Photos Of The Day

The planet Mercury is seen as Messenger flew by for the second time this year. During the encounter, the probe swung just 125 miles above the cratered surface, snapping hundreds of pictures and collecting a variety of other data. The probe is on track to become the first spacecraft ever to orbit the innermost planet beginning in March 2011. This spectacular image was taken Oct. 6, 2008 and made available Oct. 8.

Something To Shout About

Indian Air Force soldiers march during Air Force Day celebrations at Hindon, on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008.

Well Armed

Karl Merk, a 54-year-old farmer, talks during a news conference in Munich, Germany, on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008. Merk received the world's first complete double arm transplant and is recovering well, though doctors said it could take up to two years before he relearns how to use his hands. Doctors spent 15 hours July 25-26 grafting donor arms onto Merk's body. He lost his arms in a farm accident six years ago.

Field Day

Young Palestinian farmers carry bags loaded with olives after picking them from their family's land during the harvest, on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Ramallah, at sunset Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008.

Up Close

A Jewish man prays during morning prayers before the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site in Jerusalem's Old City, Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008. Yom Kippur, or "Day of Atonement," is the holiest of Jewish holidays when observant Jews atone for the sins of the past year and the nation comes to almost a complete standstill.

Colorful Cells

Brain cells of a laboratory mouse are shown glowing with multicolor fluorescent proteins at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., in an image released Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008. The Nobel prize in chemistry was awarded Wednesday to two Americans and a U.S.-based Japanese scientist for research on a glowing jellyfish protein that revolutionized the ability to study disease and normal development in living organisms.

The Pink House

The White House is illuminated in pink for breast cancer awareness, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008, in Washington. The White House is one of over 200 landmarks worldwide lit up in pink this month as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

French Fly

A group of French planes make the French flag during an air show over Saronic Gulf near Athens on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008. The aerobatic display was organized on the occasion of the Defendory 2008 International Arms exhibition, held in southern Athens from Oct. 7-11.