Sometimes, all you need is a dose of perspective. It can literally be life-changing.
Now, I’m not going to promise that these pics are going to change your life because, well, they won’t. But they all provide at least some form of perspective.
Making trouble in my neighborhood.
It makes sense that the basketball court from the Fresh Prince opening credits is a real place. It just blows my mind that it’s changed so little in 30 years.
The north.
This photo shows not just a breathtaking view of the Northern Lights, but also the hulk of a crashed airplane on the ground.
The solar system’s all here.
Well, the whole solar system isn’t visible here, but we’ve got some heavy hitters: the moon, of course, along with Jupiter and Saturn.
Fresh layer.
This bridge has a fresh layer of snow, untouched by any footprints or tire tracks. Even if you hate winter, it’s hard to deny that this is magical.
Everything ends somewhere.
This pic shows the end point of the Great Wall of China. It’s kind of disappointing to see it end, but, I mean, of course it ends.
Slip the surly bonds of Earth.
This pic of a recent SpaceX launch shows how much raw rocket power goes into launching stuff out of our atmosphere.
Doesn’t look like an arch from here.
The Gateway Arch in St. Louis is an iconic landmark, but when it’s viewed from above, it doesn’t look like much at all.
Meeting the clouds.
This pic, taken from street level, shows two buildings disappearing into the fog. It almost looks more like abstract art than a real photo.
Turn around!
Even seen from a strange angle, this is probably identifiable to most people as the massive Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro.
A long, long time ago…
If you’ve ever wondered how they shot the iconic opening text crawl for the original Star Wars trilogy, wonder no longer.
Another world.
This would be the most boring picture ever if it was taken on Earth. But it wasn’t. It was taken on an asteroid that’s whizzing through space.
Fully stocked.
This unusual angle of a grocery store manages to show much of the store’s stock, all in a single frame.
Windows 10.
I don’t know if the Windows 10 default wallpaper is quite as iconic as the Windows XP default wallpaper, but here’s how they got the image.
Straight down.
This is the top of Khafre’s pyramid at Giza. Way back in the day, these things were topped with gleaming capstones.
A tiny spark.
This impressive photo manages to capture the split-second that a spark of static electricity jumped from one finger to another.
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Someone’s getting surprised.
If you’re not good at reading backwards, that reads ‘will you marry me?’ It’ll come as a surprise to someone, but not to the person across the street.
Magical.
This image of Edinburgh, Scotland — complete with Edinburgh Castle at the top of the image — is downright haunting.
Ocean map.
If you look hard, you can see some familiar coastlines. But this re-orientation of the world map is focused on oceans, not continents.
Inner workings.
Escalators are some impressive pieces of tech, even if we don’t often think of them. This one gets to show off how it works.
Farm fresh.
A backyard chicken lays an egg with orange-ish yolk, while a factory farmed chicken lays more of a yellow yolk. No, I have no idea what this means.
