1. 29 Jun


    Photograph by Rémi Bénali, Lightmediation January 2008 Azerbaijan—The carcass of an abandoned amusement park ride is a diving platform for teens on a Caspian Sea beach near Baku. Despite the nation’s oil and gas boom, almost half of Azerbaijanis live in poverty.

    Photograph by Rémi Bénali, Lightmediation

    January 2008

    Azerbaijan—The carcass of an abandoned amusement park ride is a diving platform for teens on a Caspian Sea beach near Baku. Despite the nation’s oil and gas boom, almost half of Azerbaijanis live in poverty.

     

  2. 29 Jun


    Photograph by Tomas Munita, AP Images February 2008 Afghanistan—Good luck and centripetal force help driver Mohammed Jawed keep circling the shuddering wood-plank Wall of Death during his traveling stunt show’s stop in Kabul.

    Photograph by Tomas Munita, AP Images

    February 2008

    Afghanistan—Good luck and centripetal force help driver Mohammed Jawed keep circling the shuddering wood-plank Wall of Death during his traveling stunt show’s stop in Kabul.

     

  3. 29 Jun


    Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt, National Geographic Image Collection February 2008 Zambia—The 355-foot (108 meter) drop of Victoria Falls just inches away, a swimmer stands at the lip of a hidden pool—an eight-foot-deep (2 meter) divot in the riverbed rock—accessible only when the Zambezi River runs low.

    Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt, National Geographic Image Collection

    February 2008

    Zambia—The 355-foot (108 meter) drop of Victoria Falls just inches away, a swimmer stands at the lip of a hidden pool—an eight-foot-deep (2 meter) divot in the riverbed rock—accessible only when the Zambezi River runs low.

     

  4. 29 Jun


    Photograph by Magnus Elander February 2008 Sweden—The facial disk of feathers circling this great gray owl’s eyes channel forest-floor sounds back to its ears, helping the bird pounce on a vole and carry it away.

    Photograph by Magnus Elander

    February 2008

    Sweden—The facial disk of feathers circling this great gray owl’s eyes channel forest-floor sounds back to its ears, helping the bird pounce on a vole and carry it away.

     

  5. 29 Jun


    Photograph by K. C. Alfred, San Diego Union-Tribune/Zuma Press March 2008 California—As his mother scatters his ashes from a lifeguard boat, friends of Emery Kauanui, Jr., gather in a memorial paddle-out off La Jolla’s Windansea Beach on June 9, 2007. The pro surfer, 24, died the previous month.

    Photograph by K. C. Alfred, San Diego Union-Tribune/Zuma Press

    March 2008

    California—As his mother scatters his ashes from a lifeguard boat, friends of Emery Kauanui, Jr., gather in a memorial paddle-out off La Jolla’s Windansea Beach on June 9, 2007. The pro surfer, 24, died the previous month.

     

  6. 29 Jun


    Photograph by Sol Neelman April 2008 United States—A red-clay spray showers spectators at the mud-pit belly flop, highlight of the annual Summer Redneck Games in East Dublin, Georgia. Other events include a hubcap-discus throw and bobbing for pigs’ feet.

    Photograph by Sol Neelman

    April 2008

    United States—A red-clay spray showers spectators at the mud-pit belly flop, highlight of the annual Summer Redneck Games in East Dublin, Georgia. Other events include a hubcap-discus throw and bobbing for pigs’ feet.

     

  7. 29 Jun


    Photograph by Heidi and Hans-Jürgen Koch April 2008 Germany—The see-through skin of an inch-long glass frog reveals her eggs. Native to Venezuela, the frogs lay eggs in bushes and trees overhanging streams. Tadpoles hatch, then tumble into the current to be swept away.

    Photograph by Heidi and Hans-Jürgen Koch

    April 2008

    Germany—The see-through skin of an inch-long glass frog reveals her eggs. Native to Venezuela, the frogs lay eggs in bushes and trees overhanging streams. Tadpoles hatch, then tumble into the current to be swept away.

     

  8. 29 Jun


    Photograph by John B. Weller April 2008 Antarctica—Not far from its Franklin Island colony, a lone Adélie punctuates the looping scrawl of penguin tracks across plates of Ross Sea pack ice. Some 2.7 million of the birds populate the Ross Sea region.

    Photograph by John B. Weller

    April 2008

    Antarctica—Not far from its Franklin Island colony, a lone Adélie punctuates the looping scrawl of penguin tracks across plates of Ross Sea pack ice. Some 2.7 million of the birds populate the Ross Sea region.

     

  9. 29 Jun


    Photograph by George Steinmetz May 2008 Xinjiang—A column of dunes could provide geologic data for sand-sampling scientists, whose trucks scratch tracks across the wind-scoured Kumtag Desert.

    Photograph by George Steinmetz

    May 2008

    Xinjiang—A column of dunes could provide geologic data for sand-sampling scientists, whose trucks scratch tracks across the wind-scoured Kumtag Desert.

     

  10. 29 Jun


    Photograph by George Steinmetz May 2008 Yunnan—Blooming rapeseed plants weave around hills near Luoping. China grows more of the crop—some 14 million tons in 2006—than any other country; officials hope a biodiesel boom will increase demand even more.

    Photograph by George Steinmetz

    May 2008

    Yunnan—Blooming rapeseed plants weave around hills near Luoping. China grows more of the crop—some 14 million tons in 2006—than any other country; officials hope a biodiesel boom will increase demand even more.