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NEW ARRIVALS: Our new arrivals are the latest collections to arrive at Aurora. If you would like to see more stories   * online, view the archived stories   * offline(traditional) contact us.     World Food Crisis In the past year, prices have risen significantly for basic food on the international commodity market. Around the world, countries are feeling the effects with severe food shortages. Over the past year, rice prices have risen by 70%. The price of wheat has more than doubled. Corn and soy have been trading well above average. The global food crisis is being blamed on factors such as the growing population and emerging economies like China and India. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     China's National People's Congress The National People’s Congress of China, which convenes annually every March, is China's greatest spectacle of communist tradition. The cavernous building is populated by countless manicured attendants ready to provide security to China's elusive leadership. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     The Soviet Roadside Bus-stop n 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed it tore down with it the infamous Iron Curtain revealing a world that was mostly unknown to the west for the better part of the century. The phenomenon of the road side bus stop shelter as works of art is a surprising revelation one may not have expected to discover in this land filled with functionality and coldness. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Guatemala Mental Hospital Aurora photographer Holly Wilmeth documented the patients of Guatemala's National Hospital for Mental Health through her striking black and white images. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Disappearing Glaciers Through a unique photographic project, Extreme Ice Survey, James Balog provides evidence of fast melting glaciers. The project records the terrifying speed of their disappearance. Balog notes: photography will provide irrefutable visual evidence of global warming. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Life on the Streets of Hanoi In Hanoi, Vietnam, after years being homeless, Ly Thi Mui, 34 with her son, Trun Van Pha, 5, has adapted and developed her own sense of happiness, living for her son and also living the life of a Buddhist detachment from worldly possessions. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     On the Trail with Barack Obama Join Aurora photographer Callie Shell as she covers Barack Obama on the Iowa caucus campaign trail with exclusive behind-the-scenes access shot on assignment for Time magazine. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Maine Winter Winter in Maine is beautiful, but sometimes cruel, violent coastal storms, unexpected thaws and flooding as well as snow and ice. Regardless, those seem to pass and leave the winter that many Mainiacs and visitors long for. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Sean Davey's Surfing Paradise In his teens Sean Davey’s homeland of Tasmania fueled his passion for photography and great surf. Oahu's famed north shore has become his paradise, which he loves to share through his photography. Lose yourself in this award winning imagery. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Scarification In Benin In Djougou, central Benin, scarifications pass from generation to generation, with a boy carrying the same marks as his father. The scarification ceremony itself is of great social importance, as it represents the passage into adulthood. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Introducing Hemis Aurora Photos now represents some of the best travel images from Hemis, a French stock agency specializing in travel photography. This is a selection from around the world. Look for a selection of French travel images coming soon. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     On the Trail with Barack Obama Join Aurora photographer Callie Shell as she covers Barack Obama on the Iowa caucus campaign trail with exclusive behind-the-scenes access shot on assignment for Time magazine. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Galapagos Under Siege Ever since Charles Darwin first visited the Galapagos in 1835, the tiny archipelago 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador has captivated the world’s imagination. However, increased tourist traffic and population growth have put a huge stress on the islands’ ecological balance. Invasive non-native plants and animals are feeding on or forcing out rare native species and the heavy impact of the human footprint is often hidden out of view. Aurora photographer shows a place that is at once beautiful, magical and under siege. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Our Toxic World Chemicals are all around us. Their applications endless: flame retardant clothes, air fresheners, perfumes, more vibrant colors. All this convenience comes at what cost? Aurora photographer Peter Essick examines the toll that chemicals take on our bodies and minds. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Scarification In Benin In Djougou, central Benin, scarifications pass from generation to generation, with a boy carrying the same marks as his father. The scarification ceremony itself is of great social importance, as it represents the passage into adulthood. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     The Historic Photography of Tom Frost Photographer and filmmaker Glen Denny said of Frost and his photography: "Most of the climbing photos you see now are prearranged setups for the camera on much-traveled routes. The impressive thing about Frost is that his classic images were seen, and photographed, during major first ascents. In those awesome situations he led, cleaned, hauled, day after day and--somehow--used his camera with the acuity of a Cartier-Bresson strolling about a piazza. Extremes of heat and cold, storm and high altitude, fear and exhaustion . . . it didn't matter. He didn't seem to feel the pressure." Aurora is very proud to introduce this historic work on our site. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Introducing Hemis Aurora Photos now represents some of the best travel images from Hemis, a French stock agency specializing in travel photography. This is a selection from around the world. Look for a selection of French travel images coming soon. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Classic Ireland After an amazing economic turn-around, Ireland today is second richest country in the European Union, but classic Ireland remains. It is a land of green country and majestic seaside cliffs and rich in history, legend and character. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Introducing Anders Ryman Anthropologist, photographer, and writer, Anders Ryman put them all together and focuses his camera on travel and traditional cultures around the world. His work shows a deep understanding and appreciation for people and cultures, whether he is photographing the Hait Haddidou in the High Atlas of Morocco or Uru Murato Indians in Bolivia’s Altiplano. Based in Sweden, Anders consistently brings back compelling images and stories from all corners of the globe. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     The Last Tonnara In Sicily, the tonnare, an ancient mattanza rite and traditional tuna-fishing technique, still exists. Every year at the end of springtime, huge tuna migrate from the Atlantic ocean to the warmer Mediterranean waters. These fish, which can weigh more than 850 pounds, are captured and loaded on oared boats with only the strength of the fishermens’ arms. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Guatemala's Kaibil Commandos After years of secrecy Guatemala's Kaibil Operations Training Center allows Aurora photographer Holly Wilmeth to witness and document their demanding training. The goal: to develop elite commando forces. They specialise in jungle warfare tactics and counter-insurgency operations. The group claims to have shed its notorious history of massacre and human rights abuse. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     John Smith's Chesapeake Bay, 400 years. Aurora photographer Peter Essick documented Chesapeake Bay and brought back images that examine the current state of the Bay and the sites explorer John Smith gazed upon hundreds of years before. As we approach the 400-year anniversary of Smith's exploration, this work helps us understand what treasure Chesapeake Bay. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     The Oceonographic The Oceanographic in Valencia, Spain's contains 45,000 fish, invertebrates and marine mammals, representing 500 species. Designed by Felix Candela, it displays in a series of sculptural structures, arranged around a huge lake, each devoted to a different sea. Europe's largest marine park is more than an sophisticated aquarium it is also a research institute. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Northern Italy's Piemonte Region It is easy to fall in love with northern Italy’s Piemonte, a region not yet exploited. Geographic variations and easy access to diverse activities gives the area its strength. It has mountains, hill towns, fine foods, such as white truffles, and it is home to Barolo and Barbaresco wines! Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Cape Verde When the Portuguese arrived in 1456 Cape Verde was uninhabited. Independence came in 1975, but this small nation of islands lacks resources and has severe droughts. Most of the nation's GDP is from the services industry and it is now considered a country of average human development. Cape Verde has significant cooperation with Portugal at every level as many descendants come from white Portuguese settlers and black African slaves. More Cape Verdeans live abroad than in Cape Verde and share a culture that reflects its mixed Portuguese and African roots. It is well known for its diverse forms of music such as Morna (the Capeverdian Fado) and the urban Cape Verdian kizomba. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Why Some Live Longer None of the centenarians smoke, but all of them eat a diet consisting mainly of fruit and vegetables, share a strong emphasis on the family, and are are deeply invested in their communities. Experts tell us it is possible to view the behaviors of the world's longest lived people as a kind of ala carte menu from which a person can choose their favorite habits from each culture and incorporate them into their lives accordingly. These mall habits and lifestyle choices can add or subtract a significant number of healthy years to one's life. The choice is up to you. Click "text" bellow on the thumbnail to read more... Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Small Town Jamboree High atop the Blue Ridge Mountains there is a place that transcends time and gathers old and young, to share in the harmony of music. Folks from around the world congregate in the Country Store in Floyd, Virginia to dance to the rhythm of bluegrass and old-time music that is borrowed from the surrounding hills and valleys. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     A Quiet Horseman "A Quiet Horseman" is the story of a Purple Heart recipient and Iraq war veteran's service in the last active horse unit in the U.S. Army. The "Old Guard's Caisson Platoon" bears fallen soldiers to their graves in Arlington National Cemetery in the U.S. This story ran in the New York Times Sunday Magazine on Jan. 1, 2006. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Sichuan China Bilderberg photographer Siegfried Martin traveled to the most remote areas of southwest China's, Sichuan (Four Rivers) Province, one of the largest and most inaccessible provinces in the nation. He returns with a textured and detailed impression of its people. To view all the images search 86179* Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Holland, Michigan 49422 Two and a half million people visit Holland each year - not the country across the ocean where the people wear wooden shoes, but the town (pop. 35,048) in Michigan that is home to six million tulips and an annual festival that celebrates the town's most beloved perennial. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Extreme Weather Award-winning photographer Jim Reed has premium-quality, extraordinary weather images. He captures everything from cumulonimbus clouds and hoar frost to hurricanes and tornadoes. Aurora is proud to have such one of a kind work on our web site. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Amphicars on Parade "Amphipoda", "The Wave", and "The Splash King" are not superheroes, but they are capable of freely operating on land and in water. Their amphibious abilities aren't due to special powers, but to their Amphicars, which function as both cars and motorboats. And these fittingly nick-named men were just three of 200 Amphicar owners and enthusiasts who convened this past weekend for the 12th Annual International Amphicar Owner's Convention and Swim-In in Celina, Ohio, where the vehicles have delighted the local residents for the past seven years. Aurora has text that can be licensed along with the photographs for this story. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     On Borrowed Time For the first time in the history of the AIDS, HIV-positive children are growing up to become teenagers. But a cure for the disease has yet to be found, and infected children have to cope with toxic, often experimental medical regimens and a budding consciousness of sexuality and the conflicts with the knowledge of their affliction. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Carbon Cycle Disturbed The natural carbon cycle works when plants take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and repire oxygen. Bacteria,animals and humans take in oxygen and repire carbon dioxide. This cycle takes from about one month in the tropics to over 500 years in an old growth forest. Before there were plants carbon cycled through rocks and was only expelled into the atmosphere through volcanoes. This cycle lasted in the millions of years. Since the burning of fossil fuels, humans have been adding excess carbon into the atmosphere which was locked up in coal and oil deposits. This excess is causing the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to rise and warm the earth like a greenhouse. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     The Kingdom of Mustang Geographically and culturally more a part of Tibet than Nepal, Mustang contains a wild landscape of eroded cliffs and hidden caves. Little changed by twentieth century influences, the culture of the hardy Lobas people remains full of myth and legend. Mustang was founded in the 15th century by a Tibetan monarch who consolidated various small local chiefdoms into the Kingdom of Lo. Eventually Mustang was incorporated into Nepal but it has remained isolated, and rarely visited. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Tsunami Devastation The New York Times wrote: Of the countries affected by the tsunami, none has suffered proportionately more devastation than Sri Lanka, with 30,000 people reported killed out of a population of just 19.5 million. (Indonesia has three times as many dead, but it has more than seven times the population.) In Indonesia, India and Thailand, the damage was largely confined to one geographical area, while 70 percent of Sri Lanka's 830-mile coastline was swept by the roiling waters. 1/5/05 Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Azerbaijan Oil Currently Turkmenistan and Azerbijan are discussing ownership of some very productive oil fields that lie in the middle of Caspian. Both sides have repeatedly expressed desire to to settle the Caspian question of boundaries. Azerbijan is developing some of these fields unilaterally but the exploitation would continue to lack a legal backing until the sides can agree on the dividing line. Turkmenistan and Azerbijan agreed in February 1998 that the dividing line between their zones should be drawn along the median line but it would be necessary to ascertain the exact location of the median line before any division can take place. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Impressions of Chicago Al Capone, the Pullman Era, the Stockyards and the Black Sox, Chicago endures. Today, the sights and colors of the Windy City form a world well captured by the eye of Jon Lowenstein in his impressions of Chicago. Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Poker Fever Red Hot Poker...The nation is being swept up in Poker fever as evident in the latest "reality tv" program drawing 5 million viewers each week to the Travel Channel's World Poker Tour program. So what's next? Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Tequila Archeologists say the agave has been cultivated for at least 9000 years in the central, arid highlands of Mexico. "Honey water" as it's locally called, is distilled from the fermented juices of the Weber Blue Agave. But there's more.... Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>     Madagascar Unseen The Malagasy proverb claims: "They who drink the water from the Manangareza river always come back to Madagascar". Read on… Read on View as Slide Show View Images/a>   back to top