26 October 2019 | New Scientist | 29Small wonders
NATURE can be so strange and
beautiful that it challenges our
perception of reality. And rarely is
this truer than at the microscopic
scale, where even familiar forms
turn into something alien.
Take the psychedelic-looking
animal (large image). It is clearly
a turtle, but Teresa Zgoda and
Teresa Kugler from the US have
used stereomicroscopy and
fluorescence to take hundreds
of colourful photographs of the
different layers of this embryo,
then stitched them together to
give us an otherworldly glimpse
inside the reptile’s shell. Their
stunning final image has won
them the 2019 Nikon Small World
photomicrography competition.
The image that came 9th
(top left) subverts the idea of
the beauty of flowers. It is a
cross section of a tulip bud by
Andrei Savitsky from Ukraine.
At the centre is the female pistil,
surrounded by six male stamens –
rendered as blue and yellow
butterflies by having their tops
sliced off. Around them, petals
and sepals curl delicately.
Perhaps the strangest image
(bottom left), which came 17th,
was created by Karl Deckart from
Germany. Is it a furry mammal’s
eye? Or the end of a peacock’s
feather? No, it is an essential part
of your diet. Deckart dissolved
crystals of vitamin C and let them
recrystallise on a microscope slide.
He then used a polarisation filter
to create the stunning colours of
the eye-like shape you see. And
it isn’t your imagination – it is
looking right back at you. ❚
Chris Simms
Photographers Teresa Zgoda/
Teresa Kugler; Andrei Savitsky;
Karl Deckart
Nikon Small World