CROCODILE DINNER

Talk about an unappetising starter – this young crocodile had to eat a mouthful of elephant dung before he could sink his teeth into a delicious beetle.

Duncan Blackburn, 63, managed to snap these shots of a hungry croc in Chobe National Park in Botswana.

Crocodiles in the area deliberately feed on elephant dung found on riverbanks in hope of catching a tasty bird or insect which is feeding on the same muck.

The story behind the pictures: Thomas Kneubühler – Electric Mountains

These haunting photographs show how artificial lighting at ski resorts turn entire mountainsides into glowing canvases of light.

Photographer Thomas Kneubühler, 50, took the pictures after realising how artificially-lit mountains come to dominate surrounding countryside at night.

Inside an abandoned Belgian farm house

A family home, once full of life, now forgotten and covered in a thick layer of dust – inside a mysterious abandoned farm house perfectly frozen in time.

Maison Gustaaf in Flanders, Belgium is a farm house that time forgot. Family photographs and other personal items lie untouched, covered in a cobwebs and dust.

Inside the pristine, abandoned house is a bed, kitchen equipment, plastic fruit and religious ornaments. The walls are covered with mold and weeds crawl in through cracks in the cobweb-covered windows.

Sister takes same photo of her brother in the same spot every year

A family’s seasonal tradition has resulted in a series of photographs which shows a boy instantly ageing through his teenage years.  

Photographer Lauren Marek, 24, has taken a photo of her younger brother on the same day for the last five years.

The series of pictures shows Miss Marek’s brother, John, from the ages of 13 to 17. In each photograph John wears the same wooly hat, baseball top and necklace, creating an uncanny effect.

Miss Marek said: “I took the pictures for the purpose of documenting how my brother aged through the years – I started the same year I took up photography and it’s something I just kept up with it.

“The photos were taken on successive Thanksgiving days, so it’s easy to remember.”

The pair always arrange to take the photograph when the family gather in a park each year.

Miss Marek said: “We take them at the local park at sunset, so the light is the same. I enjoy putting the photographs side-by-side to see the transformation.

“I’m a huge fan of documentary photography, as I am of my family, and I feel like both these things are evident in my photographs.

“As a young adult, John’s appearance is changing at a heightened rate. I want to remember every step of the way.”

The story behind a picture: Brock Whitaker – ‘Nebraska Plains’

From high above, these frozen crop circles look like luxury bathroom tiles.

Brock Whittaker, 17, took this remarkable photograph of Nebraska – the ‘breadbasket of America’ – pale and frozen in the grip of winter.

The circular irrigated fields lie covered in snow and frost, creating a hypnotic mosaic of muted colour.

The World’s Smallest Postal Service

Anyone hoping to scale down their Christmas card list this year can find inspiration at the world’s smallest post office – which only sends tiny parcels and letters the size of a postage stamp.

This unique delivery service allows customers to send minuscule letters which have to be read with a magnifying glass.

Since it opened, The World’s Smallest Post Service – or WSPS – has sent tiny packages and messages all over the world.

WSPS Founder Lea Redmond, 33, said: “Every year we send hundreds of tiny Christmas cards.

Inside Britain’s haunted asylum

Peeling wallpaper, empty beds and an abandoned swimming pool – inside the derelict lunatic asylum dubbed the most haunted hospital in Britain.

Cherry Knowles Hospital, formerly known as the Sunderland Lunatic Asylum, closed in 1998.

It became a magnet for ghost hunters who were drawn to tales of forgotten furniture moving by itself and voices echoing through the eerie labyrinthine corridors.

Photographers David Morley, 20, and Steve Vernon, 36, explored the crumbling building.

Dan’s Coffee Run

A man who has delivered around 13,000 hot drinks to his local cancer clinics over the last seven years has been dubbed the “coffee angel” by supporters.

Every Thursday morning since November 2006, Dan Dewey, 67, has made a special delivery of fresh coffee to patients on the cancer ward where his father received chemotherapy treatment before he died.

His touching gesture of thanks has been praised by hospital supporters who have launched a website and charity fund in his honour.

Mr Dewey, a retired education worker, said: “I feel very blessed that I can help just a little, as the clinic staff try very hard to restore each patient’s quality of life. They have my total respect and complete admiration for dedicating themselves to others.

Meet Vic Morris the quadriplegic marksman who fires his rifle with his tongue

The full copy from my article ‘Shooting from the lip’ which appeared in The Daily Star on October 7.

A man paralysed from the neck down is able pursue his favourite sport again using a special rig which allows him to fire a rifle with his TONGUE.  

Vic Morris, 53, who has been in a wheelchair for 24 years since a rugby accident left him paralysed, has beaten able-bodied shooters in international shooting competitions.

Vic, from Aberaeron, west Wales, started shooting when he was 12 years old and competed from the age of 15. He represented Wales in international clay pigeon shooting competitions, using shotguns, for ten years.

Urine powered robots

Scientists believe that robots of the future will run on HUMAN URINE.

A new study speculates that robots employed to monitor the running of future cities will be capable of feeding themselves with waste from public toilets.

British engineers are already working on an artificial ‘heart’ which turns urine into a power source for a robot called EcoBot. EcoBot will be capable of functioning independently in city environments by collecting waste and converting it into electricity.