A Hypsiboas crepitans frog is pictured at a terrarium in Caracas November 30, 2015. Venezuelan frogs and toads are in critical danger due to climate change as rising temperatures complicate reproduction and spread a deadly fungus, say scientists, who liken the species to canaries in a coalmine warning of imminent danger. The survival of a group of nearly 20 frog and toad species, which top Venezuela's list of endangered species, may rest on a small group of academics in a Caracas laboratory attempting to recreate the amphibians' natural reproductive conditions. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

Some people think of trolls as nothing but savage beast, yet others realize that beneath their rock-hard skin hides a gentle kind heart. Ivar Rodningem is one of the people who knows the true nature of trolls. Though these creatures look unruly, it is just the way they were born. Trolls come in all shapes and sizes. Some are small, some are large, and some are simply enormous. They help each other out, though elders tend to be loners, preferring the company of their own thoughts to anybody else. You shouldn’t run for your life if you ever meet a troll, though we wouldn’t recommend pestering them, as they are mighty strong, even the little ones.

A destroyed T-72 tank, which presumably came from Russia, is seen on a battlefield near separatist-controlled Starobesheve, eastern Ukraine, October 2, 2014. The burnt-out remains of dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles in fields near the small village of Horbatenko bear witness to the ferocity of a battle that turned the tide of the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Among the debris, Reuters found the blackened carcasses of what military experts have since identified as two Russian army tanks, supporting statements by Kiev and the West that the rebels were backed by troops and equipment sent by Moscow. (Photo by Maria Tsvetkova/Reuters)

“El rio mas bonito del Mundo”, the most beautiful river of the world, the “River of five colors”, the “Rainbow River”, or even the “Escaped from Paradise”, are the shimmering appellations that Colombians give to Cano Cristales, a small stream located in the heart of the Macarena National Park, 150 km (93 miles) south of Bogota. Photo: A waterfall is seen at the end of the rainy season, in August, when the water level finally decreases, in the Cano Cristales RIver in the Sierra de la Macarena in Colombia. It has become covered with a bright pink endemic aquatic plant, Macarenia Clavigera. (Photo by Olivier Grunewald)

A woman poses on the flooded St. Mark's square during an acqua-alta (high-water) alert in Venice, on November 19, 2013. (Photo by Andrea Pattaro/AFP Photo)

P.S. All pictures, as usual, 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).

NASA says it could be another 20 years before humans touch down on Mars, but in a sense, the Mars Society has been exploring the red planet for more than a decade – in Utah. Photo: Csilla Orgel, a geologist of Crew 125 EuroMoonMars B mission, makes her way back to the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in the Utah desert March 3, 2013. The MDRS aims to investigate the feasibility of a human exploration of Mars and uses the Utah desert's Mars-like terrain to simulate working conditions on the red planet. Scientists, students and enthusiasts work together developing field tactics and studying the terrain. All outdoor exploration is done wearing simulated spacesuits and carrying air supply packs and crews live together in a small communication base with limited amounts of electricity, food, oxygen and water. Everything needed to survive must be produced, fixed and replaced on site. (Photo by Jim Urquhart/Reuters)

“Mehndi or menhdi is the application of henna as a temporary form of skin decoration in India, as well as by expatriate communities from the country. The word mehndi is derived from the Sanskrit word mendhikā. The use of mehndi and turmeric is described in the earliest Vedic ritual books. Haldi (Staining oneself with turmeric paste) as well as mehndi are important Vedic customs as a symbolic representation of the Outer and the Inner Sun. Vedic customs are meant to awaken the “inner light” and so the gold of the inner Sun has an important symbolic function”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Application of henna or “Mehndi” to a girls hand in a market on October 18, 2010 in Jaipur, India. (Photo by Simon de Trey-White/Getty Images)

A model of a ghost made from translucent fibreglass is lit from inside at Gem's (Wax Models) Ltd, in the Portobello Road area of west London. The ghost is due to go to the Capistrano Mission Museum in California, where tourists are told the legend of how he frightened a young Indian girl novice to death. 1st May 1965. (Photo by Chris Ware/Keystone Features)