NATURE'S MOST STUNNING SHAPES AND PATTERNS

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.'

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VIBRANT WOODPECKER FEEDS HER YOUNG

A middle spotted woodpecker swoops into her nest and feeds her young in a forest in Trentino, Italy .

LOVE BIRDS

THESE LOVE BIRDS can’t keep their beaks off each other as they share a very public display of affection .

NEW DELHI CHILD RAPE PROTESTS

NEW DELHI, A woman activist of India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party crosses a police barricade near the residence of ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi during a protest against the recent rape of a five-year-old girl in New Delhi, India, April 21, 2013 .

KITTEN IN WHEEL

A panic stricken kitten that got her head stuck in a car tyre has been freed by quick thinking RSPCA staff .

CHERNOBYL - 28 YEARS ON

TOMORROW (Saturday) marks the 28th anniversary of the nuclear disaster that left the city of Chernobyl devastated .

SHOP BRANDED RACIST FOR ‘ZIP UP IMMIGRANT’ AD

A SHOCKING cartoon of a black man carrying bags saying‘’zippadydoohdah zip-up immigrant bags’ has appeared in a shop window and is being investigated by police .

UNUSUAL ANIMAL FRIENDSHIP

SAT ON top of a Brazilian turtle’s head, this little ladybird looks content as he studies his environment from a new height .

N-ICE ICE BABY: AMAZING SKIING 2YR OLD

RACING down the slopes in her tiny ski gear, this TWO-YEAR-OLD girl has already mastered the art of skiing .

SLEEPING BEAUTIES

Lying angelically with a range of expressions etched on their tiny faces, little bundles of joy are innocently captured in their first few days in these adorable photographs .

BUG LOOKS JUST LIKE SATAN

This longhorn beetle demon-strates a dark side as it looks just like the devil .

CHINESE FISHERMEN FISHING WITH RARE TECHNIQUE

SAILING peacefully across a river in the early morning light, a fisherman in China keeps a 1000 year old tradition alive .

SEALED WITH A BUBBLE KISSED

MEET the underwater British seal who is so friendly he loves to grapple divers like a friendly puppy dog .