FROM ICE bubbles to boiling lava, these photographs highlight the stunning shapes and patterns found in nature .

An Italian photographer travelled to Chile where he visited several star-gazing sites, home to some of the world's most advanced telescopes, located in the spectacular setting of the Atacama desert .

THIS LITTLE squirrel tries to keep himself snug as snow starts to fall around him .

STANDING on its hind legs, a nosey polar bear presses its paws against the window of a truck and takes a peek at the tourist inside .

A woman branded the Jolly Green Giant by SOLE-crushing school bullies for her whopping size nine feet has had the last laugh by opening a shoe shop for big footed girls .

WIDE EYED with a huge smile across her face, this little elephant is a picture of happiness .

A mother told she had terminal cancer by doctors who ignored her pleas for help 13 times has made a miracle recovery following the UK's first operation of its kind .

Meet the real life anime girl who looks like a living cartoon character despite never going under the knife .

The beds are consumed by moss instead of customers at this abandoned hotel .

WITH THEIR adorable big round eyes and fluffy white fur, these baby seals are cute enough to melt any heart .

A former cosmetic rep who swapped make-up for a career as a Marilyn Monroe lookalike has pocketed a staggering $4million (£2,630,000) as a full-time doppelgänger .

At least three people have been killed and more than 100 injured, some seriously, in two explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon .