A video showing microscopic structures in the airways of a child with a rare genetic disease has won Nikon’s annual Small World In Motion competition, BBC News reports. The competition is open worldwide to people interested in filming or creating time-lapse photography through a microscope.
The winning entry focuses on cilia, tiny hair-like structures found in the airways. The footage was magnified 100 times, allowing the structures to be seen in detail, although the supplied material does not describe the medical condition beyond identifying it as a rare genetic disease.
The video was submitted by Dr Ning Xu, a researcher at Tsinghua University in China. According to the source, Dr Xu used a series of complicated light waves to illuminate different parts of the sample in colour.
The competition’s runners-up included footage of a roundworm encountering a single-celled organism and microscopic jellyfish larvae suspended in droplets of water. The source does not provide further information about the organisms or explain how the interactions shown in the videos unfolded.
Clips featuring bioluminescent algae and a tiny sea slug were also highly commended. Together, the entries showcase microscopic subjects ranging from structures inside a child’s airways to small marine organisms and interactions between tiny living creatures.
Nikon’s competition is designed for people around the world with an interest in microscope-based film and time-lapse photography. BBC News presented the entries in a video report lasting 58 seconds.