Vivid colors and bizarre shapes come together in a false-color image that could be an illustration for a fantasy story. This labyrinth of exotic features winds its way along the edge of Russia’s Chaunskaya Bay in northeastern Siberia, seen as a vivid blue half-circle at the bottom of the image Two major rivers, the Chaun and Palyavaam, flow into the bay, which in turn opens into the Arctic Ocean. Ribbon lakes and bogs are present throughout the area, created by depressions left by receding glaciers. (Photo by USGS/NASA)

Dan Copeland, left, and Alex Morneau of Biddeford, Maine, former high school cheerleaders, perform back flips while enjoying the record breaking heat, Thursday, May 18, 2017, at Old Orchard Beach, Maine. The temperature climbed well into the 90s in many locations throughout the state. (Photo by Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo)

“My goal was to capture the image of a storm that emulated an atomic explosion”, Dobrowner says of this picture. Here: “Monsoon”, Lordsburg, N.M., 2010. (Photo by Roger Hill)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and these striking images of 2017 are no exception. The photo highlights include incredible snapshots of the natural world as well as some awesome animal and human encounters. The vibrant gallery also shows thrill-seekers pushing themselves to the limit with breathtaking stunts captured in perfect clarity. The pictures have been taken by a host of photographers from around the world. Here: The two lion cubs singing their hearts out at Antelope park in Zimbabwe. (Photo by David Jenkins/Caters News Agency)

“Serengeti National Park encompasses 5,700 square miles of grassy plains and woodlands near the northern border of Tanzania, and is home to more than 3,500 lions grouped into a couple dozen prides. Photographer Nick Nichols and videographer Nathan Williamson made several extended trips to the Serengeti between July 2011 and January 2013, determined to break new visual ground in their coverage of the Serengeti Lions”. Photo: Cubs of the Simba East pride: too young to kill but old enough to crave meat. Adult females, and sometimes males, do the hunting. Zebras and wildebeests rank high as chosen prey in the rainy season. (Photo by Michael Nichols/National Geographic via The Atlantic)

In this April 1, 2002, file photo, Mike Cole, of Jenkintown, Pa., right, performs a kick-flip over a trash can with his skateboard as tourists pose for photos in front of artist Robert Indiana's sculpture in John F. Kennedy Plaza, also known as Love Park, in Philadelphia. Granite slabs from Philadelphia's famed Love Park, a skateboarding mecca though for a long stretch an illegal one, are being shipped in 2017 to the city of Malmo, Sweden, nearly 4,000 miles away, for use in construction of a skate park there. (Photo by Douglas Bovitt/AP Photo)

Kendall Jenner dazzles as the face of La Perla's feminist lingerie collection in Los Angeles, California on November 10, 2016. The 21-year-old model stars in a new campaign for the brand centered on “the liberation of every woman from the need to suffer for beauty”, reports Entertainment Tonight. La Perla released photos of Jenner and fellow models Isabeli Fontana and Liu Wen in its Spring 2017 collection on Instagram this week. (Photo by Splash News and Pictures)

Dancers from “LA Dance Project” perform, wearing a mask, during the drive-in show “Solo at Dusk” in Los Angeles, California, on October 13, 2020, amid the Coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Valerie Macon/AFP Photo)