“The saguaro (scientific name Carnegiea gigantea) is a large, tree-sized cactus species in the monotypic genus Carnegiea. It is native to the Sonoran Desert in the U.S. state of Arizona, the Mexican state of Sonora, a small part of Baja California in the San Felipe Desert and an extremely small area of California, U.S. The saguaro blossom is the State Wildflower of Arizona”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Daniel Appel (L), a firefighter with Engine 84 from the Lassen National Forest in California and Mike Hallen, (R), Arizona representative of the National Register of Big Trees, measure the circumference of this Saguaro cactus called the "Grand One," in the Tonto National Forest on July 1, 2005 35 miles north of Phoenix, near Carefree, Arizona. The cactus, estimated to be more than 200 years old, measures a circumference of 7 feet, 10 inches (2.4 meters) and stands 46 feet high (14 meters). The cactus was burned in the Cave Creek Complex fire and may not survive. It was once the largest Saguaro in the world, two others have been found recently that have tied it's measurements. The fire has burned more than 214,000 acres of the Sonoran desert. (Photo by Jeff Topping/Getty Images)

“Li Wei (born in 1970, Hubei, China) is a contemporary artist from Beijing, China. His work often depicts him in apparently gravity-defying situations. Wei started off his performance series, Mirroring, and later on took off attention with his Falls series which shows the artist with his head and chest embedded into the ground. His work is a mixture of performance art and photography that creates illusions of a sometimes dangerous reality. Li Wei states that these images are not computer montages and works with the help of props such as mirror, metal wires, scaffolding and acrobatics”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Love at the high place I (Photo by Li Wei)

In this September 1, 2014 photo released by the U.S. Geological Survey, fluid lava streams from the June 27 lava flow from the Kilauea volcano in Pahoa, Hawaii. The June 27 lava flow is named for the date it began erupting from a new vent. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory issued a warning Thursday, September 4, 2014 to a rural community in the path of a lava flow on Hawaii's Big Island, as the molten rock moved to within a mile of homes. Observatory scientists said lava from the Kilauea volcano could reach the Kaohe Homesteads in five to seven days if it continues advancing through cracks in the earth. (Photo by AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)

Figurines of former pro-Russian separatist commander Igor Strelkov from the collection entitled “Toy Soldiers of Novorossiya” are on display at a workshop in Moscow August 29, 2014. A Moscow-based maker of toy soldiers has sought inspiration for his creations from Ukrainian rebels fighting government troops in the east of Ukraine. Toy soldier maker, Timur Zamilov, displayed his new collection of rebel fighters cast in metal on Friday, before they are due to go on sale. His new collection is entitled “Toy Soldiers of Novorossiya” (New Russia), a reference to regions in eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian separatist fighters want full independence. Zamilov's selection includes models of Cossack soldiers, volunteers, soldiers bearing anti-aircraft missiles and even a miniature of prominent rebel leader Igor Strelkov. (Photo by Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters)

50 year-old Italian artist Riccardo Boscolo says about himself that for the last 17 years his passion has been graphics, he likes to draw picturesque caricatures of famous people, mostly actors and politicians, that look like Hollywood actors, showing them from the sides you probably didn’t know.

Gorgeous galaxies and stunning stars make up this selection of pictures from the shortlisted entries for this year’s Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year award. The winners will be announced on 15 September, and an exhibition of the winning images will be will be displayed in a free exhibition at the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Centre from 17 September. Here: “Seven Magic Points”. The rusty red swirls of the circular, iron sculpture Seven Magic Points in Brattebergan, Norway mirror the rippling aurora above. (Photo by Rune Engebø/Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016/National Maritime Museum)

Jane Howorth from national charity the British Hen Welfare Trust holds Liberty the last ex-battery hen to be rehomed on December 29, 2011 in Chulmleigh, England. The rehoming of Liberty signifies the end of the small battery hen cage, which has been phased out and replaced by enriched cages in preparation of the European Union directive banning the smaller cages from January 1, 2012. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)