Despite any political differences between the United States and Russia, the space agencies of the two countries continue their cooperative work in Earth's orbit, aboard the International Space Station. Apart from the research being done in microgravity, ISS crew members continue to send back amazing images of our home world, photographed from low Earth orbit. Gathered here are recent images of Earth from aboard the ISS, and from a handful of other NASA satellites.

“These are the stunning images of some of Americas most breathtaking churches – all of which are abandoned. Matthew Christopher travels around the United States taking shots of its most beautiful decaying wonders. He shot those in his churches series in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he works as a photographer and lecturer. Matthew’s fascination with such abandoned spaces started when he was a child when he enjoyed looking at artwork set in buildings that have since decayed”. – Caters News. Photo: St. Boniface Church, Philadelphia Pa. (Photo by Matthew Christopher/Caters News)

“Creepy crawlies have become stunning examples of the natural world in these incredible close-up pictures. Photographer Kutub Uddin, 28, snapped the tiny creatures in a forest near his home of Bognor Regis over the course of the summer. Taken in close-up using special macro lenses and filters, he managed to turn house flies, damsel flies and wasps into gorgeous jeweled works of art. Kutub said: “I found the bugs in the forest near where I live when I was taking pictures”. – Cater News

When Roberto Perez (also known as Rob The Original) gives you a haircut, it’s probably not going to be just a haircut. This San-Antonio-based artist and hair stylist creates amazing works of art using nothing but his clients’ scalp and hair as his canvas. Perez can create just about anything he or his clients can think of – from a photo-realistic portrait or illustration to full-head paintings or graphic designs.

Farhad Moshiri, an Iranian artist working a lot with carpet media using it as a mean to joke about consumerism culture, was one of the participants of the group show Love Me Love Me Not of Yarat! pavilion curate by Dina Nasser-Khadivi (read on her curating Lalla Essaydi's Harem here) at Venice 2013 Art Biennial. The installation consists of more than 500 carpets depicting celebrities-covered magazines from all over the world.

Latvian cyclists have decided to show the automobilists just how absurd it is to have only a single occupant in a car. The car takes up an enormous amount of space on the road; however, everyone is so used to it that no one ever notices it. It’s not hard to guess the thoughts of automobilists, and how they cursed those cyclists for taking up so much space. However, they have only themselves to blame. If everyone rode only bicycles to work, then there would never be such a thing as a traffic jam, the air in the city would become cleaner, while people would live longer, healthier lives, since cycling is a wonderful way to use the extra fat on your belly as the “fuel” for your bike.

One glance at the 3D models created by Rebeca Puebla is enough to realize that this artist has a soft spot for BDSM. The finely detailed model of a nun with heavily tattooed hands and a ball gag in her mouth or an Asian woman in a latex suit of a horse leave no doubt about it. At first, Rebeca Puebla has started out as a traditional illustrator. However, in later years she became a 3D character artist for films, TV, and video games. Though she has many regular-looking 3D models and illustrations, many of her works are quite controversial featuring 3D models of ladies in latex suits or wearing Nazi uniforms. (Photo by Rebeca Puebla)

“Wave Gotik Treffen 2010 am Eingang des AgraParks / in der Innenstadt von Leipzig”. (Photo by Danny Sotzny)

P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews).