The Plumbeous Water Redstart (Rhyacornis fuliginosa, male pictured) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae which is found in South Asia, Southeast Asia and China. The bird's common name refers to its colour, resembling lead. The bird tends to be found near running water, often at higher altitudes, though it will go to lower altitudes during the winter.

Photo: JJ Harrison

The larva of Cydalima perspectalis, a species of moth native to eastern Asia but also found in Europe. Larvae, such as this specimen photographed in Dornbirn, Germany, feed on the leaves and shoots of Buxus species.

Photo: Böhringer Friedrich

The Chesme Church is a small Russian Orthodox church in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Built by the Russian court architect Yury Felten in 1780, at the direction of Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, it was erected to commemorate the anniversary of Russia's 1770 victory over Turkish forces in Chesme Bay during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774.

Photo: A.Savin

The Ardabil Carpet in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England, is a Persian carpet completed during the reign of Tahmasp I (mid 16th-century). Acquired by the museum in the 1890s, the carpet, which has 26 million knots, was "in tatters" and was restored by sacrificing a similar rug.

Carpet: Maqsud of Kashan; photograph: Victoria & Albert Museum

The SNCB Class 77 is a class of 4-axle B'B' diesel-hydraulic locomotive designed for shunting and freight work. It was manufactured at the beginning of the 2000s by Siemens Schienenfahrzeugtechnik, and later by Vossloh at the Maschinenbau Kiel plant in Kiel, Germany, for the National Railway Company of Belgium (SNCB/NMBS).

Photograph: Marc Ryckaert

A satellite image showing Fogo, one of the islands making up Cape Verde. The Pico do Fogo volcano, which forms the whole island, is a tourist attraction and the tallest peak in the archipelago.

Photo: NASA Earth Observatory/Jesse Allen

Many humans consume various types of eggs as part of their diet. Two edible parts of a chicken egg (the type most often consumed) are shown here: the white and the yolk. The white is a clear liquid surrounding the yolk, consisting of 90% water and 10% dissolved proteins. The yolk, a firm yellow sphere, contains all of the egg's fat and cholesterol and about one-half of the protein. Not shown in the illustration is the egg's outer shell which is not normally consumed.

Photo: Biswarup Ganguly

Tony Estanguet (b. 1978) is a French slalom canoeist who has competed since the mid-1990s. Before announcing his retirement, he competed in four Olympic Games and, with his win at the 2012 London Games, became the first French Olympian to win three gold medals in the same Olympic discipline.

Photo: Pavel.rycl

LH 95 is a modestly sized stellar nursery in the Large Magellanic Cloud orbiting the Milky Way.

Photo: NASA/ESA

The Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) is a small, migratory passerine bird found in Central and North America. It breeds in woodlands in the eastern United States and often nests on human structures. This specimen was photographed in Madison, Wisconsin, US.

Photo: John Benson

A Series 1882 $1,000 Gold Certificate, depicting Alexander Hamilton. Born January 11, 1755 (or 1757) in Charlestown, Nevis, and the only non-native member of the Founding Fathers of the United States, Hamilton served as the first United States Secretary of the Treasury.

Banknote: Bureau of Engraving and Printing (image courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution)

Annkathrin Kammeyer (born 1990) is a German Social Democratic politician. She became a Member of the Hamburg Parliament on 7 March 2011, the youngest person ever elected to that body.

Photograph: Christoph Braun

The Hercules beetle (Dynastes hercules) is the largest of the rhinoceros beetles. Able to lift almost 850 times their own weight, these South and Central American beetles can measure 17 cm (6.75 inches) in length.

Photograph: Didier Descouens

The Humble Oil Building in Houston, Texas, was completed by the Humble Oil and Refining Company in 1921. A tower, visible to the right, was added fifteen years later. Humble Oil used this building as their headquarters until 1963. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, the building now houses a Courtyard by Marriott hotel, as well as apartments and retail space.

Photograph: Jujutacular

The Australian Shelduck (Tadorna tadornoides) is a shelduck native to Australia and Tasmania. Females can be differentiated from males by white feathers around the eye.

Photograph: JJ Harrison

Three scenes of the legend of the Miraculous Sacrament in stained glass windows in the Cathédrale Saints-Michel-et-Gudule of Brussels by Jean-Baptiste Capronnier (c. 1870). The contributions of Capronnier (1814–1891) helped lead to a revival in glass painting.

Windows: Jean-Baptiste Capronnier; photograph: Joaquim Alves Gaspar

The Chota Imambara in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, is a mausoleum constructed by and for Muhammad Ali Shah, the third Nawab of Awadh, beginning in 1838.

Photograph: Muhammad Mahdi Karim

The home of Barbra Streisand, an American singer and actress, in Malibu, California. In 2003 her attempts to suppress this photograph, taken for the California Coastal Records Project, led to the unintended consequence of publicizing the photograph much more widely; before Streisand filed her lawsuit, the image had been downloaded only six times (twice by Streisand's lawyers), whereas in the month after the lawsuit afterwards more than 420,000 people visited the site. The term "Streisand effect" evolved from the controversy and has been used to describe subsequent cases of the phenomenon.

Photograph: Kenneth and Gabrielle Adelman

St. Francis in Ecstasy is a painting by the Italian Renaissance master Giovanni Bellini, started in 1475 and completed around 1480. The 124 cm × 142 cm (49 in × 56 in) oil on panel painting depicts Francis of Assisi in ecstasy, although academics disagree upon the reason. The painting is now housed in the Frick Collection in New York City.

Painting: Giovanni Bellini

The leaders of the women's road race, one of the cycling events at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, on 29 July 2012. The eventual medallists (left to right: Lizzie Armitstead (silver), Marianne Vos (gold) and Olga Zabelinskaya (bronze)) were photographed approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the finish line.

Photograph: David Iliff

The R Coronae Australis region, imaged with the Wide Field Imager at the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Observatory. R Coronae Australis is a star located in the Corona Australis constellation. According to ESO, "the light blue nebulosity seen in this picture is mostly due to the reflection of starlight off small dust particles."

Photograph: ESO

The BMW Headquarters is a landmark in Munich, Germany. The site has served as world headquarters for BMW since 1973. Designed by Karl Schwanzer, the tower's exterior is supposed to mimic the shape of a cylinder in a car engine, with the circular museum representing the cylinder head.

Photograph: Diego Delso

The Yellow-spotted Honeyeater (Meliphaga notata) is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. Yellow-spotted Honeyeaters are aggressive birds and have a loud, metallic call; some have described as akin to a machine gun.

Photo: JJ Harrison

Catopsilia pyranthe is a medium sized butterfly of the family Pieridae. It is found in South Asia, Southeast Asia and parts of Australia. This male was photographed in West Bengal, India.

Photo: Joydeep

Western view of the Taj Mahal, viewed during the golden hour. Symbolically, the constantly changing sunlight reflected by the mausoleum's marble has a metaphoric role which associates light with the presence of God. Located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, the Taj Mahal was constructed in the 17th century by Shah Jahan and has been called the finest example of Mughal architecture. In 1983 it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Photo: Muhammad Mahdi Karim

The chamber of the Australian House of Representatives, one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia. It is referred to as the lower house, with the Senate being the upper house; the consent of both houses is needed to pass legislation.

Photograph: JJ Harrison

Diagram of the deep sea limpet Bathyacmaea secunda, which inhabits the thermal vents of the Okinawa Trough and others around Japan. The actual animal is largely colorless, 6 millimetres (0.24 in) long, and completely blind. Organs with names in parentheses are located behind other organs.

Diagram: K.D. Schroeder

Harhoog is an extended dolmen, a rectangular megalithic tomb from the Funnelbeaker culture, located near Keitum on the island of Sylt in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Discovered near the mud flats between Keitum and Tinnum in 1925, the tomb was moved to the present site in 1954 when a new airport was developed.

Photograph: Michael Gäbler

Calliptamus italicus is a species of grasshopper native to Europe and Asia. This polyphagous species can feed on various wild plants, but also on crops, especially legumes.

Photograph: Kulac

The Dusky Myzomela (Myzomela obscura) is a species of bird in the honeyeater family which lives in various habitats in Oceania and the Malay archipelago. Feeding on insects and nectar, these birds may be sedentary or migrant, depending on the habitat in which they live.

Photograph: JJ Harrison

A Yeoman Warder in Tudor State Dress, photographed about 1890–1900, (coloured later). The Yeomen Warders, formed by Henry VII in 1485, are tasked with guarding the Tower of London and the crown jewels contained within. Today's Yeomen Warders must be retired non-commissioned officers from the armed forces of the Commonwealth realms who have at least 22 years of service.

Photochrom: Detroit Publishing Company; restoration: Adam Cuerden