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Bristling with sharp, sensitive antennae, bulbous eyes with 4,000 lenses, and a mouth that sucks up food using a bellows-like pump in its head, the common housefly is one of 119,500 known species of fly, and this year's winning image in Nikon's Small World competition. Founded in 1975 to recognize excellence in photography through the microscope, the competition is the leading forum for celebrating the beauty and complexity of objects seen through the light microscope. This year's winning photographers will be recognized this evening at New York's famed Hudson Theatre where Nikon will unveil the complete gallery of winning photographs set to tour science and art museums across the nation beginning January 1st. The top three images include Mr. Charles Krebs' photomicrograph of a common housefly, Mr. Thomas Deerinck's quantum dot fluorescence image of a mouse kidney section, and Mr. Stefan Eberhard's crystallized image of vitamin A.

"Nikon's Small World provides a unique opportunity for people to see ordinary things in an extraordinary way," said Lee Shuett, executive vice president, Nikon Instruments. "Modern microscopes have become information technology platforms that combine sophisticated optics, internet communications and advanced software to unveil amazing new worlds in miniature. Tonight, we will honor and celebrate each Small World contributor as we congratulate the 2005 winners."

Nikon is also adding a new award category titled "Images of Distinction" which is granted to outstanding photomicrographs submitted by Small World contestants whose images demonstrate technical competency and artistic skill. Each year, Nikon makes the winning images accessible to the public through the Nikon Small World calendar, a national museum tour, and an electronic gallery featured at www.nikonsmallworld.com. Images submitted by Nikon Small World winners' were selected from over 1,700 photomicrographs sent to Nikon by scientists and artists from around the globe and judged by a panel of experts.

For 2005, the Nikon Small World distinguished panel of judges includes Jennifer Waters, Ph.D. Microscopy Director of Harvard Medical School; Todd James, Illustrations Editor for National Geographic magazine; Emily Harrison, Photography Editor of Scientific American magazine; Alexey Khodjakov, Research Scientist at the Wadsworth Center for the New York Department of Health. Michael Davidson, Director of the Optical and Magneto-Optical Imaging Center at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida State University served as a consultant to the judges.

"Each one of these photographs helps us a share in a moment of discovery,"said Eric Flem, communications manager, Nikon Instruments. "As we view these images, we can better understand our own role in the universe and how connected we are to each other. I urge people to share this experience when the annual Small World museum tour, launching in January, arrives at a museum near you."

THE OFFICIAL 2005 NIKON SMALL WORLD WINNERS

The 2005 gallery of winning images can be viewed at https://www.nikonsmallworld.com.

1st Place
Charles B. Krebs
Charles Krebs Photography
Issaquah, Washington, USA
Muscoid fly (house fly) (6.25x)
Reflected light

2nd Place
Thomas J. Deerinck
National Center for Microscopy & Imaging Research
University of California - San Diego
La Jolla, California, USA
Quantum dot fluorescence image of mouse kidney section (240x)
Fluorescence (2-photon)

3rd Place
Stefan Eberhard
Complex Carbohydrate Research Center
University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia, USA
Crystallized vitamin A (40x)
Polarized light

4th Place
Edy Kieser
Ennenda, Switzerland
Crystallized succinic acid and urea (50x)
Polarized light

5th Place
Neil J. Egan
PPG Industries
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Bacteria growth in petri dish (30x)
Stereomicroscopy

6th Place
Margaret N. Oechsli
Jewish Hospital, Heart & Lung Institute
Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Phenyl threonine (20x)
Brightfield

7th Place
Dr. Shirley A. Owens
Center for Advanced Microscopy
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan, USA
Carpet fibers (20x)
Fluorescence and polarized light

8th Place
Thomas J. Deerinck
National Center for Microscopy & Imaging Research
University of California - San Diego
La Jolla, California, USA
Quantum dot fluorescence image of mouse small intestine (120x)
Fluorescence (2-photon)

9th Place
Dr. John M. Huisman
Murdoch University
Murdoch, Western Australia
Chaetomorpha antennina (seaweed) (20x)
Brightfield

10th Place
Susan Johnson
CSIRO Plant Industry, Horticulture Unit
Glen Osmond, South Australia
Vitis vinifera (grape) (10x)
Darkfield

11th Place
Ron J. Oldfield
Department of Biological Sciences
Macquarie University
Lepidozia sp. (a liverwort) spores and elaters (100x)
Brightfield

12th Place
Edy Kieser
Ennenda, Switzerland
Crystallized potassium chlorate (40x)
Polarized light

13th Place
Chiedozie Ukachukwu
Biomedical Photographic Communications Student
Student at the Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester, New York, USA
Bryozoan Statoblast (diminutive aquatic animal of the phylum Bryozoa) (10x)
Darkfield

14th Place
Dr. Paul D. Andrews
Division of Gene Regulation and Expression, School of Life Sciences
University of Dundee
Dundee, UK
Xenopus (frog) XLK2 cell (100x)
Fluorescence and deconvolution

15th Place
Dr. Shumel Silberman
Ramat Gan, Israel
Geranium flower (20x)
Fiber optic illumination

16th Place
Dr. Donald W. Pottle
The Schepens Eye Research Institute
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Crystalline formations from evaporated contact lens solution (400x)
Differential interference contrast

17th Place
Jan Schmoranzer
Columbia University
New York, New York, USA
NIH 3T3 fibroblasts (mouse cells) (600x)
Fluorescence

18th Place
Dr. Christian Bohley
Department of Experimental Physics
Otto-von-Guericke-University of Magdeburg
Magdeburg, Germany
Cholesteric phase of 55% CB15 in E48 (substance used in manufacture of Liquid Crystal Displays) (100x)
Polarized light

19th Place
Ian C. Walker
Huddersfield, UK
Feather of a Dominican Cardinal Bird (25x)
Crossed-polars Rheinberg illumination

20th Place
Dr. Oliver Skibbe
AlgaTerra Information System
Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Berlin-Dahlem
Berlin, Germany
Living diatoms- Pinnularia sp. (Bacillariophyceae) (250x)
Differential interference contrast

HONORABLE MENTIONS

HONORABLE MENTION
Tracy E. Anderson
Imaging Center
College of Biological Sciences
University of Minnesota
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Velcro(R) being pulled apart (94x)
Stereomicroscopy with epi-ring illumination

HONORABLE MENTION
Dr. Marie-Helene Bre
Laboratory of Cellular Biology
University of Paris, South
Orsay, France
Tetrahymena thermophila (protozoa) cells (1500x)
Confocal

HONORABLE MENTION
Dr. Alistair M. Dove
Marine Sciences Research Center
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, New York, USA
Homarus americanus (American lobster) larvae (40x)
Stereomicroscopy (episcopic)

HONORABLE MENTION
Conor L. Evans and Eric O. Potma
Xie Research Group
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
CARS interferometry of dodecane droplets in water (40x)
Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering (CARS)

HONORABLE MENTION
Dr. Patrick C. Hickey
LUX Biotechnology Ltd.
Edinburgh, UK
Hyphal tips of Neurospora crassa (a filamentous fungus) (20x)
Confocal

HONORABLE MENTION
Dr. Dennis D. Kunkel
Dennis Kunkel Microscopy, Inc.
Kailua, Hawaii, USA
Crystallized ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and sucrose (40x)
Polarized light

HONORABLE MENTION
Dr. Stephen S. Nagy
Montana Diatoms
Clancy, Montana, USA
Fossil marine diatom, Actinoptychus heliopelta (900x)
Jamin-Lebedeff interference contrast

HONORABLE MENTION
Dr. Nasser M. Rusan
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
LLCPK1 (pig epithelial) cells (1000x)
Confocal, epi-fluorescence, and deconvolution

HONORABLE MENTION
Catherine Russell and Amanda Leach
Department of Polymer Science and Engineering
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
Electric field placed across layers of polydimethyl siloxane and polystyrene on a polished silicon wafer (60x)
Reflected light

HONORABLE MENTION
Spike Walker
Microworld Services
Penkridge, UK
Film of supersaturated solution scratched with a needle (4x)
Rheinberg illumination and polarized light

ABOUT THE 2005 NIKON SMALL WORLD PHOTOMICROGRAPHY COMPETITION

The Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition is open to anyone with an interest in photomicrography. Participants may submit their images in traditional 35mm format, or upload digital images directly at MicroscopyU on the Nikon Web site. The first and second of twenty prizewinners will receive a selection of Nikon products and equipment worth $3,000 and $2,000 respectively. For additional information, contact Nikon Small World, Nikon Instruments Inc., 1300 Walt Whitman Road, Melville, NY 11747, USA or phone (631) 547-8569.