Stunning up-close photos of animal eyes

The adorable happiness of animals, in photos

Can animals experience happiness? And even if they do, do their bodies manifest happiness in similar ways to humans? Regardless, you surely will derive some happiness after viewing these thirty photos of a variety of animals appearing to smile big, beautiful smiles.

Ten magnificent photos of lions

A new book of essays and images reveals the history of the big cats, elaborating on how they’ve become a vulnerable species today (and efforts to preserve them).

The beauty of the Earth in 80 photos

The world is full of beautiful landscapes, creatures, and scenes. Here's a gallery of 80 incredible photos with explanatory captions to deepen your appreciation for the diverse wonders of Earth.

What pupils can reveal about a person’s thoughts and feelings

Eyes have long been said to be the window to the soul. In this article, a psychologist and pupillometrist explores research demonstrating pupils as a window into the mind. Pupils tell us how intensely someone is exerting mental effort, or even reveal what a person is imagining. Read this article for insight into the field of pupillometry and how it can offer insights into our psyches.

A collection of the world's best live animal cams

What are the animals up to? If you're too busy to get to the zoo today, you can take a quick glance at this site, which aggregates dozens of live feeds of animals from around the world. See elephants, bald eagles, and puppies all in one place—but...

Underwater nighttime photos capture the ocean's diversity

Self-taught photographer Steven Kovacs explores Palm Beach's ocean after sunset, capturing tiny sea creatures in deep waters. Over eight years, he's dived into Florida's eastern coast, drifting from 0 to 100 feet, photographing rarely seen larval fish. Lacking formal marine biology training, Kovacs collaborates globally to identify species like cusk eels and the female blanket octopus, known for its revealing membrane. Check out his photos here.

Forty-nine top-notch photos of springtime around the world

Peruse this collection of stunning images gleaned from thousands submitted in a 2020 "springtime" contest which features close-ups and drone photos from Vietnam to Ireland.

The funniest pet photos of 2022

Chess-playing cats, water-loving dogs, and happy horses are among the finalists of the 2022 Comedy Pet Photography Awards.

A gallery of New York cats alongside their feline reflections

Comedian Jim Tews began capturing photos of cats from the Big Apple in 2014 as a joke mimicking the highly popular site "Humans of New York," which captured random New Yorkers accompanied by their quotes. The site grew in popularity and Tews...

See a gallery of winning photos from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards for 2025

The overall winner was “Ghost Town Visitor," which depicts an extremely rare brown hyena visiting an abandoned mining building in Kolmanskop, Namibia, by South African photographer Wim van den Heever. Other amazing shots include "Orphan of the Road," showing a longhorn beetle observing large machinery, and "Survival Purse," featuring the egg case of a swell shark.

See the winning photos from a major European nature photography contest

Selected from nearly 9,000 submissions by 546 photographers across 15 countries, the honored images range from clashing Alpine ibexes to a wolf feeding on flower nectar, captured by the grand prize winner, 20-year-old Luca Lorenz.

Twelve artworks you'll love zooming into

Zoom in on these famous paintings to see what's hiding up close, then go exploring the rest of Google's incredible Arts and Culture hub.

Exploring bird skulls

Birds inspire us to fly—but what about bird skulls? This collection of various birds' preserved skulls offers a peculiar "bird's-eye" view. See the many surprising shapes of beaks and eyeholes, from mockingbirds to turkeys, in this fascinating visual collection.

View a gallery of stunning images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope

While the James Webb telescope collects an astounding amount of scientific data, a major part of its allure is its ability to return stunning, high-resolution images. These images include nearby stars, distant galaxies, and some of the oldest structures in the universe.

The science of dogs, from wolf origins to color-blindness

This under 10-minute podcast episode dives into the rich, fascinating science behind dogs: From their world-class sense of smell to their domestication from wolves.

Astrophotographer Vincent Bouchama's stellar photo archive

Astrophotographers specialize in collecting as much light from celestial objects as possible while minimizing the movement of the object they're capturing. It's a unique skillset—requiring unique tools—but the results are often universally...

A resting rhino tops the best travel photos of the year

The annual Travel Photographer of the Year awards are in for 2022, and the winner this year features one of the last two remaining Northern White rhinos. Check out the other categories and runners up.

Images of jumping lemurs and octopus moms promote conservation efforts

Winners and finalists from the California Academy of Sciences' BigPicture Photography Competition showcase the incredible biodiversity of Earth. The striking images are judged by a panel of nature and conservation photography experts.

Owls cannot move their eyes because they lack eyeballs, having instead developed cylinder-like tubes held in place by bones, which provide stability and lock visual focus when hunting prey.

Stunning shots of a singing red-winged blackbird

Photographer Kathrin Swoboda visits Huntley Meadows Park to photograph red-wing blackbirds singing. In 2019, she captured them emitting smoke-like rings from their beaks due to visible condensation in the cold. This serendipitous shot won the top prize at the Audubon Photography Awards that year, highlighting the unique phenomenon of birds' breath visible in chilly temperatures. Check out the photos here.

National Geographic's 2022 Photo of the Year

See all 10 of the top photographs and find out how perseverance—and a ton of patience—got Karthik Subramaniam the grand-prize-winning shot.

The oddest shots captured on Google Street View

Ever wondered what you could see on Google Street View if you looked hard enough? With this delightful site, you can now explore the weird and wonderful things captured since the service debuted in 2007.

View a gallery of animals found on abyssal plains, hydrothermal vents, seamounts, and other deep-sea habitats.

River dolphins manhandle an unlucky anaconda

The natural world around us is endlessly inspiring, and fascinating, and often very odd too: like when researchers snapped a photo of Bolivian river dolphins swimming around with a Beni anaconda snake in their mouths, for example.

Watch how wild animals are projected into a mall

Centered around a dynamic, ever-changing watering hole, the experience allows you to meet a diverse range of animals from Africa to the Arctic as they graze, drink, and interact with the environment around them.

Evolution doesn't want you to see these animals

Invisibility is an oft-coveted superpower that many creatures throughout the animal kingdom have evolved to mimic through transparent camouflage. This article explores the science of this seemingly magical ability. The two critical ingredients in...

See hilarious photos from the Comedy Wildlife Awards 2025

Napping frog princes, annoying lion husbands, and kung fu sea eagles are just some of the charming shots you'll find among the finalists for the award.

Photobombing bird nabs best wedding photo of the year

Just as groom-to-be started in on his vows in the beautiful setting of wild Whistler, Canada, a curious bird alighted upon his dear love's head, and photographer Tara Lilly captured what would become the year's best wedding photograph. See the shot and read the story here.

Hear Carl Sagan reflect on the smallness of humanity

Contest honors street photographers who freeze fleeting moments

The Pure Street Photography Awards has been connecting and commending international photographers for their talents and storytelling since 2020. See precious moments like an alley game gone rogue, cows bumping heads, and kids flying kites in the gallery.

View a gallery of diatoms—algae surrounded by glass-like shells—captured via microscope.

The best photos of scientists at work in 2025

The winners of Nature's 2025 photo competition capture the essence of scientific fieldwork in diverse and challenging environments. From a biologist battling waves for whale research to ice core drilling in polar night conditions, this gallery details the research being each winning photo.

Sexy radishes, big-time LOL

This kind of high-quality content is exactly the reason why Al Gore invented the internet. Open this post see the best collection of sexy radishes in the world!

Photographer captures glowing flowers in ultraviolet light

Debora Lombardi utilizes ultraviolet light to reveal unseen colors in flowers, re-shaping their natural beauty. Beginning during the lockdown of March 2020, Lombardi's experimentation evolved, culminating in a series recognized by the World Photography Organization. Her work highlights vibrant purples, blues, and yellows, transforming flowers into surreal, otherworldly specimens by exposing them to UV light in her Italy-based studio.

A gallery of famous artists and their dogs

Picasso often featured his photographer's dog, Lump, in paintings, due to an unusually close connection. George O'Keeffe adopted chow chows as companions and protectors in the New Mexico desert. See the pets of Lucian Freud, Frida Kahlo, and more.

2025's Nature Photographer of the Year winners

A look inside North Korea through photographs

What does life look like inside North Korea? Get a behind-the-scenes peek through 38 photos in the Atlantic.

Photographer catches stunning shot of an aurora over an Icelandic waterfall

Photographer Cari Letelier captured a stunning shot of the aurora borealis over the Godafoss waterfall in Iceland, a composite image pulled from nearly three dozen exposures. The aurora phenomenon is typically visible in Earth's northern latitudes...

Meet Cystisoma, the 7-inch crustacean with eyes for a head

In deep midwater, roughly 1,000 feet below the water's surface, completely transparent Cystisoma hide in plain sight from predators. Their retinas are splayed out thin across their disproportionately large eyes to avoid detection, and their entire bodies are transparent, difficult to see even as they are held in the palm of your hand. Learn more about the creatures here.

Explore human anatomy with these beautiful images

The Human Organ Atlas offers detailed 3D images of dozens of human organs. It was created with very bright X-rays from a particle accelerator, which is formally called a synchroton imaging method.

Watch insects and animal pollinators in slow motion

Louie Schwartzberg's "Moving Art" series showcases slow-motion footage of oceans, forests, deserts, flowers, and more. In this excerpt, organisms such as bats, monarch butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds are shown interacting with one another and with flowering plants.

The aesthetics of the James Webb images

The highly popular images produced by the James Webb Space Telescope are an artful collaboration between data science and visual designers. The raw data reflects real physical aspects of space, but it arrives without visual representation. Visual experts assign colors to specific wavelengths, crop and orient images in an accessible way, and consider the emotional impact of images as they incorporate design principles into the final product. Learn the fascinating details here.

David Attenborough reflects on some of his most moving natural encounters

The legendary natural historian has had more direct encounters with wildlife than most people in history. As he turned 99, the Englishman recounts his favorite encounters with marine life, from whales to capuchin monkeys in mangroves. Despite the obstacles the environment faces, Attenborough believes in nature's resilience.

View a gallery of biofluorescent animals, which contain cells that emit various colors when exposed to ultraviolet light.

View a colorful gallery of solar features, including coronal loops and filamentary prominences, curated by the National Solar Observatory.

Meet siphonophores, breathtaking jellyfish-like organisms

Siphonophores are colonial jelly-like creatures made up of specialized segments that work together as one. They're fairly unknown despite being a significant sea predator. Sink into their strange beauty with this video.

A real-time 3D-explorer of the solar system

NASA's Eyes on the Solar System allows you to track all kinds of objects in space in real time, from observatories like the James Webb Telescope to all manner of comets and asteroids. Zoom in and out, read up on space missions, and see the solar system from a totally new angle with this incredible interactive site. Jump in here.

The 10 most amazing deep sea creatures

In this video, researchers from the world-renowned Monterey Bay Aquarium discuss the most fascinating deep sea creatures, and how they developed some of their strangest features.

A Canadian tourism campaign turns every whale sighting—including ones from decades ago—into a live, crowdsourced migration biography

Humpback flukes (or tails) are as individually distinct as fingerprints, which means a single photo is enough to match a whale to its full sighting history. Every upload adds a chapter (the database goes back to the 1970s) and the site uses AI to render that data as narrative, not just data.

The science of optical illusions

The human brain has developed cognitive shortcuts to help us navigate in a world where our visual senses are constantly bombarded of information. But these shortcuts can also be exploited, tricking the brain into telling us something is happening when it really isn't. This short video unpacks the neuroscience behind some of the most common (but perplexing) optical illusions.