Following our nearly annual tradition, this month’s cover features an image from the Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition. Our pick, which won fourth place in the competition, was captured by Amy Engevik from the Medical University of South Carolina and features a section of small intestine from a mouse.

A selection of Small World top-20 images, honorable mentions and images of distinction. Clockwise from top left: differentiated mouse brain tumor cells (first place), captured by Bruno Cisterna and Eric Vitriol; cross section of beach grass (image of distinction), captured by Gerd Günther; human neurons (image of distinction), captured by Saikat Ghosh; antenna of a mole crab (honorable mention), captured by Igor Robert Siwanowicz; aster anther cross section with pollen grains (image of distinction), captured by Igor Robert Siwanowicz; cross section of European beach grass (seventh place), captured by Gerhard Vlcek; brine shrimp (honorable mention), captured by Christopher Algar; water fleas (16th place), captured by Marek Miś.

Budding microscopist-artists may be interested in submitting their work to several other competitions, including those hosted by BioImaging North America, the Microscopy Society of America and FocalPlane-European Light Microscopy Initiative. Other companies such as BioLegend also host microscopic art competitions. And some institutions, such as the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), highlight beautiful images produced by their scientists. If you appreciate microscopic art, these websites will be a feast for your eyes. And below, we highlight some of the other winners, honorable mentions and images of distinction from the Small World competition. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!