Construction cranes stand on the Unstrut Valley high-speed railway bridge on March 19, 2012 near Karsdorf, Germany. The Unstrut bridge, which is 2,668m long (about 1.6 miles), is among 38 bridges and 26 tunnels German state rail carrier Deutsche Bahn is building along a new ICE high-speed railroad connection between Nuremberg, Erfurt, Halle, Leipzig and Berlin in a multi-billion Euro project across eastern Germany called the German Unity Transportation Project (Verkehrsprojekt der Deutschen Einheit). (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

A CRH train is seen passing through Nanjing South Railway Station, which is part of the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway Line, on March 27, 2011 in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province of China. The High-Speed railway line is 1,318 kilometres long, running between Beijing and Shanghai. The line will open on June 10, 2011. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)

A member of staff stands in front of a CRH high-speed train at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station during its test run on May 11, 2011 in Shanghai, China. After 3 years construction, from April in 2008, with total investment estimated at 220.9 billion yuan (around 32.5 billion U.S. dollars), the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway begins a one-month trial operation. It is expected to start operation in June this year, with the travel time between the two cities reducing to five hours from the previous 10. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)

A woman looks at jellyfish during a media preview for the Epson Aqua Park Shinagawa aquarium's re-opening in Tokyo July 6, 2015. The aquarium will re-open on July 10 with new attractions including a pirate ship ride and a merry-go-round. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Reuters)

Beautiful, strange and occasionally alarming pictures from the shortlist for this year’s Wellcome image awards – which celebrate the very best in science photography and imaging – from an x-ray of a bat to a micrograph of a kidney stone. The exhibition opens on 12 March at three science centres and the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. Photo: Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of an Arabidopsis thaliana flower, also commonly known as thale cress. Some of the anthers are open, revealing pollen grains ready for dispersal. Arabidopsis was the first plant to have its entire genome sequenced and is widely used as a model organism in molecular and plant biology. Horizontal width of image is 1200 microns. Magnification 100x. (Photo by Stefan Eberhard/Wellcome Images)

Pedestrians and traffic cross Tower Bridge as viewed through a glass viewing platform on the high-level Walkways during a preview to launch the new viewing experience at the Tower Bridge Exhibition centre in London on November 10, 2014. The new glass flooring at the Tower Bridge Exhibition 42 metres above the river Thames will allow visitors to gaze down on the bridge and river and allow them to experience the bridge opening from above. (Photo by Andrew Cowie/AFP Photo)

Extraordinary tales of everyday heroism have been illustrated beautifully by renowned US photographer Steve McCurry in the new 2015 Lavazza Calendar. The calendar which has been created in collaboration with the Slow Food movement, features twelve breathtaking pictures, capturing the spirit, strength and humanity of the Earth Defenders – women and men who protect their land and projects in Africa with passion and bravery. The proceeds from sales of the calendar and all donations will be contributed entirely to create 10,000 food gardens in African schools and villages by the end of 2016. (Photo by Steve McCurry/2015 Lavazza Calendar)