They might look like aliens from another world - or a science fiction movie. But the winners of the Olympus BioScapes Imaging Competition are actually all images of everyday living things - including you and me.

The competition is one of the world's premier awards for microscopic pictures and video of humans, plants and animals.

The winner this year was actually a video clip taken by Ralph Grimm, a teacher from Jimboomba, Australia, which shows the "super-fast movements of tiny animals whose hair-like cilia beat constantly to sweep food into their mouths".

The clip even captures the internal organs of the rotifers found on a lily leaf in Grimm's pond.

There were 10 recipients of the award, with another 62 honourable mentions.

Take a look at the best of them, below.

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• 20121GrimmFirstPlaceLarger

  Ralph Grimm, Colonial rotifers movie, 1st Prize

• 20122Wechezakdiatoms

  Arlene Wechezak, Red algae Scagelia, 2nd Prize

• 20123Siwanowiczsporangiaparaphyses

  Igor Siwanowicz, Fern sporangia andparaphyses 3rd Prize

• 20124SardetClawcrustacean

  Christian Sardet and Sharif Mirshak, claw of crustacean Amphipode Phronima sp., 4th prize

• 20125MorenoGillMicrasterias

  Rogelio Moreno Gill, unicellular green alga Micrasterias, 5th prize.

• 20126NicholsonCoral

  James Nicholson, live mushroom coral Fungia, 6th prize

• 20127Klambt

  Christian Klämbt and Imke Schmidt, beta-tubulin expression of a Drosophila third instar larval brain, with attached eye imaginal discs, 7th prize

• 20128LeeHenbitAnthersFilaments

  Edwin Lee, Henbit stamens anthers and filaments, 8th prize

• 20129KhodaverdiDelphiniumseed

  Sahar Khodaverdi, Delphinium seed, 9th prize

• 201210Krebs

  Charles Krebs, Butterfly Panacea prola wing scales, 10th Prize