We’re lucky enough to be living in a time where almost every day we get to feast our eyes on amazing visuals. Whether it’s an engineering feat accomplished by humankind or Mother Nature showing off her power, we get to view our ever-changing world in ways our ancestors would be insanely jealous about.

1. Burning Man Festival, Black Rock City.

Aerial photo of Black Rock City showing the familiar “C” pattern, circa 2010. Black Rock City is a temporary settlement that is the annual Burning Man Festival.

2. Human Tongue Under a Microscope

This is what a human tongue, that weird fleshy organ we rely on for tasting, looks like under a microscope.

3. Octopus Eggs

Just a handful of octopus eggs, which can be found in numbers pushing the 100,000 range.

4. Ball’s Pyramid

Ball’s Pyramid with Lord Howe Island in the background (Australia). Ball’s Pyramid rises 1,844 ft (562 m) out of the ocean, making it the tallest volcanic stack in the world. Be sure to check out our story set on Ball’s Pyramid about an incredibly resilient insect.

5. Dust Storm in Phoenix, Arizona

A huge dust storm about to engulf downtown Phoenix.

6. Michelangelo’s Grocery List

This is an illustrated grocery list that Michelangelo would create for his illiterate servants.

7. Hitler’s Office in Berlin

Hitler’s massive office in the Chancellery Building, Berlin, Germany, circa the 1930s.

8. Walled City in Germany

The German town of Nördlingen still has its medieval walls from the 14th century.

9. Google Cooling Plant

Google’s Data Center cooling plant in Douglas County, Georgia.

10. World’s Tallest Statue

The world’s tallest statue, the Spring Temple Buddha, is 503 ft (153 m) and can be found in the Zhaocun township of Lushan County, Henan, China.

11: Ancient River Bed on Mars

A view from the “Kimberley” formation on Mars taken by NASA’s Curiosity rover. The strata in the foreground dip towards the base of Mount Sharp, indicating flow of water toward a basin that existed before the larger bulk of the mountain formed.

12. The World’s Largest Building

The Boeing Everett Factory is the world’s largest building by volume and covers almost 100 acres.

13. Climbers on Everest

A busy day climbing Everest, the world’s tallest mountain. Be sure to check out our story “The World’s Tallest Graveyard”, about the over 200 bodies that lay on the mountain.

14. The Last Human on the Moon

NASA scientist-astronaut Harrison Schmitt is standing next to a huge, split lunar boulder during the Apollo 17 mission. The Lunar Roving Vehicle, which transported Schmitt from the Lunar Module, is seen in the background. The vehicle is still on the moon today. It is among 400,000 pounds of junk we have left on the moon.

15. Earth

We couldn’t resist this incredible image of – what else – our home. This was taken in 1972 on the last manned mission to the moon. It was the first time that they could photograph the south polar ice cap. It is one of the most reproduced images in human history.

16. A snowflake under a microscope

This incredible image shows the difference between how our eyes view snowflakes and how microscopes do. This image, from the Electron Microscopy Unit at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, is just part of a deeper study of snow, snowflakes, and their classifications.

17. Caterpillar mimics snake

This might look like a snake, but its actually a caterpillar. The Hemeroplanes caterpillar disguises itself as a snake when it feels threatened by predators. It also mimics the behaviours of snakes, for extra confusion.

18.Glow Worm Caves, Tambourine Mountain

Glow-worm caves are not as unique as you might think. The glow-worm cave at Tangerine Mountain in Queensland, Australia, was actually man-made. The glow-worms were introduced afterwards, in an effort at conservation, which created this unique effect.

19. Lake Hillier, Middle Island

Lake Hillier’s unique coloration is caused by the microorganisms within it, which reacts with the red halophilic bacteria in the salt crusts. Don’t worry though – it’s still safe to swim in.

20.Octopus Surfs on Dolphin

Hopefully this octopus is careful – dolphins have been known to eat octopuses using them as transportation. Of course, the opposite is true as well – octopuses have been known to take down particularly frisky dolphins.

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