Science pictures

The top prize went to a remarkable image of a single, floating atom captured by an Oxford University student using a basic DSLR camera.

We look at craters that have suddenly opened up around the world.

People living along the California coast are being treated to a living light show as tiny glowing phytoplankton light up the waves at Big Sur.

Photos show buildings in Hualien leaning at sharp angles, their lowest floors crushed into mangled heaps of concrete, shattered glass and bent iron beams.

Cape Town is in the grips of a drought so severe that it is projected to run out of water on 12 April, becoming the world's first major city to run dry

Lava fountains gush up 700 metres (2,300 feet) above Mount Mayon's crater and ash plumes tower up to three kilometres (1.9 miles) in the sky.

Theresa May has pledged to eradicate avoidable plastic waste by 2042, as part of a new environmental agenda.

California has legalised the sale of recreational marijuana, and it's no surprise its retail outlets emulate California's most successful brand.

The Thomas Fire grew by 56,000 acres on Sunday and is now just 10 percent contained, down from 15 percent the day before.

At least four major southern California wildfires have prompted the evacuation of about 200,000 people and destroyed hundreds of homes and buildings.

Firefighters are battling to contain at least four wildfires marching across southern California, whipped up by fierce Santa Ana winds.

Thousands of people have been evacuated as the Thomas Fire threatens Santa Paula and Ventura, destroying homes and vehicles in its path.

Winners of the third Royal Society Publishing photography competition, which celebrates the power of images to communicate science.

Although we think of man as having negative impacts on wildlife, several cats species use paths to rapidly move around the rainforest.

Volcanologists say the volcano has entered a new phase with magma now visible at Agung's peak, meaning a greater risk of a larger eruption.

The overnight deluge hit the industrial towns of Nea Peramos and Mandra, about 27km (17 miles) west of Athens, trapping dozens of people in their homes or cars.

Sarpol-e Zahab in Iran's western Kermanshah province bore the brunt of the earthquake, with flattened buildings and many fatalities.Photos show rescue workers searching for victims and survivors trapped in the rubble.

Ferocious wildfires have killed at least 36 people in Portugal, including a one-month-old baby, and at least three in Spain.

Aerial photos show enormous scale of devastation, with block after block obliterated, leaving smouldering piles of ash dotted by brick chimneys and the skeletons of burnt-out cars.

At least four wineries suffered "total or very significant losses," and at least nine reported damage to their winery, outbuildings or surrounding vineyards.

IBTimes UK shares portraits and stories of survivors living in small towns near the epicentre of the earthquake that rocked Mexico on 19 September, killing at least 369 people.

Fifteen wildfires broke out almost simultaneously in Northern California, destroying homes, wineries and hotels and trailer parks. Seven died in Sonoma County. Two died in Napa County and one in Mendocino County. Death toll is expected to rise.

The annual Nikon Small World Competition recognises the best photos taken under a microscope. Winners include magnified spiders' eyes and ants' legs and the crystalline structure of minerals and pharmaceuticals.

The winners of the 2017 Nikon Small World Competition have been revealed.Combining art and science, the contest recognises the best photos taken under a microscope.

The US territory of 3.4 million people has struggled through nine days with virtually no electricity and shortages of fuel and clean water in the wake of the most powerful storm to hit the island in nearly 90 years.

Vanuatu, home to about 260,000 people, is made up of about 65 islands on the geologically active Pacific Ring of Fire.

Archaeologists found the remains of nine men, all between the ages of 25 and 30, who were sacrificed as part of a Sican ritual.

Bali is being shaken daily by hundreds of tremors from the mountain, which volcanologists say indicates a high chance of an eruption.

The storm-battered US island territory has struggled through days with virtually no electricity, and more misery could be on the way thanks to a dam that might fail at any moment.

Desperate parents join police, firefighters and volunteers as they work through the night in a frantic search for dozens of young children feared buried under a Mexico City school.