These beautiful shots may look like works of modern art – but they are actually close-ups of chemical reactions. The works were snapped with the help of a group of scientists from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Anhui, China. Here: Zinc reacting with lead nitrate in a soft gel to form lead crystals. (Photo by Yan Liang/Caters News)

This barking set of images takes the saying “dogs look like their owners” to the ultimate conclusion. Photographer Sebastian Magnani, 28, has cleverly spliced the features of four-legged friends with the head and shoulders of their owners. In a series called “Underdogs”, the Swiss photographer shot the owners and their respective pets in the same portrait style. Then he used expert photo-manipulation techniques to seamlessly transplant the canine faces onto the human bodies. (Photo by Sebastian Magnani)

The Royal Observatory just announced its Astronomy Photographer Of The Year 2013 winners. Australian photographer Mark Gee was chosen among a thousand amateur and professional photographers around the globe to win the top title. His work is part of an exhibition of the winning photographers, which opened on Sept. 19 at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. The Royal Observatory shared with us the winners and notable mentions of the competition. Their descriptions of the prizewinners can be found below the images.

More than 700 underwater images were submitted for the 2012 Annual Underwater Photography Contest, hosted by the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science. This year, for the first time, the University of Miami set up a “Fan Favorite” category for its underwater photo competition. Internet users could vote for their favorite among five pictures. Todd Aki's photo of a jellyfish took the prize, snaring 599 of the 1,221 votes cast. (Photo by Todd Aki)

A woman surveys the damage after the earthquake on March 17, 2011 in Kensennuma, Japan. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

A) 1st place WINNER – Roy Rimmer. “This rat was in an outdoor set I made, the set up is two meters long and a meter wide made of Perspex,it has a plywood front with holes cut in for my camera and flash guns, I placed two rusty paint cans in the set up and the rat would leap from one can too the other, I had to use flash to freeze the action”.

The photography duo of Floto+Warner created the series, “Colorant”, from an idea that stemmed out of a previous series and the fascination of landscapes, with results that leave one in awe. Creating shapes, not experienced in nature, they tossed colored water in the air to capture “a momentary graffiti of air and space”. Using a high shutter speed to capture these fleeting moments, Floto/Warner has produced a multi-medium series with jaw-dropping results. Photo: “Orange Salt Flats”. (Photo by Floto/Warner)