The Nikon Small World in Motion 2025 winners have just been announced. This competition features the best in movie or digital time-lapse photography taken through a microscope.

Microscopic Movie Magic

The judges narrowed down the choices from a staggering 325 video entries from 34 countries. First prize was awarded to Jay McClellan from Michigan for his video of a thyme-leaved speedwell self-pollinating.

“This isn’t some exotic plant you’d need to travel the world to find. It’s a common ‘weed’ that might be growing right under your feet,” said McClellan. “I love the idea that anyone could discover beauty like this if they just looked closely.”

Since the speedwell plant blooms quickly, McClellan created his own hardware and software to capture the video and keep the plant in focus. McClellan also earned an honorable mention for his video of the dissolution and crystallization of cobalt, copper, and sodium crystals.

“The best part for me is not winning a prize but getting the opportunity to share my work with the world and let people see microscopic wonders in a new way,” said McClellan.

Second place was awarded to Benedikt Pleyer for his video of algae swimming in a water droplet, which was filmed within a Japanese 50 yen coin. Dr. Eric Vitriol won third place in the competition for a video of mitochondria and actin in mouse brain tumor cells. The fourth place winner, Penny Fenton, created a video of a tardigrade moving around on a Volvox algae colony.

The winners’ videos reflect the competition’s goal of inspiring discovery and highlighting the artistic side of scientific exploration.

“As we celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Small World in Motion competition, this year’s winners showcase the extraordinary choreography of life unfolding at a scale beyond ordinary sight,” Eric Flem, Senior Manager, Communications and CRM at Nikon Instruments, said in a statement sent to IFLScience.