FROM ICE bubbles to boiling lava, these photographs highlight the stunning shapes and patterns found in nature. The series of extraordinary images were taken by German software engineer Thorsten Scheuermann after he decided to examine his surroundings. A trip to the city of Kalapana in Hawaii, home to the Kilauea Volcano, provided Thorsten with the setting for his lava picture, while a visit to the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon offered him the opportunity to photograph ice bubbles up-close. The 37-year-old, now of Washington, USA, said: 'These are sights that can gain greater significance and have their beauty exposed when excluding everything else around them.'
A family of foster carers are facing bankruptcy and homelessness after they signed up to a Government scheme to renovate their house to be used for disabled children's short breaks .
PICKING up a tiny tea-pot with its paws, a little red squirrel struggles to prepare its morning tea .
HUDDLING under a leaf, a pair of adorable Javan scops owls take shelter from the rain .
A middle spotted woodpecker swoops into her nest and feeds her young in a forest in Trentino, Italy .
HOTSPOT MEDIA - FUNKY BUMP: FROM MIRROR bellies to rainbow bumps these pregnancy casts of stone and bronze could be the funkiest way to preserve your bump for posterity .
A man who conned tax officials out of £34 million and funded a lavish lifestyle of luxury hotels and restaurants has been jailed for one of the longest sentences in British criminal fraud history .
Fetching a tiny carrot and a head-shaped snowball, a red squirrel builds the perfect snowman .
A BIKINI swim with jellyfish sounds like the most painful past-time on the planet .
This brave Hyena finally catches his pray among the thousands of flamingos, Lake Nakuru, Kenya - OUTNUMBERED among thousands of flamingos, this bold hyena is not put off from hunting for a morning snack .
THROWING himself off 1,100ft bridges in a wheelchair, this is the PARALYSED base jumper who knows no fear .
SOARING at 112 miles per hour through the air, this petite blonde certainly lives up to her title as the fastest flying woman in the world .