Nikon has named the winner of its 2026 Small World photomicrography contest, and the top image is a study of ink droplets caught in motion.
Small World has run since 1975 and is generally treated as the most prominent showcase for photomicrography — images made through microscopes, spanning live-cell work, materials science and chemical processes at scales the eye never sees on its own. Past winners have ranged across dancing insect parts, crystal growth and cellular structures; this year's pick takes an entirely ordinary subject, the ink inside a printer cartridge, and renders it at a scale and speed that makes it look alien.
The full run of honorable mentions and runners-up is where the contest does most of its work for general readers: it is one of the few annual fixtures where laboratory technique and aesthetic judgment are weighed on the same page, and the gallery is usually the more shareable half of the announcement.
Ars Technica has the winner and the accompanying images.
