Nikon just announced the winners for its 2013 Small World Photomicrography Competition. It's basically a collection of the best images of things you can only see under a light microscope. Or better yet, it's the best photographs of things you can't actually see. Here are some fantastically creepy shots that were our favorites.
The picture above shows a worker ant taken by Dimitri Seeboruth.
A parasitic wasp larva on the abdomen of a spider by Geir Drange (5x)
A mouse foot showing blood vessels, immune cells and soft tissue. By Dr. Andrew J. Woolley, Himanshi Desai and Dr. Kevin Otto
Mites on a beetle. Taken by Nikola Rahme
This spiky ball of fun is actually a 100x view of a fern sorus by Dr. Igor Siwanowicz
Though it may look like a Pokemon, it's actually a rabbit embryo snapped by Dr. Gabriel G. Marins and Rob Bryson-Richardson
A fish egg cluster by Dr. Jaime Gomez-Gutierrez
DISCUSSION
On one particularly sunny day in one of the many tributaries of the great Mississippi, a cluster of fish eggs was born into the world. This cluster contained hundreds of soon-to-be young fish, all waiting for their chance to shine. But one particular fish egg was already starting to outshine the others.
"It sure is a good day to be a fish egg!" said the smiling fish egg. "I can't imagine a better place to be!"
But what the little fish egg didn't know was that this was not, in fact, a good place to be, as they would soon be eaten by a passing catfish.
The end.