This July 2014 image provided by the Bureau of Land Management shows the interior of the Natural Trap Cave in north-central Wyoming. The cave holds the remains of tens of thousands of animals, including many now-extinct species, from the late Pleistocene period tens of thousands of years ago. Scientists have resumed digging for the first time in more than 30 years. (Photo by AP Photo/Bureau of Land Management)

Nightmare: New York”, staged in a Lower East Side building, depicts the ugliest, scariest vision of 1970s- and '80s-era Gotham. Subways are awash in graffiti, creeps and crime. Here: In this October 2, 2014 photo, an actor performs during “Nightmare: New York”, a haunted house attraction in New York. (Photo by Frank Franklin II/AP Photo)

A hot air balloon flies close to the ground in the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel during an international hot air balloon festival October 14, 2014. (Photo by Nir Elias/Reuters)

A Syrian rebel walks past Sham 2, a homemade armored vehicle, in Bishqatin, Syria, on December 8, 2012. From a distance it looks rather like a big rusty metal box but closer inspection reveals a homemade armored vehicle waiting to be deployed. Sham II, named after ancient Syria, is built from the chassis of a car and touted by rebels as “100 percent made in Syria”. (Photo by Herve Bar/AFP Photo)

Amateur astronomer Bill Snyder has been involved with astrophotography since 2007. Photo: The Cygnus Wall is in the southern area of NGC7000 also known as the North America Nebula. It is approximately 1800 light years from Earth, and is in the constellation Cygnus. The Wall is an energized shock front and contains the most concentrated star formations in the nebula. The size of the North America Nebula is about 4 full moons. (Photo and caption by Bill Snyder)

These stunning images could be mistaken for a cheetah ravenously chasing down a dog, but in fact, the pair are best of friends. Savanah, the one-and-a-half-year-old cheetah and Max, who is just a few weeks younger, were put together when Savanah was just 10-weeks-old. Ever since, their friendship has amazed visitors at Cincinatti Zoo, who are delighted but confused as to why the spotted beast hasnt eaten the dashing hound. So, when it snowed, Savanah and Max just like young children were very excitable and wasted no time playing in the snow. (Photo by Caters News Agency)

“Cassowaries are large, flightless birds related to emus and (more distantly) to ostriches, rheas, and kiwis”, writes Olivia Judson in the September issue of National Geographic magazine. How large? People-size: Adult males stand well over five foot five and top 110 pounds. Females are even taller, and can weigh more than 160 pounds. Dangerous when roused, they’re shy and peaceable when left alone. But even birds this big and tough are prey to habitat loss. The dense New Guinea and Australia rain forests where they live have dwindled. Today cassowaries might number 1,500 to 2,000. And because they help shape those same forests – by moving seeds from one place to another – “if they vanish”, Judson writes, “the structure of the forest would gradually change” too. (Photo by Christian Ziegler/National Geographic)

A girl sticks out her tongue during snowfalls on a street in Hefei, Anhui province February 13, 2014. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)