[Figure 1. A.]

Dark side of the fungi (2020) What looks like an alien landscape is actually a fungus growing in a Petri dish.

Beneath its dramatic appearance lies a powerful reminder: some of the most promising solutions to pollution may be hidden in the microscopic world.

Dark side of the fungi (2020) What looks like an alien landscape is actually a fungus growing in a Petri dish.

Captured by Dr. Flavien Maucourt, this colony was isolated from soil polluted with heavy metals and other industrial contaminants. Fungi that thrive in such environments are of particular interest to researchers because they may help transform or remove pollutants from contaminated soils.

Microbial map of middle earth (2019) What if Middle Earth existed beneath our feet?

In this composition, microbial forms become mountains, coastlines, islands, and shifting territories — a reminder that the unseen world beneath us may be just as complex and interconnected as the fantasy worlds we imagine.

Microbial map of middle earth (2019) What if Middle Earth existed beneath our feet?

Soil is home to an enormous hidden diversity of microorganisms, most of which remain unknown to science. These microbes quietly shape ecosystems by recycling nutrients, supporting plant life, storing carbon, and influencing the health of entire environments.

Neurons in a box (2018) Did you know that the adult brain can still produce new neurons?

Growing neural stem cells in controlled conditions allows researchers to closely observe how new neurons form and to investigate ways of enhancing this process for future therapeutic applications.

Neurons in a box (2018) Did you know that the adult brain can still produce new neurons?

In this microscopy image, neurons glow in yellow while adult neural stem cells appear in purple, growing together inside a Petri dish. Unlike most cells in the brain, these stem cells retain the rare ability to produce new neurons throughout life.

Captured emptiness (2025) What looks like a distant planet is, in reality, something far smaller.

Created by Dr. Maria Bandurist, the work points toward a future where virus particles could be rapidly captured and identified inside the human body, enabling faster and more precise treatment.

Captured emptiness (2025) What looks like a distant planet is, in reality, something far smaller.

Moovement (2024) What can three cows teach us about adaptation and survival? This image maps the simulated positions of three cows after three days (cyan), five days (red), and thirty days (pink) of grazing in a pasture the size of a football field.

The research group behind this model studies how animals, soil, vegetation, and atmosphere interact to shape agricultural ecosystems in a changing climate. These movement patterns appear across life, from bacteria and insects to fish, monkeys, and livestock.

Moovement (2024) What can three cows teach us about adaptation and survival? This image maps the simulated positions of three cows after three days (cyan), five days (red), and thirty days (pink) of grazing in a pasture the size of a football field.

Taurine (2022) A burst of color created from something normally invisible.

While polarized microscopy is typically used to study and identify crystalline structures, here the settings were adjusted to emphasize color and form, turning a scientific technique into a striking visual composition.

Taurine (2022) A burst of color created from something normally invisible.

But under polarized light microscopy, they reveal vivid interference colors, created by the way light interacts with their internal structure.

Taurine (2022) A burst of color created from something normally invisible.

Glomerular ore (2021) At first glance, this looks like a fragment of rock or a metal ore. In reality, it’s a high-magnification image of a human kidney.

At the center, the bright orange bundle is a glomerulus, one of the kidney’s many filtration units responsible for cleaning the blood. Captured by bioloigist Esperanza Hughes Salinas, the image is part of research exploring the role of immune cells within the kidney.

Glomerular ore (2021) At first glance, this looks like a fragment of rock or a metal ore. In reality, it’s a high-magnification image of a human kidney.

Is there life on Mars? (2020) At first glance, this looks like the surface of a distant planet.

Captured by Dr. Rosaria Di Martino using an iPhone 8 through the microscope eyepiece (10× magnification), the image highlights the dynamic nature of cell cultures, especially during differentiation, when cells dramatically change both shape and function.

Is there life on Mars? (2020) At first glance, this looks like the surface of a distant planet.

In reality, this is a bright-field microscopy image of human induced pluripotent stem cells differentiating into neurons. These cells began as ordinary adult cells that scientists “reset” back into a stem-like state by introducing a specific set of genes.

Bubbles (2019) Plants know when to let go.

Studying this process reveals how plants control growth, respond to stress, and manage resources, a deeper understanding that could help improve crop resilience and productivity.

Bubbles (2019) Plants know when to let go.

Yin & Yang of Leaf Microbiome (2018) A simple leaf hosts an entire invisible world.

To create this image, Dr. Zigmunds Orlovskis placed a leaf of european beech on bacterial growth media and incubated it for 48 hours at 25 °C. As the microbes began to grow, a small fraction of the hidden community living on and within the leaf became visible.

Yin & Yang of Leaf Microbiome (2018) A simple leaf hosts an entire invisible world.