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.'
WITH the phosphorescent blobs and mesmerising patterns, these spectacular images may look like the hall marks of an enchanted forest but it is in fact the scene of thousands of dancing FIREFLIES .
It's incredible to think anyone could live in such horrendous squalor - yet two men have been prosecuted for keeping their homes in such revolting conditions that it was no longer fit for their animals .
This cheeky chappie is getting into all kinds of monkey business as he enjoys cooling off on a scorching hot day .
These are the faces of orphans suffering from the horrifying effects of chemical warfare .
Playing, splashing and generally messing around, these polar bears show they certainly have a soft spot for the water, and not just each other .
A BLIND man was battered with a brick in a sickening attack by two thugs .
With no luck at the front of the bus, the deer runs around the center seats trying to escape through the window – THIS is the astonishing moment a DEER crashed through the front windshield of a bus before it went hysterically running around the vehicle .
LYING back in the snow, these two polar bears share a cuddle as they call time out on playtime .
A young otter wades through a lake with his eyes set on an older rival’s fish .
Pic By HotSpot Media - PARROT RIDES ON THE TUBE - THIS pretty boy could be forgiven for forgetting his Oyst-aaarrrgh-card .
BOXING DAY has come early for this pair of feisty squirrels, as their Christmas party quickly turns sour .
From a floating jelly fish to a relaxed seal, Britain’s unappreciated beach life is captured above and below the water .