. Kiyoshi Mizuuchi
National Institutes of Health
North Potomac, Maryland, USA
Self-organization of purified proteins important in bacterial cell division
Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence     
10x/40x

Honorable Mention
Dr. Michael Weber
Harvard Medical School
Somerville, Massachusetts, USA
HaCaT cells expressing a fluorescent microtubule marker
Spinning Disk Confocal
60x

ABOUT THE NIKON SMALL WORLD PHOTOMICROGRAPHY COMPETITION

The Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition is open to anyone with an interest in photography. Participants may submit their images in traditional 35mm format, or upload digital images or videos directly at www.nikonsmallworld.com. For additional information, contact Nikon Small World, Nikon Instruments Inc., 1300 Walt Whitman Road, Melville, NY 11747, USA or phone (631) 547-4200.