We are pleased that the Bing.com homepage today  (13 May 2013) features yet another beautiful 360Cities panorama. This one is a lovely cave panorama made by 360Cities photographer Marcio Cabral in Brazil. Congratulations to Marcio Cabral again!

Anhumas Abyss, Bonito, Brazil. Panorama made by Marcio Cabral

We are still wondering how the photographer could get in to this cave with all the necessary photography equipment. Read the  description to guess how.

This is the second time that a 360Cities picture made by Marcio Cabral has been featured on the Bing.com homepage. Needless to say, Marcio is one of the 360Cities Maestros.

The 360Cities Team

We’re constantly working to improve the 360Cities Panoramic World experience whether you use computer or a touch screen device (smartphones and tablets).

We’ve just upgraded our maps to to the new Google Maps API and there are  a couple of improvements

which we’d like you to be aware of:

- Maps tiles load faster and transitions are smoother when you move around and zoom.

- The user experience for touch screens is greatly improved. Now the map does not jump

around randomly when you move around.

You will notice the difference when surfing in the 360Cities map, in the area pages, in your account page and in the “Find a photographer” map.

Keep discovering our amazing Panoramic World with 360Cities maps!

The 360Cities Team

We’ve just launched a new MAESTRO badge recognizing a select group of photographers for their exceptional contribution to the 360Cities Panoramic World. The MAESTRO badge will be displayed right next to the EXPERT badge next to the photographer’s name.

We’ll be updating the MAESTRO list on a regular basis. If you have ambitions of becoming a 360Cities MAESTRO, you can contact one or more of them for inspiration – the easiest way to approach them is via the comments feature on the panorama pages. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from the MAESTROs!

The 360Cities Team

There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew.
Marshall McLuhan

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.
Mohandas K. Gandhi

It is our collective and individual responsibility to protect and nurture the global family, to support its weaker members and to preserve and tend to the environment in which we all live.
Dalai Lama

I’m not an environmentalist. I’m an Earth warrior.
Darryl Cherney

Cagou New Caledonia, Melanesia. Panorama made by Richard Chesher.

Curung Cilember near Jakarta, Indonesia. Panorama made by Tomasz Makarewicz

Paragliding near Granada, Spain. Panorama made by Jaime Brotons.

Heart Of School Interior, Green School Bali, Indonesia. Panorama made by Tina Gauer & Oli Burle – www.360tourist.net

Gyurufu Eco Village Entrance, Hungary. Panorama made by Hans Molenkamp

Organic farm in Kwu Tung, Hong Kong, China. Panorama made by  johnchoy ( 蔡旭威 )

Kenozero’s jackstraws 1, Russia. Panorama made by Churbanov Yakov

Huaorani Ecolodge, Ecuador. Panorama made by Jeff Cremer

Shafer Park Green Fest, U.S.A. Panorama made by Magnus Dahlgren

Front Steps To the Bamboo House, Indonesia. Panorama made by  Gil Frei

The Green 360Cities Team

Our next theme will be published on April 22nd on International Mother Earth Day.

We ask you to send us your Mother Earth related panoramas. These panoramas should show a beautiful ecosystem picture, collective responsibility happenings connected with the environment, green constructions, green companies…basically, anything that promotes harmony between our human activity and our Mother Earth.

You can send your Green-panoramas to blog@360cities.net

Enjoy this Mother Earth song by Neil Young.

The Green 360Cities team

All images link to spherical 360° photos! Click the photo to open the 360 in a new page.

The Arg-é Bam (ارگ بم) Before being destroyed by an earthquake
by Sahneh

These days, in the European and USA media, Iran is almost never portrayed in a positive light, and most people in this part of the world never get a glimpse of what Iran actually looks like. Recently, The Atlantic ran a wonderful photo essay about Iran. But it had only normal photos, no panoramas.  I think we need to see much more of Iran to truly appreciate the amazing beauty it has to offer.

At 360Cities there are quite a few talented photographers who publish their 360° photos on our platform. I thoroughly enjoy these images, knowing that many of these places I may never see for myself.

Architectural Houses Kashan
by Omid Jafarnezhad

Full moon at the Naqshe Jahan Square
by Ramin Dehdashti

Khajou Bridge
by Ramin Dehdashti

Sheikh Lotfallah Mosque
by Ramin Dehdashti

Inside the Pigeon Tower
by Ramin Dehdashti 

Badab Soort
by Mohammad Reza Domiri Ganji

Maranjab Desert in sunset
by omid jafarnezhad

360eramr Real
by Mohammad Reza Domiri Ganji

Arg Of Karim Khan
by omid jafarnezhad

Last Shop in Bazar
by Aidin Baftechi

Carpet Repair Workshop
by Mohammad Reza Domiri Ganji

House of Poems in Shiraz
by Mohammad Reza Domiri Ganji

Vakil Bazzar ( Arg Gallery )
by Mohammad Reza Domiri Ganji

Nasir al-Mulk Mosque
by Mohammad Reza Domiri Ganji

امام زاده ابراهیم – امامزاده اسدالله
by Mahmoud Momtazan – Behbahan

sarab gamasyab
by zabih hasanvand

Masoud Esfahani’s Repair Shop
by Fariborz Alagheband

Timcheh Amin-o-dowleh
by Ruhollah Mahmoudi

Vakil Bath Shiraz
by omid jafarnezhad

Winter means cold, darkness, hot soups and teas, staying at home during a chilly evening… But still winter is a wonderful season!

As winter in the northern hemisphere passes into spring (only a rumor in Europe, however), enjoy these beautiful winter panoramas wherever you are!

Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Ottawa, Canada. Panorama made by Martin Broomfield

Tscheppaschlucht Stone Arc, Austria. Panorama made by Markus Ortner

Schloss Sans Souci Potsdam, Germany. Panorama made by André Stiebitz

Rodelbahn am Hörnle, Bavaria, Germany. Panorama made by Matthias Kunze

 Up Eryl Farchog, Wales, UK. Panorama made by Bernd Kronmueller

Mont Blanc – Monte Bianco: Panorama from Helbronner Point, Italy. Panorama made by Pietro Madaschi.

Buzzards Over a Snowy Malvern, England, UK. Panorama made by Robert Bilsland

Gladenkaja – Snow, Russia. Panorama made by Andrew Borus

Liberec – Mirror Park Winter Night, Czech Republic. Panorama made by Tomas Kysela

Playground in the snow I, Wichita, USA. Panorama made by Don McClane

We were pleased to see the Bing.com homepage today. The photograph that is featured on Bing.com today (28th March, 2013), is a beautiful underwater panorama made by the 360Cities photographer Marcio Cabral in Brazil, the Mysterious Lagoon. Congratulations to Marcio Cabral! Discover its mysterious by clicking on the image!

Mysterious Lagoon, Brazil. Panorama made by Marcio Cabral

Why is this lagoon mysterious?

Because it is considered one of the deepest submerged caves in Brazil, with more than 220 meter of water column (maximum depth reached by professional cave diver Gilberto Menezes de Oliveira, in 1998), as  Marcio Cabral wrote in the panorama description.

Bing.com is one of the most used search engines in the world. Thanks a lot to the Bing.com team for bringing 360Cities panoramas to an even larger audience. Also, thanks a lot to 360Cities photographers whose work deserves to be seen by a worldwide audience.

The 360Cities team

We thought we already knew how Mars looks up close thanks to Andrew Brodov’s stunning panoramas. But, Andrew has surpassed even himself with this Mars Gigapixel.

Andrew Bodrov is a member of the International Virtual Reality Photography Association (IVRPA) and he has been professionally engaged in panoramic photography for over 12 years. Also he loves stitching NASA photographs for making panoramas that are out of this world.

Mars Gigapixel Panorama – Curiosity rover: Martian solar days 136-149 panorama made by Andrew Bodrov

Some information about the Mars Rovers and about the Gigapixel

Although the Mars Gigapixel has 4 billon pixels, the cameras only have 2 Megapixel, which is almost nothing if you compare them with a pocket camera or even with a phone. But don’t forget that NASA has to send these cameras to Mars and that means that they have to survive radiations and other hazards. They are the bravest cameras that NASA scientists have found

Picture from www.wired.com

At least in the northern hemisphere the winter has come to an end. We are waiting for sunny days, to spend a day walking through the mountains or going to the beach or to the closest lake…

If you are thinking of putting all your winters memories away in a “winter box”, wait a second! Please, send your winter related panoramas to blog@360cities.net.

While you’re searching for your favorite winter panos, enjoy this beautiful winter song by Fleet Foxes.