A video of tiny hair-like structures fluttering in the airways of a child with a rare genetic disease has won an international microscopic imagery contest.
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The video, taken by Ning Xu, a researcher at Tsinghua University in China, is one of dozens highlighted by the 2026 Nikon Small World In Motion competition.
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Dr Xu's video, magnified to 100 times in size, shows cilia that line airways to clear out mucus.
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In people like this child with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), they move strangely and make it harder to keep lungs clear.
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Dr Xu used a series of complicated light waves to illuminate different parts of the sample in colour, allowing researchers to gain a better understanding of PCD.
Surprise roundworm altercation
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Vietnamese researcher Nguyen Nam Nhat was awarded second place for a video of a microscopic roundworm, or nematode, encountering a single-celled organism called a Dileptus.
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Mr Nguyen said the footage was a chance observation.
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"I had intended only to film Dileptus specimens from a naturally collected water sample in order to study their morphology," he said.
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But a rogue roundworm appeared, pressing itself up against the Dileptus.
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The Dileptus lost a chunk of its tiny body in the struggle to escape.
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"After examining several similar cases, I found that pressing against or immobilising other organisms appears to be one of the typical defensive behaviours employed by nematodes," Mr Nguyen said.
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Baby jellyfish in ocean drops
Microscopic photographer Benedikt Pleyer won third place for a video of various types of jellyfish larvae.
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Mr Pleyer set up the shots by suspending water droplets on a string over a petri dish, sliding tiny larvae into the drops.
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Most jellyfish-containing droplets splashed into the petri dish too quickly to film, so it took months to collect the footage.
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"This is a game of patience," he said.
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Sea slug, fungus take honourable mentions
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Other entrants received honourable mentions such as a video of the Cyerce kikutarobabai sea slug, which is native to the western Pacific Ocean.
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Animals weren't the only things on display, with one video showing the growth of the Penicillium venetum fungus, which can cause rot in garlic.
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Loading...Another video showed the formation of crystals of the food additive monosodium glutamate (MSG).
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Loading...Bioluminescent sparkles
Mr Pleyer also received an honourable mention for a video of tropical phytoplankton he had collected and cultured.
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The phytoplankton, which are magnified to 200 times their size, glow when they are physically disturbed.
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"The biggest problem with this bioluminescent reaction is how to trigger it and to at the same time get a clear shot," Mr Pleyer said.
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Jostling the phytoplankton to get a reaction makes the camera shake too much at this resolution, so Mr Pleyer used glycerol to fix them in place, and a small electric charge to trigger the bioluminescence.
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Tardigrades, animals half a millimetre in size, featured in several other videos.
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Mr Pleyer said amateur microscopy enthusiasts had an important role to play in science.
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"The microcosmos is a vast field and we don't know much about it yet," he said.
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In the past decade, it's become much easier and cheaper to see moving things at the micro scale.
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"With the digital revolution, a sensor, a camera, you can just go," Mr Pleyer said.
"
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You will come across things that probably have not been observed."
The full list of winners and honourable mentions are published on the competition's website.
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The Aporia
