Google goes underwater

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The world’s first tablet-operated underwater camera, the SVII, utilizes special technology to bring the experience to life, taking up to 50,000 images that will be collected through continuous high-resolution, 360-degree panoramic imagery. When stitched together, these images will allow people to choose a location along the Great Barrier Reef, dip underwater and go for a viewer-controlled virtual dive in Google Maps.

READ MORE: Google offers underwater coral 'street views'

 

This special collection of underwater imagery highlights areas in the Great Barrier Reef and several other underwater spots in the Philippines and Hawaii.

 

 SVII              © Catlin Seaview Survey

 Bait Reef: Maori Wrasse © Catlin Seaview Survey 

Manta Ray, Lady Elliot Island © Catlin Seaview Survey

Opal Reef: Christmas Tree Worms © Catlin Seaview Survey

Heron Bommie, Heron Island © Catlin Seaview Survey

Clown Fish © Catlin Seaview Survey

 Hanauma Bay, Hawaii © Catlin Seaview Survey

  Holmes Reef © Catlin Seaview Survey

Apo Island, Philippines © Catlin Seaview Survey

 Holmes Reef: Dogfaced Puffer Fish © Catlin Seaview Survey

Holmes Reef © Catlin Seaview Survey

Holmes Reef: Oceanic Octopus © Catlin Seaview Survey

Close encounter of the bull kind - Editor's Choice - Picture of the Day - July 7, 2012

A reveler is tossed by a Dolores Aguirre Yabarra ranch fighting bull during the running of the bulls of the San Fermin festival, in Pamplona Spain, Saturday, July 7, 2012. The runner was identified by a Navarran government spokesperson as a 21-year-old Japanese man from Ikeda. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

20 Ways to Yawn - It's contagious and we bet that we can make you! - May 08, 2012

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This fun gallery is inspired by a workplace prank played between myself and fellow photo editor (who is now my boss) Taras Slawnych.  We would often taunt each other by leaving a "yawning" image on our screen when we would leave the remaining night editor on duty to wrap up the shift into the wee hours.  Here are a few classics from our files.

Feel free to share this gallery to taunt your friends and co-workers!

 

 REUTERS/Mathieu Belanger

A Siberian tiger yawns at the St-Felicien Wildlife zoo.

 

AFP PHOTO/Diptendu DUTTA

Tibetan spiritual leader The Dalai Lama yawns while at the Central school for Tibetans in Kalimpong.

AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi

US pop star Madonna, left, and her daughter Lourdes attend the ground breaking ceremony for her Raising Malawi Academy for Girls in Malawi.

 

 Victor Fraile/Getty Images

Michelle Wie of USA yawns on the 18th hole during day one of the LPGA Thailand.

 

AP Photo/PA, Ben Birchall

Warbie, a seven-week-old ring-tailed lemur is pictured yawning at Bristol Zoo.

 

REUTERS/Shaun Best 

Toronto Argonauts quarterback Cleo Lemon yawns during his team's practice for the CFL Eastern Division football final at Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

 

REUTERS/John Vizcaino

A boy in a police uniform yawns during a promotion ceremony at a police school in Bogota.

 

DAVID COOPER / TORONTO STAR

Stephen Ames had a late night and an early morning finnishing his first round. Ames is seen hear yawning on the tenth tee as he starts Round 2 Friday at the RBC Canadian Open at the Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville.

 

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

U.S. Rep. Pete King (R-NY) sits with his grandson during a roll call vote on the election of the next Speaker of the House.

 

PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images

A Chinese paramilitary policeman yawns during heavy snowfall at Tiananmen Gate in Beijing.

 

REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

A girl yawns as she waits with other children to greet Poland's President Komorowski during his meeting with the Polish community in Maisiagala.

 

 AP Photo/Gurinder Osan

India's Yuvraj Singh yawns as he arrives for a practice session ahead of their Cricket World Cup Group B match with Kenya in Chennai, India.

 

REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

A policewoman yawns as she watches protesters take part in a march in Mbabane.

 

YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images

A money dealer yawns under a foreign exchange rate board at a Tokyo foreign exchange market.

 

REUTERS/ Eddie Keogh

A German Shorthaired Pointer yawns while waiting for judging on the first day of the Crufts Dog Show in Birmingham.

 

Tony Saxon/Guelph Mercury

Guelph Storm forward Zack Mitchell yawns during practice.

  

LIU JIN/AFP/Getty Images

Bo Xilai, Communist Party secretary of Chongqing yawns during the closing session of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing

 

AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi

Los Angeles Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw yawns while trying to stay awake as the Dodgers' baseball game against the San Diego Padres.

 

 AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert

Portugal's caretaker Prime Minister Jose Socrates, right, yawns as he leaves an EU summit in Brussels.

 

Scott Halleran/Getty Images

Briny Baird yawns as he waits on the 17th hole during the second round of the Greenbrier Classic on The Old White Course at the Greenbrier Resort.

Editor's Choice - Pictures of the Day - May 5, 2012

The Associated Press, AP Photos/Archibald D'Mello

A sequence of photos taken by a tourist from Scotland on Saturday, April 28, shows the man's wife on the ground, hair flying, blood on her neck, with two cheetahs nearby.

The Port Elizabeth Herald reported Friday that Violet D’Mello of Aberdeen, Scotland, was attacked by cheetahs on April 28 while in a petting pen with the animals at a game reserve near Port Elizabeth in southeastern South Africa.

It says she was attacked while trying to protect young children from another group that was in the enclosure at the same time. Her husband took photos of the attack, which were published by the local newspaper and others.

One of the photos taken by Archie D’Mello shows Violet D’Mello smiling and posing with a cheetah raised by humans in the enclosure, before, as she told the Herald, “it became serious very quickly.”

One of two cheetahs in the enclosure first grabbed a young girl, leaving her with scratches and cuts that needed stitches, the Herald reported. D’Mello tried to calm the child and her brother, and ended up also being attacked. She told the BBC she had numerous bite and puncture marks, and that her scalp was “sliced open.”

The cheetahs “weren’t being vicious. You could tell they were just excited,” Violet D’Mello told the Herald.

The Herald said park staff and other visitors pulled the cats off. The D’Mellos continued their holiday in South Africa.

Editor's Choice - Picture of the Day - April 13, 2012

Always Waining ridden by Tom O'Brien on jumps the fourth from last fence on its way to winning the Topham Steeple Chase on the second day of the Grand National meeting at Aintree, northern England April 13, 2012.  (Reuters/Russell Cheyne)

Editor's Choice Pictures of the Day - Goats do Roam in New York - April 12, 2012

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Meet Cocoa, a 3-year-old Alpine Pygmy mixed goat who lives with its owner Fakroddin in Summit, New Jersey. They frequently take trips into Manhattan to enjoy the city. Fakroddin raised Cocoa since she was 2 months old and treats her like a human. "She doesn't like goats, she doesn't like farms, she likes the people and the city." Fakroddin said.

 

REUTERS/Allison Joyce

Cyrus Fakroddin and his pet goat Cocoa take a taxi ride in New York, April 7, 2012.

 

REUTERS/Allison Joyce

Cyrus Fakroddin and his pet goat Cocoa dine at Mambo 'Taliano Ristorante & Piano Bar in Little Italy, New York, April 7, 2012.

 

REUTERS/Allison Joyce

Cyrus Fakroddin's pet goat Cocoa enters the downtown subway station at Columbus Circle in New York, April 7, 2012.

 

REUTERS/Allison Joyce

Cyrus Fakroddin and his pet goat Cocoa ride the C train in New York, April 7, 2012.

 

REUTERS/Allison Joyce

Cyrus Fakroddin (L) and his pet goat Cocoa ride the downtown C train in New York April 7, 2012.

 

REUTERS/Allison Joyce

Cyrus Fakroddin and his pet goat Cocoa exit the subway in New York April 7, 2012.

 

REUTERS/Allison Joyce

Cyrus Fakroddin (2nd L) and his pet goat Cocoa encounter a dog in Times Square, New York April 7, 2012.

 

REUTERS/Allison Joyce

Cocoa eats hay from a cabinet at their home in Summit, New Jersey April 7, 2012.

 

REUTERS/Allison Joyce

Cyrus Fakroddin and his pet goat Cocoa relax at their home in Summit, New Jersey April 7, 2012.

 

 REUTERS/Allison Joyce

Cyrus Fakroddin and his pet goat Cocoa curl up by the fire at their home in Summit, New Jersey April 7, 2012.

 

Editor's Choice Picture of the Day - March 14, 2012

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REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

Britain's Camilla (C), Duchess of Cornwall, and Zara Phillips (R) react during The Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival horse racing meet in Gloucestershire, western England March 14, 2012.

Editor's Choice Pictures of the Day - Smithsonian Photo Contest Finalists - March 6, 2012

This is a selection of Smithsonian magazine’s 9th annual photo contest finalists. The contest has attracted over 14 thousand photographers from   over 100 countries. The five categories include —The Natural World, Americana, People, Travel and Altered Images (for photographs that have been manipulated).

Smithsonian photo editors have selected 50 finalists, 10 in each category, which will be displayed on the Smithsonian website. Ultimately, the editors will select one winner in each category, as well as one grand prize winner. Readers are invited to select an additional winner by voting for Readers Choice  for their favorite image on the site The voting period will be open from March 1-31, 2012.  All photos © Smithsonian.com

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Village boys relaxing

Nimai Chandra Ghosh (Kolkata, India)
Photographed November 2009, West Bengal, India

Blue Ice Cave

Jamie Scarrow (Bruce, Canberra, Australia)
Photographed December 2011, Antarctica

Segways on tour in Valencia near a modern building

Marcel van Balken (Amstelveen, Netherlands)
Photographed October 2010, Valencia, Spain

 

The golden rock

David Lazar (Brisbane, Australia)
Photographed February 2010, Kyaiktiyo, Myanmar

The Kara women are the backbone of the tribe

Nicholas Wiesnet (Garden Grove, California)
Photographed September 2011, Omo River Valley, Ethiopia

Moonrise over Northern Lights

Ben Hattenbach (Los Angeles, California)
Photographed March 2011, northern Alaska



Everything will be all right

Brian Day (Oak Park, Michigan)
Photographed April 2011, Detroit, Michigan

Behind the blue

Paolo Patruno (Bologna, Italy)
Photographed May 2011, Lilongwe, Malawi

Wanting to see her big brother during his baseball game

Stephanie Fox (Mobile, Alabama)
Photographed March 2011, Mobile, Alabama

Neighborly dispute

Donald Montemorra (Swampscott, Massachusetts)
Photographed July 2009, Katmai National Park, Alaska

Ranch dog taking a break from work

Jamie Illian (Dallas, Texas)
Photographed April 2011, Ellsworth, Nebraska

 

A homeless boy sleeping inside the train

Budi Prakasa (Jakarta, Indonesia)
Photographed August 2009, Jakarta, Indonesia

King Penguins

Jamie Scarrow (Bruce, Canberra, Australia)
Photographed November 2010, South Georgia

Three fishermen on Inle Lake

David Lazar (Brisbane, Australia)
Photographed January 2011, Inle Lake, Myanmar

 

The diversity of ordinary life

Branko Stojanovic (Novi Sad, Serbia)
Photographed November 2011, Novi Sad, Serbia

 

 

Editor's Choice Picture of the Day - February 15, 2012

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REUTERS/Michael Buholzer

Swiss shepherd Markus Nyffeler walks with his flock of sheep through a snow covered field in Muehlethurnen near Bern February 15, 2012. Nyffeler, who has been a professional herdsman for the past 20 years and owns 450 sheep of differing breeds, moves  during the winter months around the region, seeking to feed his animals.  

The Daily Beast - December 30, 2011

REUTERS/Sheng Li

 

A Siberian tiger clings to wood logs at the Siberian Tiger Forest Park in Harbin, Heilongjiang province December 27, 2011. More than 800 Siberian tigers are currently living in the park, which is also a breeding centre for this endangered species, local media reported.

 

REUTERS/Sheng Li

Siberian tigers approach a keeper's car as they wait to be fed.

 

REUTERS/Sheng Li

Siberian tigers chase a chicken.

 

REUTERS/Sheng Li

Siberian tigers fight for a chicken.

 

REUTERS/Sheng Li

Visitors watch from a bus as Siberian tigers try to catch a chicken.