TL;DR: Dr. Ning Xu of Tsinghua University won the 16th annual Nikon Small World in Motion competition with super-resolution video of abnormal airway cilia beating in a child with primary ciliary dyskinesia.

Nikon Instruments Inc. unveiled the winners of the 16th annual Nikon Small World in Motion video competition, awarding first place to Dr. Ning Xu for video showing abnormal beating of airway cilia in a child with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), a rare genetic disorder affecting respiratory function, according to the Nikon Small World announcement. The announcement was posted on September 15, 2026, and distributed from Melville, New York on September 16, 2026, according to that announcement and a related PR Newswire release from Nikon Instruments Inc.

Xu is an optical engineer and researcher in optical engineering who develops advanced imaging systems that help scientists observe cellular structures in motion, according to the Nikon Small World announcement and the PR Newswire release. His winning entry was captured with diffractive super-resolution microscopy at 100X objective lens magnification, according to the winners list published by Nikon Instruments Inc. The video shows how motion can reveal important biological details that still images alone cannot fully capture, according to the Nikon Small World announcement.

Coverage by Ars Technica reported on September 18, 2026 by Senior Writer Jennifer Ouellette said Xu beat 346 other video entries from 40 different countries. That report identified Xu as affiliated with Tsinghua University in Beijing, Beijing, China, in the Department of Precision Instrument. The winners list gives the affiliation as Tsinghua University Department of Precision Instrument, Beijing, Beijing, China.

A disease defined by movement

Primary ciliary dyskinesia is a genetic disorder that adversely affects tiny hair-like structures that line the lungs, among other areas, according to Ars Technica. Those structures are called cilia, and they line the airways and beat in coordinated waves to move mucus and debris out of the lungs, according to the Nikon Small World announcement.

Their wavelike motion helps move around germs, mucus, dust, and other irritants so the body can dispel them via coughing or sneezing, according to Ars Technica. In people born with PCD, there is something wrong with those cilia, so those irritants build up, according to Ars Technica.

In people with PCD, those cilia can beat abnormally, making it difficult for the airways to clear themselves and contributing to recurrent respiratory infections, according to the Nikon Small World announcement and the PR Newswire release. The cilia might be the wrong size, the wrong shape, or missing altogether, according to Ars Technica. They might move abnormally or not move at all, according to Ars Technica. Respiratory infections are among the complications associated with buildup of irritants, according to Ars Technica.

By capturing that movement in a patient-derived sample, Xu's video offers a powerful view of a process essential to understanding and diagnosing the disease, according to the Nikon Small World announcement. The winning video from Dr. Ning Xu shows the importance of advanced microscopy in diagnosis of diseases defined by movement, according to the PR Newswire release headline and summary.

Why video was required

In that sense, the disease is defined by movement, so studying it requires observing those cilia in motion with video, not just still imagery, according to Ars Technica. The video shows how motion can reveal important biological details that still images alone cannot fully capture, according to the Nikon Small World announcement.

"To understand this disease, you need to observe around 10 seconds of motion, not just a still image," Xu explained, according to the Nikon Small World announcement. The PR Newswire release quoted a related explanation from Xu: "To understand this disease, you need to watch the cilia through dozens of beat cycles, not just a still image."

Xu said the winning video also reflects the role microscopy can play in scientific communication, according to the Nikon Small World announcement. While much of his work is ultimately presented through scientific papers, the movement of cilia gives viewers an immediate way to understand that something important is happening at a scale they cannot see unaided, according to that announcement.

"When people watch cilia beating, they immediately understand that something beautiful and important is happening inside us," Xu said, according to the Nikon Small World announcement and the PR Newswire release. "I think this competition turns microscopy into a shared language," Xu said, according to the same sources and Ars Technica.

"For 50 years, Nikon Small World has repeated one simple message: science is beautiful," Xu said, according to the Nikon Small World announcement. "And Small World in Motion has a second message that I'm even more passionate about: Life is not a still picture. Life moves," Xu said, according to that announcement. The PR Newswire release carried the same statements with the wording "For over 50 years."

How the winning images were recorded

Recording living airway cilia at the level Xu wanted to see posed a significant imaging challenge, according to the Nikon Small World announcement. The structures are extremely small, their movement is rapid, and the sample must remain alive and behave naturally during imaging, according to that announcement. Ars Technica likewise reported that the small size and rapid movement create a challenge, plus the cilia must be imaged while still living.

Many advanced microscopy techniques rely on fluorescent labels or intense illumination, but those approaches can alter or damage living cells, according to the Nikon Small World announcement and the PR Newswire release. That rules out many advanced microscopy techniques, particularly those that rely on intense light or fluorescent dyes, according to Ars Technica.

Xu and his collaborators instead focused on controlling the light itself, using multiple light waves and a digital micromirror device to precisely shape illumination, capture rapid movement at high resolution, and minimize the light reaching the sample, according to the Nikon Small World announcement and the PR Newswire release. Ars Technica described the method as diffractive super-resolution microscopy, which employs multiple light waves and a digital micromirror to precisely shape light.

This minimizes how much light reaches the living sample and yet can capture the rapid cilia movement at high resolution, according to Ars Technica. Xu is an optical engineer whose work involves developing advanced imaging systems for observing cellular structure in motion, according to Ars Technica.

A BBC video report described the winning video as magnified to 100 times in size and featuring tiny hair-like structures, called cilia, in the airways of a child with a rare genetic disease. That BBC report said the video was submitted by Dr Ning Xu, a researcher at Tsinghua University in China, who used a series of complicated light waves to illuminate different parts of the sample in colour.

A competition built for motion

Founded in 2011, the Nikon Small World in Motion competition is a spinoff of the company's Small World Photomicrography Competition, which has been around since 1974, according to Ars Technica. Both are meant "to showcase the beauty and complexity of things seen through the light microscope" — one through still photographs, the other through photovideography, according to Ars Technica.

The Motion competition takes advantage of all the technological advances that now allow users to make movies or time-lapse images through the microscope, according to Ars Technica. The Motion video competition is an integral component of the Nikon Small World competition and a showcase of the world's most dynamic microscopic imagery, according to the Nikon Small World announcement.

The 16th annual Nikon Small World in Motion video competition was unveiled by Nikon Instruments Inc., according to the Nikon Small World announcement. Nikon Instruments Inc. today unveiled the winners, according to the September 16, 2026 PR Newswire release issued from Melville, New York.

"Dr. Ning Xu's winning video exemplifies why we introduced the video component of this competition 16 years ago: It allows us to use motion to transform our understanding of the microscopic world," said Eric Flem, senior manager, communications and CRM at Nikon Instruments, according to the Nikon Small World announcement and the PR Newswire release. "Xu's work, and the work of all our winners, reflects the competition's enduring purpose to inspire wonder, fuel discovery, and showcase the artistry inherent in scientific exploration," Flem said, according to the same sources.

For additional information, Nikon directed readers to www.nikonsmallworld.com and to follow the conversation on Facebook, Twitter @NikonSmallWorld and Instagram @NikonInstruments, according to the PR Newswire release.

Second through fifth place

Second place was awarded to Nguyen Nam Nhat for his video of a tiny roundworm and a single-celled Dileptus exploring their microscopic world, according to the Nikon Small World announcement and the PR Newswire release. Ars Technica identified the second-place entrant as Nguyen Nam Nhat of Vietnam and described the entry as a video of a tiny roundworm and a single-celled organism.

The winners list identifies the second-place entrant as Nguyen Nam Nhat, Nguyen Nam OME, Chu Se, Gia Lai, Vietnam, with the subject "A tiny roundworm and a single-celled Dileptus explore their microscopic world," captured with Differential Interference Contrast (DIC) at 40X objective lens magnification, according to Nikon Instruments Inc. The BBC video report described runners up as including videos of a roundworm encountering a single-celled organism.

Third place was awarded to Benedikt Pleyer for his video of jellyfish larvae suspended in water droplets, according to the Nikon Small World announcement and the PR Newswire release. Ars Technica identified Pleyer as from Bavaria, Germany. The winners list identifies Benedikt Pleyer, Kirchberg, Bavaria, Germany, with the subject "Jellyfish larvae suspended in water droplets," captured with Darkfield at 25X objective lens magnification, according to Nikon Instruments Inc.

Fourth place went to Dr. Andrew Moore, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, Virginia, USA, for synchronized cell division in neighboring cells, captured with Confocal at 63X objective lens magnification, according to the Nikon winners list. Ars Technica identified Andrew Moore of Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the US as placing fourth with a video of synchronized cell division in neighboring cells.

Fifth place went to Dr. Patrick Hickey, HYPHA RESEARCH LIMITED, Edinburgh, Midlothian, United Kingdom, for dynamics of mitochondria (green) and chloroplasts (red) in Turtle Vine leaf cells (Callisia repens), captured with Confocal at 40X objective lens magnification, according to the Nikon winners list. Ars Technica identified Patrick Hickey of Hypha Research Ltd. in Edinburgh, Scotland as placing fifth with a video of the dynamics of mitochondria and chloroplasts in Turtle Vine leaf cells.

Judges and honorable mentions

The 2026 Judging Panel included Joe Dragavon, Ph.D., Director of the BioFrontiers Institute's Advanced Light Microscopy Core and Director of Core Facilities and Shared Instrumentation at the University of Colorado Boulder, according to the Nikon Small World announcement and the PR Newswire release. The panel also included Quinten Geldhof, Technical designer at the Museum of Science in Boston, Massachusetts, according to the same sources.

The panel also included Corey S. Powell, award-winning science writer, editor, and communicator, according to the same sources. The panel also included Meredith Sagolla, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Advanced Light Microscopy and Electron Microscopy (CALM-EM) at Genentech, according to the same sources.

Honorable mentions included Igor Adameyko, Medical University of Vienna, Center for Brain Research, Vienna, Vienna region, Austria, for "A tiny, colorful sea slug (Cyerce kikutarobabai) on the move," captured with Darkfield at 0.9X variable zoom up to 40X with objective 10X lens, according to the Nikon winners list. The same researcher and affiliation were listed for "A tiny larval common starfish drifting," according to that list.

Ars Technica directed readers to check out those winning entries along with several honorable mentions through Nikon, stating: "You can check out those winning entries along with several honorable mentions here." The Nikon Small World announcement and PR Newswire release pointed readers to www.nikonsmallworld.com for additional information and to social channels for the conversation.

The CNN report published September 16, 2026 at 10:00 AM ET by Molly Finlay and Charlotte Reck described the result as astonishing footage of abnormal cell movement in lungs winning the 2026 Nikon video microscopy prize. Nikon's LinkedIn announcement on September 16, 2026 presented the 2026 Nikon Small World in Motion winners and congratulated winners while thanking entrants, according to that post.