Science pictures

A river of rubbish snakes through Beirut's northern suburbs, and vast mountains of trash surround the Lebanese capital.

Judges Alex Mustard, Martin Edge and Peter Rowlands had the pleasure of going through the entries to select the winners

In collaboration with WWF, Will Burrard-Lucas took incredible new camera-trap images of elephants, lions and hyenas.

Brazil is attempting to answer the most urgent question of its Zika outbreak.

Distilleries have created a cheap alcohol, as 26 deaths are recorded from drinking the fatal liquid

Large machinery like excavators are waiting to be used, as the rescue operation enters a crucial phase.

Many women in Latin America have to pit their religious beliefs against the risk their babies could be born with brain defects.

Satellite images of eight wetlands – areas of land that are permanently or seasonally saturated with water.

House workers use fumigators as part of preventative measures against the Zika virus across Americas

In 1986, NASA's Space Challenger launched from the Kennedy Space Center, exploding 73 seconds later due to technical malfunctions

Brazil is facing a surging number of babies born with abnormally small heads.

Nearly 4,000 babies born with suspected microcephaly, which causes abnormally small heads, since October.

Sources have confirmed that all three were dead before they reached the shore.

A cold weather front swept across China and much of eastern Asia, bringing heavy snow, freezing fog and record low temperatures.

South Africa is in the grips of a severe drought that shows no sign of abating after the driest year on record.

The last time the canal was drained, those in charge of the cleaning removed 40 tonnes of waste, including at least one car.

Mountains of stinking rubbish are piled up on the outskirts of Beirut, reaching the height of motorway overpasses.

Torrential rain deluged Britain, cutting power to thousands of homes and forcing some to evacuate flooded streets.

Meteorologists predict freak weather caused by El Nino will continue across the world.

Amazing day-to-night panoramas of US National Parks such as the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone Park, by photographer Stephen Wilkes.

With a magnitude reaching 6.7, an earthquake has hit the remotest area of north-east India, with tremors being felt in neighbouring countries such as Nepal and Bangladesh.

Heavy snow has fallen in Istanbul, causing flight cancellations, road chaos and closure of schools – and beautiful photos.

Photos of devastating effects of flooding as government denies a north-south divide.

At least 91 people are missing after landslide buries business park in Shenzhen – China's fourth major disaster this year.

Pics taken a day or two apart show Cumbrian towns during the flooding, and after the water had receded.

A grey soupy haze shrouds Beijing's landmarks as the Chinese capital issues first red alert.

Storm Desmond dumped record levels of rain on Cumbria and the Scottish Borders.

Beautiful photos of glaciers in Patagonia, which are receding at a faster rate than anywhere else on Earth.

The heaviest rainfall in more than a century has caused massive flooding across the eastern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Toxic mud from a collapsed iron mine dam has reached the Atlantic Ocean, killing fish and threatening endangered turtles.