Elena Chernyshova's vision of Norilsk, Russia, the northernmost city in the world, is a series of surprises by which she extracts otherworldly beauty from ugly realities. Here: 2013. A woman is visible through a narrow passageway between two buildings. Norilsk's urban spaces were designed to shorten distances around large developments and give residents maximum protection from arctic winds. (Photo by Elena Chernyshova)

Lake Assal is a crater lake in central-western Djibouti. It is located at the western end of Gulf of Tadjoura in the Tadjoura Region, touching Dikhil Region, at the top of the Great Rift Valley, some 120 km (75 mi) west of Djibouti city. Lake Assal is a saline lake which lies 155 m (509 ft) below sea level in the Afar Triangle, making it the lowest point on land in Africa and the third-lowest land depression on Earth after the Dead Sea and Sea of Galilee.

A customer shops at an Alibaba rural service centre in Jinjia Village, Tonglu, Zhejiang province, China, July 20, 2015. E-commerce growth in the countryside now outpaces that in major cities, though fewer than one tenth of online purchases made on Alibaba platforms were shipped to rural areas in the first quarter of this year. Alibaba estimates the potential market at 460 billion yuan ($74 billion) by next year. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

A protester runs from a jet of water shot from a police water cannon in the courtyard of the University of Santiago, during clashes between students and police, in Santiago, Chile, Thursday, May 14, 2015. In the capital and other cities across the country, high school and university students marched, for the second time this year, to demand education reform. (Photo by Luis Hidalgo/AP Photo)

It might have been foggy in the Willamette Valley, but Cerridwen Martin was able to revel in a view of the top of the clouds from the summit of Spencer Butte in Eugene, Ore., on Tuesday, December 16, 2014. Martin was joined by Joe Martinson, right, for the 1.1 mile trek. Fog shrouded much of the city for most of the day. (Photo by Andy Nelson/AP Photo/The Register-Guard)

People carry drinks at 80s Bar in Damascus, Syria, March 11, 2016. In Damascus's Old City, just a mile from the battered frontline between government and rebel-held territory, young Syrians smoke, drink beer or soft drinks, and talk about anything but the war. The revival of activity in this once-vibrant quarter is part of efforts to project an air of normality in the Syrian capital, even as the five-year-old war that has killed more than 250,000 people and created 5 million refugees continues to rage nearby. (Photo by Omar Sanadiki/Reuters)

“A meteor streaked across the sky above Russia's Ural Mountains on Friday morning, causing sharp explosions and injuring more than 500 people (20 had been hospitalized in serious condition), many of them hurt by broken glass. “There was panic. People had no idea what was happening. Everyone was going around to people's houses to check if they were OK”, said Sergey Hametov, a resident of Chelyabinsk, about 1500 kilometres (930 miles) east of Moscow, the biggest city in the affected region”. (Photo by Alexey Bulaew/RIA Nowosti)

The Ring of Life is a 515-foot (approximately 157 meters) landmark built in the city of Fushun, China. The landmark is built with an observation deck accessible by elevator, as well as 12,000 LED lights. Having abandoned local entertainment projects due to the small local population, urban planners settled on building a sightseeing landmark instead in order to attract a tourist industry to the region. The structure uses approximately 3,000 tons of steel and cost an estimated $16M U.S. dollars.