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If you associate camera manufacturer Nikon with those silly ads that feature Ashton Kutcher, you may somewhat relieved to know that they also do some good in the world. As well as making some pretty swanky SLRs, the company manufactures scientific microscopes, and it runs an annual competition for photography at a microscopic scale. This year's results are in, and the company has published a selection of the winners on its site -- and they're as spectacular as ever. The photos -- which we spotted at Ars Technica -- are all kinds of amazing, encompassing everything from algae and fossils to a fly's eye and the curiously perverse beauty of a cancer cell.
Developing blood vessels in the brain.
These are baby Lynx spiders.
This is a cancer cell, believe it or not -- specifically, it's a cell of a bone tumor called an osteosarcoma.
A dissected fly's eye.
A desmid, which is a type of green algae.
This is an ant carrying one of its larvae. Ants are amazing.
Ancient snail shells and shrimp, fossilized in agate.
This curious-looking unit is the primordium of a garlic flower.
... and this is what's swimming in your water.
Finally, more algae -- this is a species called Pilota, which you can read about on a site called AlgaeBase.
A version of this post appears on Flavorpill, an Atlantic partner site.
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