Today’s word of the day is ‘Photomicrography’.Which is exactly what it sounds like… pictures taken with microscopes.The Nikon Small World competition is put on by Nikon Instruments, and it exists to shed a light on this little known and often over looked sub-genre of photography.And just so you know, and to build a little excitement… the grand finale of this picture spread is cow poop. There ya go Whitehall.Four-day-old zebrafish embryo | Photo credit: Dr. Oscar RuizPolished slab of Teepee Canyon agate | Photo credit: Douglas L. MooreCulture of neurons (stained green) derived from human skin cells, and Schwann cells, a second type of brain cell (stained red) | Photo credit: Rebecca NutbrownButterfly proboscis | Photo credit: Jochen SchroederFront foot (tarsus) of a male diving beetle | Photo credit: Dr. Igor SiwanowiczAir bubbles formed from melted ascorbic acid crystals | Photo credit: Marek MisLeaves of Selaginella (lesser club moss) | Photo credit: Dr. David MaitlandWildflower stamens | Photo credit: Samuel SilbermanEspresso coffee crystals | Photo credit: Vin Kitayama and Sanae KitayamaFrontonia (showing ingested food, cilia, mouth and trichocysts) | Photo credit: Rogelio Moreno GillScales of a butterfly wing underside (Vanessa atalanta) | Photo credit: Francis SneyersHuman HeLa cell undergoing cell division | Photo credit: Dr. Dylan BurnettePoison fangs of a centipede | Photo credit: Walter PiorkowskiMouse retinal ganglion cells | Photo credit: Dr. Keunyoung KimHead section of an orange ladybird | Photo credit: Geir Drange65 fossil Radiolarians (zooplankton) carefully arranged by hand in Victorian style | Photo credit: Stefano BaroneSlime mold (Mixomicete) | Photo credit: Jose AlmodovarParts of wing-cover (elytron), abdominal segments and hind leg of a broad-shouldered leaf beetle | Photo credit: Pia ScanlonHuman neural rosette primordial brain cells, differentiated from embryonic stem cells | Photo credit: Dr. Gist F. Croft, Lauren Pietilla, Stephanie Tse, Dr. Szilvia Galgoczi, Maria Fenner, Dr. Ali H. BrivanlouAnd as promised… drum roll please… I did this for you… and SCIENCE!Cow dung | Photo credit: Michael Crutchley