While vacationing on the Maldives Islands, Taiwanese amateur photographer Will Ho stumbled onto an incredible stretch of beach covered in millions of bioluminescent phytoplankton. These tiny organisms glow similarly to fireflies and tend to emit light when stressed, such as when waves crash or when they are otherwise agitated. While the phenomenon and its chemical mechanisms have been known for some time, biologists have only recently began to understand the reasons behind it. Photo: Bioluminescent phytoplankton washes up on Maldives beach. (Photo by Will Ho)

A concept illustration of the world's first forest in the sky, the Bosco Verticale green twin towers currently under construction in Milan, Italy. Towering over the city skyline the world's first forest in the sky will be a sight to behold. With tree equal to one hectare of forest spanning 27 floors these 365 and 260 foot emerald twin towers will be home to an astonishing 730 trees, 5,000 shrubs and 11,000 ground cover plants. (Photo by Boeri Studio)

Tree trunks are seen in a forest on November 8, 2011 near Landau an der Isar, Germany. The German government is conducting a nationwide project to estimate the number, variety and geographic distribution of trees and forests in Germany, as well as their condition and health. Approximately a third of Germany is covered in woodlands, and though that territory has actually expanded since 1989, some analysts fear demand for wood will outstrip supply in coming years due to national growth in industry and bio-energy needs. (Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images)

“An Oscar nominated documentary maker and war photographer who learnt his trade at Cardiff University has been killed while covering the conflict in Lybia. Tim Hetherington is understood to have died in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in the Libyan city of Misrata. Earlier this year the 40-year-old was nominated in the Best Documentary Feature category at the Academy Awards for the war documentary Restrepo which he co-directed”. – WalesOnline

Photo: Tim Hetherington arrives at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards – Nominated Docs! Reception on February 23, 2011 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Valerie Macon/Getty Images)

Merit: A Night at Deadvlei. The night before returning to Windhoek, we spent several hours at Deadveli. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the sand dunes in the distance, but the skies were still dark enough to clearly see the milky way and magellanic clouds. Deadveli means “dead marsh. The camelthorn trees are believed to be about 900 years old, but have not decomposed because the environment is so dry. (Photo and caption by Beth McCarley/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

A photo made available on 14 March 2016 shows a Thai villager takes selfie photograph on drought parched land at the dried up Mae Chang reservoir in Lampang province, northern Thailand, 12 March 2016. The ruined village including ancient temple had been underwater for 34 years since the Mae Chang reservoir was built in 1982, the area has now re-emerged after water in the reservoir dried up caused by the severe drought. Thailand is facing the worst drought in decades hardest hit by El Nino phenomenon combined with seasonal hot weather. (Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA)

The battleship USS Iowa fires its 16-inch guns during duty in the Persian Gulf on December 16, 1987. In 1943, the Iowa ferried President Franklin Roosevelt home from the Teheran Conference, where post-WW II leaders divided up the world. The ship fought battles from the South Pacific to Korea and escorted convoys through the Persian Gulf. Forty-seven sailors died atop its deck when an explosion ripped through a gun turret. Now, the new port for the retired USS Iowa just might be the home of California's annual asparagus festival, the gritty agriculture port town of Stockton on the San Joaquin River, about 80 miles inland from San Francisco. (Photo by Eric Risberg/AP Photo)

A waste picker unloads garbage at a waste transfer station in Bamako, Mali, August 19, 2018. In the Malian capital of Bamako, donkey carts driven by young men like 19-year-old Arouna Diabate play a vital role battling the fast-growing city's waste problem. Every morning before dawn, Diabate hitches his donkey to a cart and sets off on his rounds, going door-to-door to collect household garbage which he delivers to a local waste transfer station for a monthly salary of around $35. “I won't be picking up trash with a donkey cart for the rest of my life, but for now people appreciate us because we help clean up the homes of Bamako”, Diabate said. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)