RECOMMENDED IMAGE(S): This new high-resolution image of Earth from space is spectacular

Image Credit: Credit: NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring

This image of the Earth from space makes an excellent wallpaper for your computer.

Via Flickr

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Some brave divers have a close encounter with a massive great white shark around the waters off of Isla de Guadalupe. Photo information via National Geographic’s Photography Contest:

Photo and caption by David Litchfield

Cage divers confront a great white shark

Location: Isla de Guadalupe

Via National Geographic’s Photography Contest and Gizmodo

PHOTO OF THE DAY: Manukura, the only known white kiwi, improving after surgery

Image via Mike Heydon/Jet Productions NZ Limited via Getty

According to the New Scientist:

Staff at Pukaha Mount Bruce wildlife centre on New Zealand’s North Island spotted Manukura’s trouble when she started refusing to eat and moving strangely.

X-rays taken at Wellington Zoo revealed the problem. While kiwis often swallow small stones to help break down hard-to-digest foods, Manukua had swallowed stones too large to pass safely through her digestive tract.

A urologist was called in to blast the stones apart using lasers, a treatment similar to that used on patients with kidney stones. To see it it action, watch the video footage of the unusual surgery.

Via io9, BBC, and the New Scientist