202509 वॉलपेपर संग्रह

If fairy tales had architects, they might've come up with something like Alberobello in Italy. But instead of magic wands, it was limestone, mortar-free masonry and—according to some theories—a bit of tax evasion that built this town's signature homes: the trulli. These are whitewashed stone houses topped with dry-stacked limestone roofs shaped like upside-down ice cream cones. It's an ancient building technique, and in this case, a clever one. Alberobello's trulli aren't hidden one-offs. Entire districts—like Rione Monti and Aia Piccola—are packed with these quirky structures. Some are still lived in, while others have been transformed into cafés, souvenir shops and pint-sized museums. You'll even find a church built in trullo style.

At first glance, it looks like a surreal art installation: dark trees frozen on a clay pan, backed by sand dunes and a glowing sky. But this scene from Deadvlei, in Namibia's Namib-Naukluft Park, is entirely natural. The name 'Deadvlei' means 'dead marsh'—a remnant of the wetland that once filled this basin.

Featured in today's image is Great Basin National Park in Nevada, United States, where ancient bristlecone pines stand beneath a sky ablaze with shooting stars. These remarkable trees are the oldest non-clonal species on Earth. Shaped by relentless wind, snow and rain, they've endured for millennia—witnessing ice ages, volcanic eruptions and the rise and fall of civilisations. Their incredibly slow growth results in wood that's dense and highly resistant to insects, fungi, decay and erosion. Against all odds, the Great Basin bristlecones cling to life on barren limestone ridges, twisting into forms that appear almost sculpted by time. Their scattered presence across isolated mountain ranges may be due to wind dispersal, the help of birds like the Clark's nutcracker, or even now-extinct species that once carried their seeds across the highlands.