The picturesque Zao Ski Resort, one of Japan's oldest and most popular ski destinations, is illuminated on February 10, 2007 in Yamagata Prefecture, Tohoku region of Honshu island, Japan. Coniferous trees such as the Aomori white fir lie covered with chrystallised ice and snow (described as “silver frost” or “snow monsters”) and attract visitors. (Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images)

A model walks the runway at the Popluxe Fall 2012 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at The Studio at Lincoln Center on February 10, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

BAZ-69092-012 special wheeled chassis. Exhibition of military vehicles at Bronnitsy test range (a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located 54.5 kilometers (33.9 mi) southeast of central Moscow). Juny 10, 2011. (Photo by Vitaly Kuzmin)

Flying actor Welly O’Brien poses for pictures as the Southbank Centre launches Unlimited: The Revelation Festival featuring deaf and disabled artists on July 10, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Neil Mockford)

The Census of Marine Life was a global network of researchers in more than 80 nations engaged in a 10-year scientific initiative to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of life in the oceans. The world's first comprehensive Census of Marine Life — past, present, and future — was released in 2010 in London.

There is an endless bounty of eye-catching gemstones throughout the world and this spectacular boulder opal is one unique beauty that looks like a shimmering crystal encased in a tree fossil. Its opalescent sheen seeps through the cracks of the seemingly wooden rings in lustrous hues of emerald green and aqua blue. Like something out of a fairy tale, the triangular piece radiates through an organic pattern mimicking the growth rings of tree.

Artist Gaelle Villedary has installed a grass “carpet” across the village of Jaujac in France to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Arts and Nature Trail program. The green trail is made of 168 rolls of grass and runs for 1,377 feet (420 metres) to connect the village seamlessly to its surrounding natural landscape.