Islands from the air: Stunning photographs taken from space show Earth's archipelagos as you've never seen them before By Tara Brady Published: 19:20 GMT, 1 September 2013 | Updated: 19:25 GMT, 1 September 2013 These fascinating space photographs show the world's islands as they've never been seen before. What looks like a fish in one image, and a collection of blue gems in another are actually Heron Island and part of the Great Barrier Reef, both in Australia. These stunning photographs were taken by satellite and capture the otherworldly beauty of planet Earth from thousands of miles away. Beautiful: What looks like a fish in one image, is actually Heron Island in Australia captured by the Ikonos satellite The pretty green and blue blobs that resemble jellyfish are the French Ile Glorieuse in the Indian Ocean and the Juan de Nova Island in the Mozambique Channel. The man-made islands of Dubai look like a palm tree from above and the Bahamas resembles a jigsaw puzzle piece. Meanwhile Hawaii slightly looks like a goat's head. Under the sea: The Juan de Nova Island in the Mozambique Channel resembles a jellyfish
Animals Illuminated by the Sun The time of sunset is defined in astronomy as the moment when the trailing edge of the Sun’s disk disappears below the horizon in the west. There are few things in nature as photogenic as the sky at sunset, especially animals. The rich bright gold, pink and orange colors make unusually beautiful pictures of animals illuminated by the sun. Source Source Source Source Source Source Source Source Source Source Source Source Source Most Beautiful Villages Around The World photo Popeye Village, is a group of rustic and ramshackle wooden buildings located at Anchor Bay in the north-west corner of the Mediterranean island of Malta. Photo by: Mosin Village on the bank of the Niger river, Mali. Photo by: Yann Arthus-Bertrand Hidden mountain village in Southern China. Mist over countryside in Southwest England. Hobbiton village – “Lord of the Rings” movie location in New Zealand. Riomaggiore is a village and comune in the province of La Spezia, situated in a small valley in the Liguria region of Italy. Mountain Village, Iran. Beautiful African sea side village. Hallstatt, Upper Austria, is a village in the Salzkammergut, a region in Austria with 946 inhabitants. Gásadalur village, Faroe Islands. Village located in Himalayas, Tibet. Fort Bourtange is a star fort located in the village of Bourtange, Groningen, Netherlands.
Ethereal Macro Photos of Snowflakes in the Moments Before They Disappear Russian photographer Andrew Osokin is a master of winter macro photography. His photo collection is chock full of gorgeous super-close-up photographs of insects, flowers, snow, and frost. Among his most impressive shots are photographs of individual snowflakes that have fallen upon the ground and are in the process of melting away. The shots are so detailed and so perfectly framed that you might suspect them of being computer-generated fabrications. They’re not though. The images were all captured using a Nikon D80 or Nikon D90 DSLR and a 60mm or 90mm macro lens. You can enjoy many more of Osokin’s impressive photographs (16 pages worth, at the moment) over on his LensArt.ru website. Andrew Osokin Photography [LensArt via The Curious Brain via Colossal] Image credits: Photographs by Andrew Osokin and used with permission
Voyager Loin 75 photos du monde comme vous ne l'avez jamais vu ! - Aurora C'est une sélection du magnifique twisted sifter que je vous partage aujourd'hui. 75 photos du monde à couper le souffle qui alimenteront votre imaginaire et vos envies d'ailleurs. Une preuve de plus que notre terre est belle. Encore plus grâce à ces photographes qui immortalisent l'instant comme personne ne sait le faire. J'ai immédiatement pensé à une citation de Sylvain Tesson qui épouse merveilleusement bien ce top : « L'espérance est une insulte à l'instant." tiré de son magnifique livre que je vous recommande d'ailleurs « Dans les forêts de Sibérie ». Pour avoir plus d'informations sur les auteurs de ces photos du monde, cliquez sur le lien en dessous de chaque clichés. 75. Photo de strummingmusic on Reddit 74. 73. Photo du Capitaine Andreas M. van der Wurff via EPOD 72. Photo de Adam Klukowski (ENT108) | klucznik.net 71. Photo de JENNY DEAN | Prints available 70. Photo de SCOTT MCCRACKEN Flickr | Facebook | Google+ | 500px | Instagram 69. Photograph by Alexander Van Driessche 68. 67. 9.
Historical photos (part 3) Historical photos (part 3) ‘Powder Monkey’ on the USS New Hampshire (1864) ‘The moment a dragon is slain’ Puppet Show (Paris 1963) (COLORIZED) Lt. Custer and Union Troops (1862) 9 Kings in Windsor Castle (May 20th, 1910) A vac sealed sachet of one of the astronauts children during Apollo 11 Armstrong post-moonwalk Bombs dropped on Kobe, Japan (1945) Disney brothers with their wives and mother on the day they opened their studio in 1923 Douglas MacArthur signs formal surrender of Japan (1945) First picture ever taken in space (1946) German flying ace, ‘The Red Baron’ and his dog (1916) Headquarters of Benito Mussolini and the Italian Fascist Party (1934) Hiroshima – Before and After (1945) Hitler looking at the Gustav Railway gun (1942) Hungarian Revolution of 1956 JFK and LBJ during the Cuban Missle Crisis (1962) Joseph and magda Goebbels on their wedding day. Goebbels, Hitler’s Propaganda Minister. 1933 in Geneva by Alfred Eisenstaedt Last photo taken of the Titanic (1912) Samurai (ca. 1860-1880)
Still Looking For Paradise? Maldives - justpaste.it Double chain of twenty-six atolls… The Republic of Maldives, or simply the Maldives, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean. It consists of approximately 1,190 coral islands grouped in a double chain of 26 atolls, along the north-south direction, spread over roughly 90,000 square kilometers, making this one of the most disparate countries in the world. The atolls are composed of live coral reefs and sand bars, situated atop a submarine ridge 960 kilometers long that rises abruptly from the depths of the Indian Ocean and runs from north to south. Crystal clear waters, beautiful white sand beaches, swaying palm trees and fabulous dive sites – that’s why the Maldives, is known for being one of the best tropical holiday destinations in the world. ...and no need to climb ;) With an average ground level of 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) above sea level, it is the lowest country on the planet. Summer never ends ... Crystal clear waters and azure blue lagoons... Resorts in the Maldives
The Top 75 ‘Pictures of the Day’ for 2012 *Update: The Top 100 ‘Pictures of the Day’ for 2012 have just been published. Click here to check out the most up-to-date post! After the positive reception from last year’s “Top 50 ‘Pictures of the Day’ for 2011“, the Sifter promised to highlight the top 25 ‘Pictures of the Day‘ at the end of every quarter, eventually culminating in an epic Top 100 for 2012. It’s hard to believe we’re already into the final quarter of 2012. With that, here are the Sifter’s Top 75 ‘Pictures of the Day‘ for this year. If any image really intrigues you, be sure to click the title link or picture itself. *Please note the photographs themselves were not necessarily taken in 2012, they just happened to be featured as a ‘Picture of the Day’ this year. Enjoy!