Archivo de Fondos de Pantalla Bing - Fondos de Escritorio Diarios

If you're looking for Maine at its most untamed, this is it. Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument spans more than 350 square kilometres of the rugged North Woods, where quiet ponds mirror the sky and dense forests seem to swallow sound. Here, the East Branch of the Penobscot River threads through forests and wetlands, adding to the sense of space and solitude that defines the North Woods.

Imagine a city built by animals, glowing in the sunlight and bustling with life beneath the waves. That is a coral reef. Coral reefs cover less than 1% of the ocean floor, yet they support roughly 25% of all marine life. What looks like colourful rocks are actually colonies of tiny animals called coral polyps. Together, they build vast limestone structures that can last for thousands of years. Stretching about 2,300 kilometres along Australia's coast, the Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on Earth.

Sharks have patrolled the seas for more than 420 million years, and as apex predators, they help keep marine ecosystems in balance. The tiny explorer in today's image—a lemon shark pup weaving through a mangrove forest in Eleuthera, the Bahamas—offers a perfect reminder that their stories don't begin with drama but with nurseries and survival. Lemon sharks give birth to live young, and their pups spend years in shallow mangroves, where calm, sheltered waters provide a safe place to grow. As adults, they can reach about 3.4 metres in length and females often return to the same nursery sites to breed. Hunting mainly at night, they use specialised electroreceptors to detect prey hidden beneath sand or in murky water. They also benefit from living in groups, which can improve communication, courtship, hunting success and protection. Yet lemon sharks are considered near threatened, and sharks worldwide face growing pressure from overfishing, fear-driven killing and habitat loss.

Long before these terraces became famous, they were built for a simple purpose: growing rice. In Vietnam, generations of farmers gradually shaped Sapa's mountain slopes into productive fields. In Lào Cai province, these stepped terraces have supported local communities for centuries. Built and maintained by ethnic groups such as the Hmong, Dao, Giáy and Tày, the terraces are designed to hold rainwater as it flows downhill. This makes rice farming possible where flat land is scarce. The design also helps to reduce soil erosion and conserve water.

Set in Guatemala's western highlands, Lake Atitlán fills a vast volcanic caldera. Its deep blue waters are framed by steep crater walls and the cone-shaped volcanoes Atitlán, Tolimán and San Pedro. Wooden piers stretch into the still lake, emphasising the contrast between its calm surface and the rugged terrain shaped by volcanic activity.

A bill like a multitool and plumage full of colour—the plate-billed mountain toucan is one of the Andes' most distinctive birds. It lives in the humid mountain forests of Ecuador and southwestern Colombia, perfectly adapted to life high in the canopy.

Founded by Greek settlers from Corinth around 734 BCE, the Italian city of Syracuse, on the island of Sicily, grew into one of the ancient Mediterranean's great powers and is now part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, 'Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica.' It is forever linked to Archimedes, whose genius still shapes its identity, and to Plato, who came to Syracuse hoping philosophy might shape political life. That layered past still feels tangible at Castello Maniace, a seafront fortress built for Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the 13th century, which can still be admired today.

In southeastern France, on the Valensole Plateau, summer arrives in waves of purple and blue. Valensole—one of the largest plateaus in the region—lies in the Verdon Regional Natural Park between the Durance and Asse valleys, near the Gorges du Verdon and its lakes. From mid-June to early July, depending on altitude and weather, lavender and lavandin bloom and transform the landscape into one of Provence's most recognisable sights. The air carries a sharp, dry and unmistakably Mediterranean scent.

Tucked between vineyards and mountains, Kaysersberg is one of Alsace's most enchanting villages. Set along the Weiss River in northeastern France, it lies about 12 kilometres northwest of Colmar on the eastern slopes of the Vosges Mountains.

In Okayama Prefecture, when humid air settles over a stream, hotaru—Japan's fireflies—begin signalling. On warm, windless evenings, they often start glowing about two hours after sunset under favourable conditions, inviting silence beside water.

At the Temple of Esna, south of Luxor, Egypt, visitors enter a vivid world devoted to Khnum, the ram-headed god believed to have moulded humanity from Nile clay. Built mainly during the Ptolemaic and Roman eras, the temple's surviving hall is supported by 24 towering columns, each carved with intricate reliefs and ritual texts honouring various deities.

Today's image takes us to Dungeon Provincial Park on the rugged coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, where nature tells a much older story. Atlantic waves carved a sea cave with two openings, gradually widening it until the roof gave way. What remains is a striking collapsed formation known as a 'gloup,' surrounded by steep cliffs and crashing surf.

As the sun sinks low in the Masai Mara National Reserve, the silhouettes of Masai giraffes rise against a blazing sky and open plains. Another day comes to an end in the reserve, which stretches across about 1,500 square kilometres in southwestern Kenya, bordering Tanzania's Serengeti National Park. It is a vast expanse, one of the world's greatest wildlife arenas. Rolling grasslands, scattered acacia trees and the life-giving Mara River set the stage for unforgettable encounters.