Vøringfossen is the 83rd highest waterfall in Norway on the basis of total fall. It lies at the top of Måbødalen in the municipality of Eidfjord, in Hordaland, not far from Highway 7, which connects Oslo with Bergen. It has a total drop of 182 meters, and a major drop of 163 meters. It is perhaps the most famous in the country and a major tourist attraction on the way down from Hardangervidda to Hardangerfjord. The name Vøringfossen (Old Norse Vyrðingr) is derived from the verb vyrða (English: esteem, revere). The last element fossen, the finite form of foss (waterfall), is a later addition.

The official name for this tiny speck of land – the size of 12 football pitches – is Hashima, but few call it that. In English, its most commonly used name means “Battleship Island” and, viewed from a certain angle offshore, its silhouette is uncannily dreadnought in nature. It was a mining facility until 1974, when it was abandoned to the elements, before partially reopening as a tourist attraction in 2009. Photo: A decades-old television. (Photo by Mark C. O'Flaherty)

Born in 1958 in Kiev, Ukraine, artist Mark Khaisman studied Art and Architecture at the Moscow Architectural Institute in Russia. Now living in Philadelphia, USA, Khaisman uses rolls of brown packaging tape to create incredible works of art. Mark characterizes his work as ‘pictorial illusions formed by light and shadow’. The three key elements are: translucent packing tape, clear acrylic or film panels, and light. By superimposing layers of packaging tape Mark can ‘play on degrees of opacity that produces transparencies highlighted by the color, shading, and embossment’.

“Capoeira is a Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, sports, and music. It was created in Brazil mainly by descendants of African slaves with Brazilian native influences, probably beginning in the 16th century. It is known by quick and complex moves, using mainly power kicks and quick leg sweeps, with some ground and aerial acrobatics, knee strikes, take-downs, elbow strikes, punches and headbutts. The word capoeira comes from Tupi, referring to the areas of low vegetation in the Brazilian interior”. – Wikipedia

Photo: The Warriors of Brazil perform on Coogee Beach on November 23, 2009 in Sydney, Australia. The Warriors of Brazil show is a spectacular stage show which combines the extraordinary martial art of Capoeira with the uplifting music and dance of Carnival. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Artist Robert Mickelson is an expert sculptor whose medium of choice happens to be glass. There's something so pure and serene about glass. Perhaps it's the material's transparency coupled with its fragility. Whatever it may be, Mickelson knows how to accentuate the element's most appealing qualities. Each of his life-like sculptural pieces exude realism with a refined quality.

Scaffolding holding a remnant of the Soviet Union, the hammer and sickle, is seen on a rooftop of an abandoned building in the town of Pripyat on January 25, 2006 near Chernobyl, Ukraine. The town of Pripyat, deserted since the 1986 catastrophe, once housed 30,000 people, the majority of being workers from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Days after the catastrophe the inhabitants were relocated to other locations in the Soviet Union. The town of Pripyat has remained uninhabited since. Prypyat and the surrounding area will not be safe for human habitation for several centuries. Scientists estimate that the most dangerous radioactive elements will take up to 900 years to decay sufficiently to render the area safe.

Elements of nature are too powerful for humans to subdue, yet it didn’t stop the most courageous individuals from trying. Conquering air, land, fire, water, and even the very fabric of reality – this is the ultimate goal of humanity. For now, we can only marvel at the beauty and tremble in awe before the Mother Nature. A short film “Ocean Gravity,” written and directed by Julie Gautier and Guillaume Nery, reminds us of how small and insignificant a human body is, as it is being swept away by an ocean current. Nevertheless, it never stopped people from attempting to subjugate these unstoppable forces, and someday, maybe the humanity will come out victorious.