Mental Floss

PHOTOS

From liaising with Martians to living on the moon, here’s where Soviet magazines thought the Cold War’s space race would take us.

Austin Mann, Apple

You don’t need an in-depth knowledge of the iPhone 11’s camera capabilities in order to snap incredible shots with night mode.

© Robin Esrock

With a Geiger counter and the right permits, visitors can enter Chernobyl's 18-mile Zone of Exclusion. What they'll encounter is straight out of a horror movie.

NASA

In 2004, the rover Opportunity landed on Mars. Originally intended to serve a mere 90-day mission, the rover instead beamed back scientific discoveries for more than a decade—and now its groundbreaking mission is over.

Takhini Hot Springs

Since 2011, guests at Takhini Hot Pools have used the freezing weather in Canada to sculpt frozen hair styles that double as works of art.

Helen Sloan, HBO

Most are in Croatia, Northern Ireland, Spain, or Iceland.

The Standing Rock Portraits is the first book of turn-of-the-century photographer Frank Bennett Fiske's photos ever released.

It's harder than it sounds.

Courtesy of the Oregon Zoo

You've never seen a turtle quite like this.

Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The images were at the center of one of the most notorious hoaxes in history.

Massimo Listri's The World's Most Beautiful Libraries is a visual tour of the world's most spectacular temples devoted to the written word.

iStock

Wow!

Svetlana Ivanova, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY 3.0

Temperatures occupy -40°F territory all winter.

Dive into the world of Shark, a new book by award-winning photographer Brian Skerry.

iStock

Soon there will be a new reason to snap food photos.

Photographer Jeanine Michna-Bales reveals some of the scenes that would have confronted escaped slaves as they journeyed north.

ON THE RUN. NORTH OF THE CANE RIVER PLANTATIONS, LOUISIANA, 2013

Photographer Jeanine Michna-Bales reveals some of the scenes that would have confronted escaped slaves as they journeyed north.

William S Bruce via Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

Gilbert Kerr donned full Highland dress in the Antarctic cold.

A new book gathers 200 beautiful images showing evolution’s influence on the flora and fauna of the world.

Photo by Celeste Noche

This tiny Scottish town is every bibliophile's dream.

Sudipta Mallick, Flickr // CC BY 2.0

The closure marks the end not only of a historic shop, but of the longest continuously running photography studio in the world.

MENTAL FLOSS // eWILNER

This belongs in a museum!

Left: Muir Glacier Melt, Alaska, 1891 (G.D. Hazard). Right: 2005 (Bruce F. Molnia). Images courtesy of the Glacier Photograph Collection and the National Snow and Ice Data Center

The photos show the effects of climate change, urban growth, and natural disasters.

Larry Johnson

One of the world's most renowned cat photographers, Larry Johnson, tells you how to take top-notch pictures of a feline.