Shetland ponies wearing cardigan sweaters are the official ambassadors of Visit Scotland tourism campaign. Photographer Rob McDougall captured two cute ponies named Fivla and Vitamin dressed in traditional Fair Isle Scottish cardigans to celebrate the Year of Natural Scotland.Their onesies were made out of Shetland wool by a local knitter Doreen Brown. The ponies live at the Thordale Shetland Stud Centre.

Two years ago, Mark Rober was an engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, part of a team that worked on the Curiosity rover. For Halloween, he strapped an iPad to his chest and another to his back. Then he turned them on and used the devices’ cameras and screens to make it appear as if he had a gaping hole in the middle of his torso. (Photo By Mark Rober)

Nowadays, crossbreeding and gene splicing are creating things that would never have occurred in nature. Thanks to gene splicing, modern man can witness mice that glow in the dark, goats that produce milk which is then used to make bulletproof vests, and even cows that produce milk that is almost identical to human breast milk. One of the latest feats of human genius is the creation of Thompson and Morgan. By combining the genes of tomatoes and potatoes they were able to create a “TomTato”, which is essentially a plant that grows tomatoes and potatoes at the same time. With creations such as this, the world’s hunger problem may be resolved in a few decades.

Higgs the kitten loves exploring the great outdoors - by going on holiday in his owner’s rucksack.
The adorable five-month-old took his first steps outdoors while holidaying in the Highlands with owners Christian Witte and Kimia Mohammadi last month. But scared by the strong winds along the coastline of Sanna Bay, he scrambled up on Christian's back before hopping into his backpack.

The bloodwood tree (Pterocarpus angolensis) is a deciduous tree with a high canopy, reaching about 15m in height and has dark bark. The red sap is used traditionally as a dye and in some areas mixed with animal fat to make a cosmetic for faces and bodies. It is also believed to have magical properties for the curing of problems concerning blood, apparently because of its close resemblance to blood. The name bloodwood for these trees stems from the dark red to brown sap that accumulates on wounds on the trunks.

Pangolins in Crisis: Brent Stirton, South Africa; 1st place, Natural world and wildlife. “Pangolins are the world’s most illegally trafficked mammals, with an estimated one million trafficked to Asia in the last 10 years. Their scales are used in traditional Chinese and Vietnamese medicine, and their meat is sold as a high-priced delicacy. As a result, pangolins are listed as critically endangered and anyone who trades or consumes them is breaking the law. This body of work exposes the trade, while exploring aspects of illegality and celebrating the people who are trying to save these animals”. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Sony World Photography Awards 2020)

A Spanish national police officer uses his club to hit a protester during a demonstration called the Catalan pro-independence left youth group “Arran” on October 19, 2019 in Barcelona, a day after nearly 200 people were hurt in another night of violent clashes in Catalonia. The deterioration came on the fifth consecutive day of protests in the Catalan capital and elsewhere over a Spanish court's jailing of nine separatist leaders on sedition charges over a failed independence bid two years ago. (Photo by Josep Lago/AFP Photo)