Miners work extremely long days under the hot sun and the hours are often longer in illegal mines in Ghana, West Africa, 2014. An Australian photographer has captured the harsh reality of illegal mining under the unforgiving sun with these Ghanaian miners. (Photo by Heidi Woodman/Barcroft Images)

The images were taken off the coast of Tonga in the South Pacific. Photographer Grant Thomas said: “Through my images I aim to show off the amazing life we have on our planet in hope of inspiring more people to experience it for themselves and, most importantly, care for it”. (Photo by Grant Thomas/Caters News Agency)

The world's first 3D printed car – the Stratti – was built in just 45 hours at the International Manufacturing Technology Show which took place between September 8 – 13, 2014. The Strati, which is Italian for layers, has a chassis body made of one solid piece and has a top speed of 40mph. The tyres, seats, wheels, battery, wiring, suspension, electric motor and window shield of the revolutionary vehicle were made using conventional methods. (Photo by Barcroft Media/ABACAPress)

Two daredevil photographers have risked their lives to become the first people to capture the explosive moment fiery lava crashes into the sea – while in the water themselves. Fearless duo Nick Selway, 28, and pal CJ Kale, 35, brave baking hot 110F (43,3C) waters to snap the amazing images – standing just feet away from scalding heat and floating lava bombs. Using a simple protective casing around their cameras, and donning just swimming shorts and flippers, they bob up and down with the water as the surf washes over their heads. (Photo by Nick Selway/CJ Kale/Caters News Agency)

“Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky (August 30 1863 Russian Empire – September 27, 1944 Paris, France) was a Russian chemist and photographer. He is best known for his pioneering work in color photography of early 20th-century Russia”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Dinner during haying. Russian Empire, Novgorod province, county Cherepovets, 1909. (Photos by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky via US Library of Congress and Prokudin-Gorsky.org)

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). Enjoy.

“Microscope images forge an extraordinary bond between science and art, said Hidenao Tsuchiya, Olympus America's Vice President and General Manager for the Scientific Equipment Group. We founded this competition to focus on the fascinating stories coming out of today's life science research laboratories. The thousands of images that people have shared with the competition over the years reflect some of the most exciting work going on in research today – work that can help shed light on the living universe and ultimately save lives. We look at BioScapes and these beautiful images as sources of education and inspiration to us and the world”. – OlympusBioScapes

Photo: Pretarsus of the third leg of a female drone fly (Eristalis tenax), ventral view, by Dr. Jan Michels, Institute of Zoology, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Germany. (Photo by Olympus BioScapes)

“I was born in the United States in 1985. As early as I can remember I’ve been a “doodler”. From even the early days I’ve always loved strange, offbeat, beautiful, and slightly melancholy things. Something about the mixed grabbed me. My love for sketching carried on throughout my high school days. Which is when I took a small class on watercolor. Watercolor is what birthed my passion for mixing colors and how a color can tell a story. In year 2009 I discovered digital painting and my new found passion for the medium. It’s been the favored medium for the past years since. I’ve used online tutorials and videos to help me learn along the way and then in late 2011 I took a workshop called Becoming a Better Artist. The beginning of 2013 I won a class from The Art Department which will start this spring.”