Under the Microscope: Discovering New Forms of Inspiration from the Natural World
Image credit: CDC.
World Art Day and World Photography Day are great opportunities to celebrate making, enjoying, and sharing art around the world. Today, I’m excited to point you toward some of my favorite art: images and videos of living things.
Each year, I look forward to the Nikon Small World and Small World in Motion competitions*, in which one of the world’s leading optics developers calls for images and videos taken through a microscope. Back when I was a university professor, I used to dedicate class time to sharing these images. They are that inspiring—not just for technical achievement, but for pure beauty!
💡 Many of us already find the natural world beautiful. But zooming in with a microscope can give us a whole new perspective.
Some beautiful photos I enjoyed include:
A close look at an oak leaf’s structure:
Trichome (white appendages) and stomata (purple pores) on a southern oak leaf. Photomicrograph by Jason Kirk/Nikon Small World.
A snail’s tongue:
Tongue (radula) of a freshwater snail. Photomicrograph by Dr. Igor Siwanowicz/Nikon Small World.
A primate retina:
Primate foveola (central region of the retina). Photomicrograph by Hanen Khabou.
And of course I just love to watch bacteria grow!
In biology, structure determines function. Understanding the shape of a protein, a cell, or an organ provides insight into the “jobs to be done” at those levels. Crucially, when we want to engineer a biological function, we turn to what we know about how evolution has solved a similar innovation challenge over 4 billion years. That’s why I was so excited about AlphaFold and algorithms that can accurately predict a protein’s structure.
💡 Revealing insights at the atomic, molecular, and cellular levels is going to radically change the future of health, food, and more.
Finally, by adopting an art perspective, I manage to find aesthetic beauty in biology that I tend to think about negatively—as a problem to be solved. The head of a tick can be stunning; Lyme disease is not. Some gorgeous videos are sobering reminders of the negative impacts of biological processes, like a mosquito salivating malarial parasites and a tumor growing and metastasizing. This dissonance reminds us that there’s no direction in evolution and biology, no sense of punishment or reward. Biology just is.
💡 By opening our eyes to the natural world, we gain access to new forms of inspiration.
Biomimicry—which melds design with the living world—has already inspired innovations for energy, architecture, materials, and more. As the global bioeconomy continues to expand, we’ll see ever more revolutionary uses of biology as technology.
And I bet a lot of them will be simply beautiful.
About Tiffany
Dr. Tiffany Vora speaks, writes, and advises on how to harness technology to build the best possible future(s). She is an expert in biotech, health, & innovation.
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