GoKawiilTsinghua engineer Ning Xu wins Nikon Small World in Motion for cilia video
Ning Xu, an optical engineer at Tsinghua University in Beijing, won Nikon's 2023 Small World in Motion competition with a super-resolution video capturing the abnormal beating of airway cilia in a child with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD). His entry topped 346 submissions from 40 countries in the contest, which is a video-focused offshoot of Nikon's long-running Small World Photomicrography Competition.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
PCD is a rare genetic disorder that impairs the hairlike cilia responsible for clearing mucus and irritants from the lungs, often leading to chronic respiratory infections. High-resolution imaging like Xu's helps researchers and clinicians visually diagnose ciliary defects and better understand how the disorder disrupts normal cellular motion, potentially aiding future treatment research.
- Ning Xu of Tsinghua University won Nikon's 2023 Small World in Motion contest.
- The winning video shows abnormal cilia beating in a child with primary ciliary dyskinesia, a rare genetic lung disorder.
- The competition, running since 2011, highlights advances in microscopic videography across 40 countries and 346 entries this year.
AmScope Digital Compound Microscope — Inspired by the incredible micro-world captured in Nikon's Small World in Motion contest, this digital microscope lets curious minds explore cellular structures and tiny organisms up close. It's a great way to get hands-on with the same kind of magnification magic that revealed those cilia in stunning detail, right from your own desk.
See AmScope Digital Compound Microscope on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.Source: arstechnica.com, 2026-09-18
Published there as: “Meet the winner of Nikon's Small World in Motion video contest”
Read the original report → The summary and analysis above are GoKawiil's own, written from reporting by the source above. Facts and quotes belong to the original publisher.