What kind of clouds are these? Although their cause is presently unknown, such unusual atmospheric structures, as menacing as they might seem, do not appear to be harbingers of meteorological doom. Formally recognized as a distinct cloud type only last year, Asperitas clouds can be stunning in appearance, unusual in occurrence, and are relatively unstudied. Whereas most low cloud decks are flat bottomed, asperitas clouds appear to have significant vertical structure underneath.

Locals watch as a firefighting plane drops water over a fire near holiday homes in Costa village in the Argolida region, in Southeastern Greece during a developing wild fire

Don't get your hands near it.

Not a Falcon 9 rocket launch after sunset, the Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543) is one of the best known planetary nebulae in the sky. Its haunting symmetries are seen in the very central region of this composited picture, processed to reveal an enormous but extremely faint halo of gaseous material, over three light-years across. Made with data from ground- and space-based telescopes it shows the extended emission which surrounds the brighter, familiar planetary nebula. Planetary nebulae have long been appreciated as a final phase in the life of a sun-like star. But only more recently have some planetaries been found to have halos like this one.

Having a dream is a great place to start.

Humans have always had a desire to explore and technology has opened that up to the masses. From booking, to transport and choice of destinations, every aspect of travel is evolving and, within the next few decades, the sky really will be the limit.

The war rug tradition of Afghanistan has its origins in the decade of Soviet occupation of Afghanistan from 1979, and has continued through subsequent military, political and social conflicts. Afghan rug-makers began incorporating the apparatus of war into their designs almost immediately after the Soviet Union invaded their country. They continue to do so today in the wake of the United States' 2001 invasion of Afghanistan which ousted the Taliban government of Mullah Omar but has failed to bring an end to violence in the country. These days, with the ongoing drone war, these have started creeping up.

By Bryan Buchanan

Red-tailed Hawks usually call out while soaring

Photograph by Tiger Seo.

When you grow up with video games, you grow up in a lot of places. (by booksofadam for yrbff)

Photographer Ian McAllister visited British Columbia and captured the delicate relationship between the wolves and their environment. In this photo, the wolf took a break from eating herring roe to investigate a half-submerged object: the photographer’s camera.