Ink droplets in motion snag top prize in Nikon Small World contest (arstechnica.com)
197 points by _Microft 3 days ago
yhjc2692 6 hours ago
"Neurons in an expanded mouse brain" (3rd place) is also stunning:
https://www.nikonsmallworld.com/galleries/2026-photomicrogra...
I didn't know brains actually look like this inside. Our world truly is beautiful, across all scales!
changoplatanero 5 hours ago
i'm not an expert but i think the word expansion here is referring to techniques they use to spread everything out in order to make it easier to see. someone told me that they use the same material that baby diapers are made out of which expands when you soak it in water.
landonxjames 6 hours ago
There is an interesting video of his rig for this shot in this article: https://www.nikonsmallworld.com/masters-of-microscopy/ole-bi...
_ache_ 4 hours ago
The video is nice but the movement is inverted from the photo.
I would like to redo the setup myself.
doctorzook 7 hours ago
It’s a great photo, but the second-place jumping spider is my favorite: it is just so adorable.
https://www.nikonsmallworld.com/galleries/2026-photomicrogra...
JumpCrisscross 6 hours ago
The parasitoid wasp doing its little dance move [1] gave me a chuckle.
[1] https://www.nikonsmallworld.com/galleries/2026-photomicrogra...
nafey an hour ago
This pic reminds me of the Children of Time series of novels
jacquesm 6 hours ago
It is! What are the little balls, are they pollen?
hack1312 6 hours ago
Yes, the title of the photo is “Jumping spider (Salticus scenicus) with pollen”
jacquesm 6 hours ago
undefined 6 hours ago
King-Aaron 7 hours ago
When I first saw this photo I refused to believe it was real. This is just so otherworldly, it's fantastic.
Smoosh 6 hours ago
I still have misgivings that it is AI generated or modified, but assume that the judges have done their due diligence. I’m a little saddened that I now have to question things such as this.
Liuser 5 hours ago
From the article: “Bielfeldt does not use AI in his images, preferring to rely on traditional techniques.”
gnabgib 5 hours ago
MBCook 6 hours ago
I think they had a problem with that last year, so I suspect they may be extra vigilant.
gnabgib 5 hours ago
hn-aarvin 7 hours ago
The same photographer has two other photographs[^1] which previously were ranked highly in the contest. All seem to focus on chemical reactions and are stunning.
Interestingly, the previous two—of a candle and match—used 2.5x magnification, where as this one required 20x magnification, which just goes to show as to how tiny the printer mechanics really are.
selectodude 7 hours ago
Inkjet printers for their faults are some of the most insane technology that I can think of.
yhjc2692 6 hours ago
Yep, the entire field of MEMS is both outlandishly complex and fascinating. For those who are curious, take a quick look at https://courses.washington.edu/me557/nthu/mems.pdf, which gives a nice overview of the different mechanisms and manufacturing processes involved.
HelloUsername 2 hours ago
luipugs 2 hours ago
Linking to a page that links to the source is wild.
melq 4 hours ago
Pollen (second photo with the spider) looks so sinister!
jcims 6 hours ago
Looks like this is the instragram page of the photographer for the inkjet photo.
It's very obviously not a standard inkjet printer setup, but if you poke around you'll see some custom rigs that make it come together.
undefined 6 hours ago
cellsstudio 4 hours ago
Thanks for sharing - what an incredible perspective on the mundane. Seriously seems like peering into an alien world and really it's just what's happen while someone sips their coffee and stares at a wall haha.
Anyone seen Thirteenth Floor that old 90s VR movie? Really reminds me of the power for that.
erickhill 3 hours ago
I've been seeing this photo all over the place recently.
7kago_yomi 5 hours ago
Next, I would like him to visualize the "macro" economy side of things too.