These stunning coloured images show detailed x-ray images of everything from skulls to light bulbs. Artist Paula Fontaine, from Westminster Massachusetts, created the images using a process called digital map painting. To create the images the x-ray emission source – the head of the machine on an arm which focuses the beam – is placed over the object. Paula then retreats behind a shielded screen before activating the x-ray exposure. Here: Brain storm, conceptual composite X-ray. (Photo by Paula Fontaine/Barcroft Media)

Shortlisted images in the running to be crowned Photobox Instagram photograph of the year range from furry friends to the Holi festival to the meaning of love. Judges, including the Guardian’s former picture editor Eamonn McCabe, have whittled down 180,000 submissions to unearth a shortlist that celebrates the best of social media. Winners will be announced October 3, 2018. Here: Najac, France. Travel shortlist. (Photo by Aaron Jenkin/@aaronjenkin)

Every week, crowds bypass Orlando’s enticing theme parks and megamalls, opting instead to follow a blood-soaked Jesus impersonator as he heads for crucifixion on an immaculate Florida lawn. This ironic choice of amusement is what prompted photographer Daniel Cronin to pay a hefty entrance fee and document the Holy Land Theme Park Experience, a 1,200-square-foot replica of biblical Jerusalem a few miles from Disney World and other well-known theme parks. (Photo by Daniel Cronin)

With their wings at full length, these beautiful golden eagles soar through the skies in a glorious training session to hunt their prey. Others sit on the arms of their owners and trainers. Batzaya Choijiljav, 41, from Mongolia has taken these magnificent pictures at the annual traditional Kazakhs festival, October 2015. (Photo by Batzaya Choijiljav/Caters News)

Young Icelandic mares graze on a meadow in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, on a foggy Tuesday, September 26, 2023. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

In this photo taken Friday, September 4, 2015, tourists Sarah and John Scott from Worcester, England, take a step back as a male silverback mountain gorilla from the family of mountain gorillas named Amahoro, which means “peace” in the Rwandan language, unexpectedly steps out from the bush to cross their path in the dense forest on the slopes of Mount Bisoke volcano in Volcanoes National Park, northern Rwanda. Deep in Rwanda's steep-sloped forest, increasing numbers of tourists are heading to see the mountain gorillas, a subspecies whose total population is an estimated 900 and who also live in neighboring Uganda and Congo, fueling an industry seen as key to the welfare of the critically endangered species as well as Rwanda's economy. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

Pod of dolphins surf effortlessly through the waves in the wild traveling at speeds up to 20 mph. (Photo by Greg Huglin)

A tired-looking Javan Fish Owl. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). 5th December 1973