/NASA SDO via AFP - Getty Images
A still frame taken from a video and released by the NASA shows an erupting prominence observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) on March 30, 2010.
A striking example of why Hollywood special effects will always pale next to the real thing.
Dave Martin/AP file
An eastern diamond back rattlesnake coils itself to strike during the Opp Rattlesnake Rodeo in Opp, Ala., Friday, March 26, 2010. Once there were about 50 snake roundups in the South, but only three are left.
It's difficult to have sympathy for a rattlesnake, but maybe we should.
Christian Charisius/Reuters
A white Tiger cub hits veterinary Michael Boeer during its medical examination at the 'Serengeti' Safari park in the northern German village of Hodenhagen on April 21.
Ow OW OW OW!
Ermindo Armino/AP
A mare nuzzles her foal in a meadow near Puth, Netherlands on Wednesday, April 20.
Makes me miss springtime on the farm.
Johannes Eisele/Reuters
The stranded cheerleading group 'Cheerforce Koblenz', on their way to the World Championships in Orlando, perform as they wait for a flight at the partially closed Frankfurt airport April 20, 2010.
Nice to see people making the most of an adverse situation.
Ragnar Th Sigurdsson/www.arctic-images.com
Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano continues to erupt in this image released on Sunday, April 18. The eruption has caused havoc with air travel across Europe and forced hundreds of locals to evacuate their homes.
Imagine photographing something like this... I'm always left in awe of the power of nature.
/
Original caption in The Week in Pictures: A cloud of ash from Iceland's spewing volcano grounded all U.K. flights and closed all airports in an unprecedented move that left hundreds of thousands of travelers stranded. This picture of the volcano eruption was taken by a farmer in Iceland on April 14.
This photograph was taken by an Icelandic farmer, delivered to a local newspaper, toned to increase contrast and saturation and then moved by various agencies. We published the version on top until Reuters moved this correction with the version below: "ATTENTION EDITORS - QUALITY REPEAT FOR SIN500 TRANSMITTED ON APRIL 15, 2010 AT APPROXIMATELY 2000 GMT. WE HAVE OBTAINED FROM THE SOURCE THE ORIGINAL FILE OF THIS HANDOUT IMAGE. AN UPDATED, CORRECTLY TONED VERSION IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWS THIS ADVISORY. WE ARE SORRY FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE CAUSED. REUTERS." We prefer the corrected version from Reuters, and think the first version was a bit heavy-handed, but would not say that the original is a flagrant foul in the world of digital photography toning. What do you think?
Enrique de la Osa/Reuters
A dancer inserts a fork into his nose during the filming of a music video by Cuban director Arturo Santana in Havana on Wednesday, April 14. The video, which pays tribute to Africa, is part of a 20 music video project which will compete with other Cuban filmmakers during the Premios Lucas Cuban video festival in November.
Do not try this at home.
Markus Zinner/AP
After changing planes by crawling from wing to wing, Austrian Paul Steiner forms a human connection between the aircraft by touching both of them at altitude of 6,890 feet. The 48-year-old skydiver safely parachuted to the ground in Upper Styria, Austria.
Red Bull gives you wings, but it falls short as a delivery vehicle for imparting common sense.
Andy Clark/Reuters
An anchored boat sits on Kitsilano Beach in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Wednesday, April 14. The boat was one of several beached after a strong storm.
Good thing it's anchored.
Nasser Nasser/AP
A peacekeeper from the United Nations African Mission In Darfur, UNAMID keep guard during a patrol at the refugee camp of Zamzam on the outskirts of the Darfur town of el Fasher, Sudan, Tuesday, April 13, 2010. The hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur said four soldiers are missing for the past 24 hours in South Darfur.
Is this the new face of U.N. peacekeeping?
Chad A. Stevens/milesfrommaybe Productions
Four days after a methane blast killed 29 men at a Massey Energy coal mine in Montcoal, W.Va., community members gather at Marsh Fork High School in Glen Daniel, W.Va. on Friday, April 9, for a candlelight vigil to honor the fallen miners.
This photo has such an eerie feel to it. The photographer described the scene as a surreal experience.
Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images
SHIMOSUWA, JAPAN - APRIL 09: Participants astride a huge log slide down a hill during the Onbashira Festival on April 9, 2010 in Shimosuwa, Japan. The septennial festival has taken place for the past 1,200 years. The huge timbers are used as sacred pillars for the Suwa Grand Shrines of Kamisha and Shimosha, which are re-built in Suwa City. The lumbers' journey down the mountainside often results in injury and fatalities as participants try to ride the timbers as they slide down the mountain.
Wow, I hope these guys were all able to walk away after this.
/AP
A tiger jumps to catch a Chinese circus performer, clinging on to a ladder above the tiger den at a zoo in Changzhou in east China's Jiangsu province, in this Tuesday, March 30, 2010 photo. Authorities canceled the performance amid wide criticism after media exposure, newspapers reported.
Humans as cat toys
Chris O'meara/AP
From left, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player walk down the first fairway during the par-3 tournament at the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Ga., Wednesday, April 7, 2010.
It's kind of cool to see these legendary old golfers out on the course in Augusta. I was kind of rooting for Tiger to break Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major championship wins; now, not so much.
/Alan Diaz / AP File, Ismael Francisco / Prensa Latina via AP
Top: Elian Gonzalez is held in a closet by Donato Dalrymple, one of the two men who rescued the Cuban boy from the ocean, as government officials search the home of Lazaro Gonzalez for the boy in Miami on April 22, 2000. Bottom: Elian Gonzalez holds a Cuban flag during the Union of Young Communists congress in Havana Sunday April 4, 2010.
The latest photo (bottom) of Elian Gonzalez, the young boy found floating in the ocean trying to escape Cuba and subsequently seized and returned to his father. He's become quite a celebrity, his birthday being celebrated with parades and events, and last year he joined the Young Communist Union.
Zohra Bensemra/Reuters
A woman watches television in her house in the outskirts of Sudan's capital, Khartoum April 5, 2010.
If you were starting from scratch, how soon in your acquisition of things would you get a television?
Matt Campbell/EPA
Tiger Woods hits an approach shot onto the seventh green during a practice round at the 2010 Masters Tournament at the Augusta National in Augusta, Georgia, April 5. 2010. Woods last tournament was 15 November 2009.
If you were there, would you cheer for Tiger or boo?
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Space Shuttle Discovery is seen streaking into space as a plume of smoke floats through the air after it blasted off from launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center on April 5, 2010, in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Beautiful launch shot. I'll miss the space shuttle.
Birgitte Rubaek/AFP - Getty Images
This handout photo obtained from the Statens Naturhistoriske Museum shows a mermaid skeleton placed on the rock where Copenhagen's famous 'Little Mermaid' statue habitually sits, as an April Fool's joke. The statue is on its way to Shanghai for the World Expo.
This is a good April Fool's joke.
Damir Sagolj/Reuters
Santisuk (peace in Thai language), a five-year-old pig-tailed macaque monkey, wears a police shirt as he rides atop a patrolling vehicle in Saiburi district in Yala province in southern Thailand April 1, 2010. The monkey, who was found injured and adopted by local policemen, goes dressed in uniform on patrol every day.
I'm now officially a fan of dressing up animals in clothes.
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