A 360° panorama of a portion of the Namib Desert with the Spitzkoppe (centre), a group of bald granite peaks or bornhardts, and the Pontok Mountains (centre-right) in the distance. The highest peak in the Spitzkoppe rises about 700 m (2,300 ft) above the desert floor, to a total of 1,784 m (5,853 ft) above mean sea level. Until modern times, climbing the peak presented a formidable challenge, owing to its isolation, the heat of the desert and the total lack of water.

Photo: Ikiwaner

A Russet potato and the cross-section of another. Potatoes are the world's fourth-largest food crop. They originated in the area of present-day southern Peru and were domesticated 7,000–10,000 years ago. The Russet is the most commonly grown cultivar in the United States and Canada.

Photo: ZooFari

A panoramic view of Lake Pedder in South West Tasmania, the largest freshwater lake in Australia, as seen from Mount Eliza in Southwest National Park. The lake is actually an impoundment created by three separate dams built to generate hydro-electricity, incorporating a previous, smaller lake with the same name. It is named after John Pedder, the first Chief Justice of Tasmania.

Photo: JJ Harrison

An illustration depicting an ancient Mexican calendar. The Maya and Aztec calendars are the most familiar of the Mexican calendars, but similar ones were used by other cultures. Common to all Mesoamerican cultures was the 260-day ritual calendar that had no confirmed correlation to astronomical or agricultural cycles. These were used in combination with a separate 365-day calendar to create a 52-year cycle known as a calendar round.

Artist: A. de Leon y Gama; Restoration: Garrondo/Lise Broer

A female Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), a subspecies of tiger native to Central Asia, and her cub. The Siberian tiger is the largest of the extant tiger subspecies as well as the largest felid, attaining 320 kg (710 lb) in an exceptional specimen. Considered an endangered subspecies, the wild population is down to several hundred individuals and is limited to eastern Siberia.

Photo: Dave Pape

A male mosquito (species unidentified), one of over 1,200 species from the genus Culex, in the Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania. Several Culex species serve as vectors of important diseases, such as West Nile virus, filariasis, Japanese encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis and avian malaria.

Photo: Muhammad Mahdi Karim

A photochrom print of the General Art and Industrial Exposition of Stockholm complex on the island of Djurgården, located in central Stockholm, Sweden. Several of the structures built for the 1897 World's Fair still remain on the western part of the island, including Djurgårdsbron, the main bridge to the island; the Skansens Bergbana, the funicular railway now in the Skansen open air museum and zoo; and the Nordic Museum.

Photochrom: Photoglob Zürich; Restoration: Lise Broer

The flower of a Mountain Rocket plant (Bellendena montana), the sole member of the Bellendena genus, which in turn is the sole member of the subfamily Bellendenoideae. It is endemic to high-altitude parts of Tasmania, Australia, but is not often cultivated because it is difficult to grow at low altitudes.

Photo: JJ Harrison

Roald Amundsen at the wheel of Maud in 1920, during his unsuccessful attempt to cross the Northeast Passage and reach the North Pole. Although Amundsen did indeed successfully journey eastward along the coast of Siberia to Nome, Alaska, his plan of freezing the ship in the polar ice pack and letting it drift northward did not work as the currents were uncooperative. Amundsen finally did fly over the North Pole in 1926 in the airship Norge, making him the first person to attain both North and South Poles.

Photo: Lomen Brothers; Restoration: Lise Broer

The river Amstel, flowing through the centre of Amsterdam. Visible are some of the city's most important landmarks located adjacent to the river in this panorama, such as the Magere Brug (crossing the river), the Koninklijk Theater Carré, Amstel Hotel and Rembrandt Tower.

Photo: Massimo Catarinella

The Salar de Talar salt flat, located in the Central Andean dry puna region of the Chilean Andes with Cerros de Incahuasi in the distance. The salt flat covers an area of about 46 km² (18 sq mi) and is one of many salt lakes and salt flats located at the foothills of a chain of volcanoes stretching along the eastern side of the much greater Salar de Atacama.

Photo: Luca Galuzzi