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Although light is considered to be rather a practical than an artistic tool, it has some properties which designers can effectively explore in their works. Indeed, also as medium for more powerful and vivid expression.

Low light levels make night photography a challenging yet rewarding subject. The best results require specialized equipment, like SLR cameras, tripods, cable releases and flashguns. After sunset, the everyday world is magically transformed, and city buildings, fireworks, thunderstorms and the northern lights all become popular subjects. We present 60 amazing examples of night photography, photos, created by some hard-working and dedicated photographers. Take a look at their websites and portfolios, and you'll find some links to how-to articles about night photography at the bottom of the post.

The UK Ministry of Defense has just declassified nineteen secret files detailing UFO encounters over the past decades, one of them involving a USAF Sabre fighter pilot who was ordered to fire at will against an unidentified flying object in British airspace. Unfortunately-or fortunately-lieutenant Milton Torres lost the contact after the UFO left the scene at a whooping 9,941 miles per hour. According to him, it had the proportions of an aircraft carrier: The blip was burning a hole in the radar with its incredible intensity. It was similar to a blip I had received from B52s and seemed to be a magnet of light. It had the proportions of a flying aircraft carrier.

Of all the different types of photography showcased on Smashing Magazine, underwater photography is probably one of the most difficult to practice. It requires a very specialized equipment and the knowledge of some advanced techniques to get a perfect picture. You need to get the correct exposure, accurate focus, controlled movement of your subject and a pleasing color balance; you also have to deal with low light. Underwater photos offer suffer from loss of color and contrast when taken at a significant depth. Such photos are always adjusted with color balance to help offset the blueish tint of the water.

A sugar molecule linked to the origin of life was discovered in a potentially habitable region of our galaxy. The molecule, called glycolaldehyde, was spotted in a large star-forming area of space around 26,000 light-years from Earth in the less-chaotic outer regions of the Milky Way. This suggests the sugar could be common across the universe, which is good news for extraterrestrial-life seekers. "This is an important discovery as it is the first time glycolaldehyde, a basic sugar, has been detected towards a star-forming region where planets that could potentially harbor life may exist," Serena Viti of University College London said in a press release.

Shoe-maker ASICS commissioned a gigantic Lite Brite in NYC in celebration of something or other (probably a shoe launch) this month that takes the Guinness World Record for largest Lite Brite painting. You know, those things you played with when you were six? At 300,000+ pieces and 11x15 feet, it demolishes the previous record of 125,000+ pieces by PA artist Mark Beekman that took him over 15 months to complete.