Yet another Hacker News

Ink droplets in motion snag top prize in Nikon Small World contest

66 points _Microft 2 days ago 11 comments

hn-aarvin 1 hour ago | parent

The same photographer has two other photographs[^1] which previously were ranked highly in the contest. All seem to focus on chemical reactions and are stunning.

Interestingly, the previous two—of a candle and match—used 2.5x magnification, where as this one required 20x magnification, which just goes to show as to how tiny the printer mechanics really are.

[^1]: https://nikonsmallworld.com/people/ole-bielfeldt

King-Aaron 1 hour ago | parent

When I first saw this photo I refused to believe it was real. This is just so otherworldly, it's fantastic.

Smoosh 17 minutes ago | parent

I still have misgivings that it is AI generated or modified, but assume that the judges have done their due diligence. I’m a little saddened that I now have to question things such as this.

doctorzook 50 minutes ago | parent

It’s a great photo, but the second-place jumping spider is my favorite: it is just so adorable.

https://www.nikonsmallworld.com/galleries/2026-photomicrogra...

jacquesm 33 minutes ago | parent

It is! What are the little balls, are they pollen?

hack1312 31 minutes ago | parent

Yes, the title of the photo is “Jumping spider (Salticus scenicus) with pollen”

jacquesm 24 minutes ago | parent

Hah, ok, totally missed that, thank you. But it seemed an obvious candidate, they reminded me of those clingy balls that come off some plants so I figured they must be something like that.

selectodude 48 minutes ago | parent

Inkjet printers for their faults are some of the most insane technology that I can think of.

yhjc2692 15 minutes ago | parent

"Neurons in an expanded mouse brain" (3rd place) is also stunning:

https://www.nikonsmallworld.com/galleries/2026-photomicrogra...

I didn't know brains actually look like this inside. Our world truly is beautiful, across all scales!