The bizarre and inter­est­ing site spacecollective.org has a fas­ci­nat­ing arti­cle about Cher­nobyl, which, after hav­ing been aban­doned by humans for 20 years, is being retaken by its nat­ural environment.

The peo­ple are gone, and in their place are now thriv­ing pop­u­la­tions of deer, elk, wild boar, wolves, and even lynx. Trees are push­ing up through Lenin Avenue and moss is cling­ing to the bro­ken side­walks and aban­doned build­ings through­out the 19-miles that make up the Exclu­sion Zone. […]

Radi­a­tion lev­els are still too high for long term expo­sure, but the Ukraine has opened up the nearby city of Pripyat to daytrip­pers look­ing to catch a glimpse of what an urban cen­ter would look like after 20 years with­out a human foot­print.

Another strik­ing page on SpaceCol­lec­tive is the gallery, which has a wealth of sci­ence related/inspired imagery. Worth check­ing out, but though beau­ti­ful, it’s a lit­tle over­whelm­ing and poorly organized.