A video showing hair-like structures called cilia moving abnormally due to primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) won the Nikon Small World In Motion competition. The contest, open internationally, features microscopic imagery captured through microscopes. Videos include a roundworm interacting with a single-celled organism and jellyfish larvae filmed over months by suspending water droplets on strings.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-16,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
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.
asserted
video → flutter → contest
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.
asserted
video → take → competition
Dr Xu's video, magnified to 100 times in size, shows cilia that line airways to clear out mucus.
asserted
that → magnify → mucus
In people like this child with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), they move strangely and make it harder to keep lungs clear.
asserted
it → move → lungs
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
asserted
researchers → use → roundworm
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.
asserted
roundworm → award → organism
Mr Nguyen said the footage was a chance observation.
asserted
footage → say → ?
"I had intended only to film Dileptus specimens from a naturally collected water sample in order to study their morphology," he said.
asserted
he → intend → morphology
But a rogue roundworm appeared, pressing itself up against the Dileptus.
asserted
roundworm → appear → Dileptus
The Dileptus lost a chunk of its tiny body in the struggle to escape.
asserted
Dileptus → lose → struggle
"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.
asserted
Nguyen → examine → nematodes
Baby jellyfish in ocean drops
Microscopic photographer Benedikt Pleyer won third place for a video of various types of jellyfish larvae.
asserted
Pleyer → win → larvae
Mr Pleyer set up the shots by suspending water droplets on a string over a petri dish, sliding tiny larvae into the drops.
asserted
Pleyer → set → drops
Most jellyfish-containing droplets splashed into the petri dish too quickly to film, so it took months to collect the footage.
asserted
it → contain → footage
"This is a game of patience," he said.
asserted
he → say → patience
Sea slug, fungus take honourable mentions
asserted
slug → take → mentions
Other entrants received honourable mentions such as a video of the Cyerce kikutarobabai sea slug, which is native to the western Pacific Ocean.
asserted
which → receive → Ocean
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.
asserted
which → show → garlic
Loading...Another video showed the formation of crystals of the food additive monosodium glutamate (MSG).
asserted
video → load → additive
Loading...Bioluminescent sparkles
Mr Pleyer also received an honourable mention for a video of tropical phytoplankton he had collected and cultured.
Loading...
asserted
he → receive → phytoplankton
The phytoplankton, which are magnified to 200 times their size, glow when they are physically disturbed.
asserted
they → magnify → size
"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.
asserted
Pleyer → trigger → shot
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.
asserted
Pleyer → jostle → bioluminescence
Tardigrades, animals half a millimetre in size, featured in several other videos.
asserted
Tardigrades → feature → videos
Mr Pleyer said amateur microscopy enthusiasts had an important role to play in science.
asserted
enthusiasts → say → science
"The microcosmos is a vast field and we don't know much about it yet," he said.
asserted
he → know → it
In the past decade, it's become much easier and cheaper to see moving things at the micro scale.
asserted
it → become → scale
"With the digital revolution, a sensor, a camera, you can just go," Mr Pleyer said.
"
asserted
Pleyer → go → revolution
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.
asserted
list → come → website
The Aporia