Nell’infinitamente piccolo c’è spazio per una grande bellezza. Emerge chiaramente dalle foto vincitrici del 40esimo Premio Nikon Small World, un concorso per immagini catturate al microscopio. Quest’anno il primo premio è andato al panamense Rogelio Moreno, per il primissimo piano della bocca spalancata di un rotifero, un piccolissimo animale acquatico. Seconda posizione per l’italiano Alessandro Da Mommio dell’Università di Pisa, con le strutture che compongono un cristallo di calcite. Tra forme affascinanti e colori cangianti, le fotografie regalano vedute di un mondo spesso vicinissimo ma invisibile a occhio nudo.
La magia del mondo al microscopio: le foto vincitrici del Premio Small World 2014
1 class. Rogelio Moreno, "Rotifer showing the mouth interior and heart shaped corona" (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)
2 class. Alessandro Da Mommio, "Rhombohedral cleavage in calcite crystal" (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)
3 class. Noah Fram-Schwartz, "Jumping Spider Eyes" (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)
4 class. Karin Panser, "Caterpillar proleg with circle of gripping hooks in red" (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)
5 class. Muthugapatti K. Kandasamy, "Bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells stained for actin (pink), mitochondria (green) and DNA (yellow)" (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)
6 class. Douglas Brumley, "Active fluid flow around P. damicornis (coral polyp)" (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)
7 class. Dennis Hinks, "Circuitry in DVD reader" (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)
8 class. Igor Robert Siwanowicz, "Appendages of a common brine shrimp" (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)
9 class. Meritxell Vendrell, "Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) ovary fixed and stained to show lectins (red) and nuclei (blue)" (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)
10 class. Paul Joseph Rigby, "Daisy petal with fungal infection and pollen grains, whole mount, unstained" (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)
11 class. Stefano Barone, "House cricket's tongue (Acheta domesticus)" (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)
12 class. Douglas Moore, "Montana Dryhead agate, unpolished" (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)
13 class. Charles Krebs, "Conochilus unicornis (rotifer), actively feeding. This rotifer species forms a free floating spherical colony " (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)
14 class. Ali Erturk, "Mouse brain vasculature " (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)
15 class. Charles Krebs, "Chrysochroa buqueti (jewel beetle) carapace, near eye" (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)
16 class. Nils Lindstrom, "Three transgenic kidneys cultured together, showing colliding branching collecting duct systems " (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)
17 class. Rogelio Moreno, "Pleurotaenium ovatum (micro algae)" (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)
18 class. Jens H. Petersen, "Anagallis arvensis (scarlet pimpernel)" (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)
19 class. Sabrina Kaul, "Larval stage of the acorn worm Balanoglossus misakiensis, dorsal view, showing cell borders, muscles and apical eye spots" (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)
20 class. Dylan T. Burnette, "A crawling bone cancer (osteosarcoma) cell showing actin filament bundles in the lamella" (Courtesy of Nikon Small World)