U.S. Air Force pilots with the Thunderbirds perform the calypso pass maneuver in F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft during a practice session prior to the Gunfighter Skies air show at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, September 19 and released September 24, 2014. (Photo by Tech. Sgt. Manuel J. Martinez/Reuters/US Air Force)

Competitors climb in front of the Matterhorn mountain at the start of the 21st Glacier Patrol race in Stafel outside the ski resort of Zermatt, Switzerland, 18 April 2018. The Glacier Patrol (Patrouille des Glaciers in French), organized by the Swiss Army, takes place from April 17 to 21. Highly-experienced hiker-skiers trek for over 53km (3994m ascent and 4090m descent) along the Haute Route along the Swiss-Italian border from Zermatt to Verbier. (Photo by Valentin Flauraud/EPA/EFE)

There are many types of hobbies. Some of them are strange, such as piercing your skin with huge metal hooks with ropes attached to them, and dangling yourself from the ceiling. Others might enjoy riding down huge mountain hills on skis, snowboards, mountain boards, bikes, etc. However, some enjoy pastimes that are more tranquil and meditative. For example, the art of contortionism is a very peculiar hobby that is usually practiced by women and children, due to the natural stretchiness of their tendons. Despite the fact that tendons of grown men are usually too stiff, a Berlin-based dancer is able to do amazing things with his body and is not afraid to show it to the world.

A sign reading “STOP Danger of Avalanches” blocks a local road on January 11, 2012 near Ischgl, Austria. Over the last few days heavy snowfalls have caused chaos in parts of Austria and Switzerland by blocking rail and road connections, stranding vacationers at mountain ski resorts and creating the risk of avalanches throughout the region. (Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images)

Merit: A Night at Deadvlei. The night before returning to Windhoek, we spent several hours at Deadveli. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the sand dunes in the distance, but the skies were still dark enough to clearly see the milky way and magellanic clouds. Deadveli means “dead marsh. The camelthorn trees are believed to be about 900 years old, but have not decomposed because the environment is so dry. (Photo and caption by Beth McCarley/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

“The fantastic landscape of Bagan in Myanmar features hundreds of temples and pagodas as far as the eye can see. Experiencing this sight at dawn from the basket of a hot air balloon will remain engraved in my memory for ever. Mick Ryan, judge – What a magical photograph and place. The Buddhist temples and pagodas fill the plains of Bagan in Myanmar at sunrise… the golden hour providing beautiful light to illuminate the retrogression of the temples and balloons toward a misty, mountainous distance. An excellent, exotic photograph that makes you want to book a flight”. (Photo by Alastair Swan/The Guardian)

Fred Fugen seen training for a jump over Austria on May 12, 2014. Fearless skydivers jump from an altitude of 10,000 meters above the largest mountain in Europe. Frederic Fugen, 34, and Vincent Reffet, 29, leapt from a plane in the freezing skies above Mont-Blanc in the French Alps. The jump is from such a height the pictures show the curvature of the earth. (Photo by Dominique Daher/Barcroft Media)

Some of the best entries so far in the 2016 Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. There are two weeks left to enter, and the winners will be announced in September. Here: Aurora over Laksvatn Fjord, Laksvatn, Norway. The aurora borealis dances in the skies over the town of Laksvatn, with the Milky Way to the left. The image is a single shot with no compositing, only post-processing to bring out the aurora, and some colour corrections. The photographer Matt Walford said: “I love the way the northern lights look like they are just wistfully dancing over the fjord, framed by the mountains on either side”. (Photo by Matt Walford/National Maritime Museum)