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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ADORABLE CHIMP SHOWS OFF GYMNASTIC SKILLS

WITHOUT a care in the world, this little chimpanzee shows off her gymnastic skills as she swings around her enclosure .

CUTE MINI LION

MEET the little lion of suburbia with a mane that makes him look like a mini-king of the jungle .

GIRAFFES DUCK FOR COVER

DIPPING and diving their way through this bumpy journey, these giraffe's duck for cover as they dodge multiple cables and wires .

STAR-TI-LING: 40,000 STARLINGS MIMIC HITCHCOCK'S THE BIRDS

STAR-TI-LING: 40,000 STARLINGS MIMIC HITCHCOCK'S THE BIRDS- This could be the fearsome scene from Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds as a flock of 40,000 starlings bask in the heat of a wonderful British sunset .

THE F-ANT-ASTIC ARTISTS

Exibiting their superhuman strength these ants look ready to create an art attack by lifting pencils several thousand times their own weight .

THE UNEXPECTED FRIENDLY GIANT

A baby sperm whale assumed the role of a friendly giant when faced with two awestruck divers .

HOUNDTON TABBY

FROM MRS Patmore to Lady Sybil, these barking mad illustrations show the WOOF-er side of some of our most loved Downton characters .

WOMAN LOSES 10ST AFTER BLOWING £12K STUDENT LOAN ON FOOD

A woman who blew £12k of her student loan on junk food and booze has lost 10st after ditching her unhealthy habits .

MIRACLE BABY SAVED BY SUPERGLUE

A miracle baby has overcome a one-in-five-million brain condition – after a blob of glue saved his life .

CAGE -FIGHTER BF FRACTURED MY EYE SOCKET, NOSE, BIT MY FACE AND FORCED ME TO MAKE HIM A SAUSAGE SARNIE AT KNIFEPOINT

After Leigh Hancock, 36, joined Fallon Bramall's boxing gym she owned with her husband, the pair took him under their wing .

BOY WHOSE BRAIN GREW IN NOSE IS REAL-LIFE PINOCCHIO

A little boy whose brain grew inside his nose has been described as the 'real-life Pinocchio' by his proud mum .