Nikon held its second annual Small World In Motion competition, which celebrates the best in microphotography and micro videos, and the winners are truly stunning. Taking top prize in the microscopic video category is Wim van Egmond’s footage of a trachelius ciliate feeding on a campanella ciliate (filmed at 250X). You can watch the gold-winning clip above. Coming in second place is Danielle Parsons’ video of the gut contents of a termite which containing hundreds of species of single-celled parabasalid microorganisms (see video just below). And the bronze medal goes to Gonzalo Avila whose video shows a parasitoid larva breaking out of its host and then spinning its cocoon to start pupation, shot at 10X (see video at the bottom of the post). The videos echo the words of Victor Hugo who writes in Les Miserables: “Where the telescope ends, the microscope begins. Which of the two has the grander view?” You can see the honorable mentions, as well as the winners in the photography category, by visiting NikonSmallWorld.com. (Source: Kottke)
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