“The Buran program was a Soviet and later Russian reusable spacecraft project that began in 1974 at TsAGI and was formally suspended in 1993. It was a response to the United States Space Shuttle program”. – Wikipedia

Photo by: These Pictures are Entirely Bad ; Source: Flickr

A worker refreshes himself with a fan after loading a container with rice bags at an export plant in the central Chainat province in Thailand, December 16, 2015. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)

A motorcyclist dodges in the annual water-splashing festival to mark the New Year of the Dai minority in Menglian, Yunnan province April 13, 2015. (Photo by Wong Campion/Reuters)

Takehiko Yagi is a rising star in Japanese photography, and his vibrant pictures of the Hindu spring festival of Holi won the Grand Prize at the fourth annual Nikkei National Geographic Photo Prize. Diving into the Colors of Holi is his first exhibition in the US, on show at Foto Care Gallery in New York until 28 September, 2016. Here: Jaipur, India, 2013, (Photo by Takehiko Yagi/The Guardian)

California-based photographer Seth Casteel made his name taking photographs of dogs underwater, but before that, he was snapping cats on land.

Shortlisted images in the running to be crowned Photobox Instagram photograph of the year range from furry friends to the Holi festival to the meaning of love. Judges, including the Guardian’s former picture editor Eamonn McCabe, have whittled down 180,000 submissions to unearth a shortlist that celebrates the best of social media. Winners will be announced October 3, 2018. Here: Najac, France. Travel shortlist. (Photo by Aaron Jenkin/@aaronjenkin)

Aerial shots always amaze us by their magnificence. Human-sized footprints look like ant trails, trees resemble little pieces of broccoli, and landscapes are transformed into breathtaking images, which look like something that can be seen under a microscope. This set of pictures features surreal aerial shots of Botswana taken by Zack Seckler. In the past, to make these kinds of shots, someone had to go up in a helicopter to take a picture. However, today, such images can be easily made using quadcopters, such as DJI Phantom or any other. Thanks to the new technology, we are able to view our world in new ways, allowing us to better appreciate its complexity and beauty. (Photo by Zack Seckler)

The combination of two different drawing styles in one picture never ceases to amaze us. The works of Allison Kunath are a vivid example of this technique. The background of her pictures is drawn using watercolors, while the actual image is broken down into rough geometrical shapes. This creates a very striking contrast, thanks to black, bold lines of the image on the forefront drawn over soft, cloudy shades of color. The skill of Allison is clearly seen in the way she manages to draw something as amorphous as a squid without making any curved lines. (Photo by Allison Kunath)