Photographer Vincent Jansen travels throughout Europe, visiting beautiful abandoned places. He explores churches, factories, sanatoriums, mortuaries, villas and theaters, all quietly waiting for renovation or demolition. His photos show a unique perspective on what is happening behind the “no trespassing” signs: where nature is slowly gaining ground and the desolation, loneliness and decay leave their stunning traces. Photo: This piano was located in one of many rooms of a huge chateau in Poland. (Photo by Vincent Jansen)

“Stacked Supercell with Lightning”. This huge mesocyclone supercell was near the Nebraska / Kansas border on the night of June 22nd, 2012. What a stunning structure! (Photo and caption by Jennifer Brindley/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! 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.

James Doran has created two epic dragon sculpture. The first, perched on a dead tree, is called ‘The Wyvern in the Baobabs’ (a wyvern is a type of dragon with two legs and two wings). The other, ‘Wyvern’s Folly,’ is perched on a gazebo made from reclaimed steel and recycled water bottles.

In the works of a photographer named Dave – who goes by Freaktography and never gives out his full name – haunting abandonment leaps from images of discarded machinery, tools and factory essentials. (Photo by Freaktography/Caters News Agency)

William Gibson is not one of the authors that spits out novels like a machine – in his long and fruitful career he has only published 11 novels andof short stories and articles in the tens each. Still his impact on modern literature was huge – the “noir prophet” of the cyberpunk subgenre (that he was one of the pioneers of) has predicted the rise of reality television, virtual reality, video games and the internet. He is a Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction writer, with a special eye for what the future might bring.

A man holds up for a picture a one hundred trillion Zimbabwean dollars note inside a shop in Harare, Zimbawe, June 12, 2015. Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe was a period of currency instability that began in the late 1990s shortly after the confiscation of private farms from landowners, towards the end of Zimbabwean involvement in the Second Congo War. During the height of inflation from 2008 to 2009, it was difficult to measure Zimbabwe's hyperinflation because the government of Zimbabwe stopped filing official inflation statistics. However, Zimbabwe's peak month of inflation is estimated at 79.6 billion percent in mid-November 2008. (Photo by Philimon Bulawayo/Reuters)

“These Rajasthani sisters were sitting on the staircase inside their house relaxing and enjoy a cup of masala chai”. (Photo by Firdaus Hadzri/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest)

Handout grab taken from YouTube of Commander Chris Hadfield who has said goodbye to life on the International Space Station by making a cover version of David Bowie's Space Oddity. Issue date: Monday May 13, 2013. (Photo by Commander Chris Hadfield/YouTube/PA Wire)