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A quartz crystal cluster from Tibet. Quartz is the second-most abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. There are many different varieties of quartz, several of which are semi-precious gemstones. Pure quartz, traditionally called rock crystal (sometimes called clear quartz), is colorless and transparent (clear) or translucent. Common colored varieties include citrine, rose quartz, amethyst, smoky quartz, milky quartz, and others.

Photo credit: Noodle snacks
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An aerial panoramic view of Port Vell, Barcelona, Spain, from atop the Columbus Monument. The area has been in use as a port since the 4th century BC, when it was settled by the Laietani. The current incarnation was built as part of an urban renewal program prior to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. It is now a focal point of the city and tourist attraction, drawing up to 16 million visitors a year.

Photo credit: David Iliff
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A poster advertising a ca. 1896 American production of Georges Bizet's opéra comique Carmen, which premiered in Paris on March 3, 1875. Although it was initially quite unsuccessful, a second production in October 1875 after Bizet's death achieved critical and commercial success. Since then, it has been one of the world's most performed operas. Based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, Carmen, with its alternating comic or sentimental scenes found traditionally in opéra comique with stark realism, virtually eliminated the opéra comique genre and nourished the verismo movement in opera.

Poster: Liebler & Maass; Restoration: Adam Cuerden
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The Lotus-Namam is the symbol of Ayyavazhi, a Dharmic belief system that originated in South India in the 19th century. The lotus represents the 1,008-petalled Sahasrara and the flame-shaped white Namam represents the Aanma Jyothi or ātman, sometimes translated as 'soul' or 'self'. The number of practitioners is estimated to be between 700,000 and 8,000,000, although the exact number is unknown, since Ayyavazhis are reported as Hindus during censuses.

Image credit: Vaikunda Raja
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"Know all men by these presents" is the title of this drawing by Coles Phillips (1880–1927), which served as the cover of a 1910 issue of the original incarnation of Life. Phillips' signature technique was the "fadeaway girl", demonstrated here, in which he would combine foreground and background elements of the same color, giving the impression of negative space. This style became a popular convention in print art for decades to come. Coles was hired by Life at the age of 26, and he remained associated with the magazine for his entire life.

Restoration: Lise Broer
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A Granny Smith apple and the cross-section of another. This cultivar originated in Australia in 1868 from a chance seedling propagated by Maria Ann Smith (1799–1870), from whom comes the name. Granny Smith apples are crisp, juicy, tart apples which are often used for cooking, especially in salads because the slices do not brown as quickly as other varieties.

Photo credit: Fir0002
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False-colour scanning electron micrograph of the coccolithophore Gephyrocapsa oceanica, showing the calcareous coccoliths (plates or scales composed of calcium carbonate) on the surface that give the group its name. Coccolithophores are single-celled algae, protists and phytoplankton found throughout the photic zone of the ocean. This specimen is approximately 8 µm in diameter.

SEM: NEON; Colouring: Richard Bartz
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The yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti) is a species of mosquito known for its ability to spread yellow fever and dengue fever. The mosquito can be recognized by the white markings on its legs and a marking in the form of a lyre on its thorax. Though originally from Africa, the yellow fever mosquito can now be found in tropical regions around the world.

Photo credit: Muhammad Mahdi Karim
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The Queen Sofia Palace of the Arts (Valencian: Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía) is an opera house located in Valencia, Spain. The last to be completed of the City of Arts and Sciences complex, it was designed by architect Santiago Calatrava. The 14-story structure opened on 8 October 2005.

Photo credit: David Iliff
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An 1876 engraving of Khokar Rajputs of Punjab. The Rajputs are one of the major Hindu Kshatriya (warrior) groups of India. Rajputs rose to prominence during the 9th to 11th centuries, and by the time of Indian independence, they ruled more than two-thirds of the estimated six hundred princely states, including three-quarters of the salute states.

http://wiki.w2n.net/pictures/ The Illustrated London News
Restoration: Adam Cuerden
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A view of rainclouds gathering over Bareina, a Bedouin village and rural commune in the Trarza Region of southwestern Mauritania.

Photo credit: Ferdinand Reus
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A ca. 1889 proposed architectural plan for a military aviary to house swallows as messenger birds, based upon a scheme by Jean Desbouvrie, a French amateur bird trainer who successfully demonstrated that swallows could exhibit homing behavior and that when they did so they flew much faster than carrier pigeons. Furthermore, swallows fly higher and faster than pigeons, are more difficult for marksmen to shoot or for birds of prey to intercept, and are able to feed during flight. However, after obtaining authorization from the French government for further testing, Desbouvrie did not follow through with rigorous experimentation, and his plans never came to fruition.

http://wiki.w2n.net/pictures/ F. Meriy; Restoration: Lise Broer
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An animated image demonstrating a breeder pattern from Conway's Game of Life. Breeders exhibit quadratic growth, by generating multiple copies of a secondary pattern, each of which then generates multiple copies of a tertiary pattern. There are four types of breeders, this one being a puffer that leaves guns in its wake.

Image credit: Chris Benton
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Alice B. Woodward's frontispiece to The Story of the Mikado (1921), W. S. Gilbert's last literary work: a posthumously published retelling of the plot of his comic opera The Mikado for children. The Mikado, set in a fictionalised Japan, opened on March 14, 1885, at the Savoy Theatre in London. The locale was chosen merely to provide a picturesque setting and to capitalise on the British fascination with Japan in the 1880s, allowing Gilbert to satirise British politics and institutions more freely by disguising them as Japanese. The Mikado became the most frequently performed Savoy opera, has been translated into numerous languages and is one of the most frequently played musical theatre pieces in history.

Restoration: Adam Cuerden
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Photo: Toni Frissell; Restoration: Jake Wartenberg
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http://wiki.w2n.net/pictures/ Hoffy; Restoration: Lise Broer
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