30 Of The Most Powerful Images Ever

A picture is worth a thousand words, but not all pictures are created equal. These pictures are powerful. They are gripping and unforgettable because of the volumes they speak about the human condition – about some of the best and worst moments of contemporary human existence.

We should warn our readers that some of these pictures may upset them, while others may fill them with joy. But that’s precisely because these images reflect some of the best and worst parts of the human experience and world events. Our post of must-see photos from the past described our history while these photos, for the most part, describe our present – our suffering and our triumphs, our perseverance and our failures, our compassion and our hatred, our intelligence and our stupidity.

Some of these photographs may mean more to some of our readers than to others. But hopefully, they will remind us all that the world can always use a little bit more love, tolerance, compassion and understanding.

P.S: we always try our best to credit each and every photographer, but sometimes it’s impossible to track some of them. Please leave a comment if you know the missing authors.

1. Starving boy and missionary

Image credits: Mike Wells

2. Inside an Auschwitz gas chamber

Image credits: kligon5

3. Heart surgeon after 23-hour-long (successful) heart transplant. His assistant is sleeping in the corner.

Image credits: James Stanfield

4. Father and son (1949 vs 2009)

Image credits: Vojage-Vojage

5. Diego Frazão Torquato, 12 year old Brazilian playing the violin at his teacher’s funeral. The teacher had helped him escape poverty and violence through music

Image credits: salvemasnossascriancas.blogspot.com

Photographer Sees Stunning Auroras Over Swedish Mountains

SPACE.com - Northern lights glow over skywatchers high in the Swedish mountains 

The northern lights dance in a breathtaking display in these stunning images from an aurora video recently sent to Space.com.

Night sky photographer Chad Blakley captured these intense auroras grooving over several Swedish Lapland locations, including a small hotel high in the Swedish mountains, on Feb. 21. The result: aspectacular video of Sweden's northern lights display.

"This display was one of the best of the year and we are hopeful that the final four weeks of the season will continue to impress," Blakley wrote Space.com in an email. "The show started as soon as the sun went down and continued well into the night — long after my cameras had frozen and all of my batteries had died." [See more amazing aurora by Blakley and other stargazers]

Vivid auroras like those seen in Blakley's images are caused by charged particles from the sun (the solar wind) that interact with the Earth's upper atmosphere (at altitudes above 50 miles, or 80 km), causing a glow. 

Brilliant northern lights dance over a small hotel high in the Swedish mountains on Feb. 21, 2014 in this image …

Northern lights glow over skywatchers high in the Swedish mountains on Feb. 21, 2014 in this image from the video … Colorful auroras shimmer over northern Sweden on Feb. 21, 2014 in this image from the video “Lights Over Lapland” …

The particles are drawn to Earth's polar regions by the planet's magnetic field. The auroras over the North Pole are known as the aurora borealis, or northern lights. The lights over the South Pole are known as the aurora australis, or southern lights. When the aurora is most active, it creates a spectacular display of bright colors called the aurora corona.

"Before we know it, the midnight sun will return and we will have to patiently wait for the auroras to return later this autumn," Blakley said.

To see more amazing night sky photos submitted by Space.com readers, visit our astrophotography archive.

Editor's note: If you have an amazing night sky photo you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com.

Follow Space.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook & Google+. Original story onSpace.com.

• Intense Auroras Groove Over Swedish Mountains In New Video
• Aurora Guide: How the Northern Lights Work (Infographic)
• Best Binoculars for Skywatchers and Observers
• Northern Lights: Amazing Aurora Photos of 2013

Copyright 2014 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Dunia: Pemuda dan ikan Yu di Mogadishu, Somalia

Gambar seorang pemuda memikul seekor ikan yu di Mogadishu, Somalia amat menarik dengan berlatarbelakangkan bangunan yang musnah di negara yang sentiasa bergolak di antara pejuang Islam dan askar pro kerajaan. Ikan yu adalah antara ikan utama didaratkan di sini. Apa yang menarik, orang di sini tidak begitu makan ikan sebaliknya ia dikeringkan dan juga dijadikan ikan masin untuk di eskport.

Menurut jurufoto, bukan mudah untuk mengambil di Mogadishu, Somalia, begitu banyak sekali halangan. Malah semasa mengambil gambar ini, beliau dihampiri oleh askar kerajaan yang bertanyakan apa yang beliau buat. Ia bukan sesuatu tugas yang mudah.

oleh:

FEISAL OMAR

NATIONALITY: 

Somalia

ABOUT: 

Feisal Omar Hashi was born in 1982 in Burao, Northern Somalia, and is currently based in Mogadishu. In 1999, as a student studying several subjects, including photography and editing, at a media institute in Mogadishu, he started working with a local Somali website. He began working with Reuters in early 2007, and has since operated in Mogadishu amid the escalating violence