A Filipino pet owner carries her dog as she prays before the animal blessing rites at the Our Lady of Remedies Parish Church in Malate district, Manila, Philippines on Sunday, October 5, 2014. Several Filipinos brought their pets to be blessed during the annual event which is also done to celebrate the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and ecology. (Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)

Dan Luvisi reimagines beloved animated characters and turns them into grimy, twisted, hideous personas that may have just scarred us of our fondest memories from childhood forever. Photo: “The Cook”. (Photo by Dan Luvisi)

The internet has been awash with face swaps for years — here’s our contribution to the art of creating nightmares with Photoshop.

Scientists have captured these images in laboratories during research into what makes our daily food. Photo: Blueberry. (Photo by SPL/Barcroft Media)

A stunning photographic collection featuring portraits of people from 30 countries and the food they eat in one day. In this fascinating study of people and their diets, 80 profiles are organized by the total number of calories each person puts away in a day. Featuring a Japanese sumo wrestler, a Massai herdswoman, world-renowned Spanish chef Ferran Adria, an American competitive eater, and more, these compulsively readable personal stories also include demographic particulars, including age, activity level, height, and weight. Essays from Harvard primatologist Richard Wrangham, journalist Michael Pollan, and others discuss the implications of our modern diets for our health and for the planet. This compelling blend of photography and investigative reportage expands our understanding of the complex relationships among individuals, culture, and food.

These may look like alien creatures from another planet, but the odd organisms are, in fact, colorful, microscopic life forms found in our forests. The bizarre slime molds, known as mycetozoa or fungus animals, were captured by geologist Valeriya Zvereva. She spent months documenting the common life forms that are found beneath our feet – but are rarely seen. Incredibly, the organisms can move and hunt for other microscopic life forms on which to feed. Zvereva, who is from Moscow, used a special macro lens to capture the vibrant and up-close shots, which show off the organisms’ unlikely beauty. (Photo by Valeriya Zvereva/Caters News)

“Hippo Chase”. As we approached the camp the Selinda Reserve of northern Botswana our boat passed by a hippo resting in the water. I turned around to look back at the boat's wake and saw the hippo charging after us! The hippo must've been tired from an all-nighter because he was angry. He rose way up out of the water three times trying to chase our boat! He was coming at us with such force that he created a wake of his own. Photo location: Selinda Reserve of northern Botswana. (Photo and caption by Curtis Simmons/National Geographic Photo Contest)