See the Sea: Ocean Currents As Art

The Scientific Visualization Studio at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center has released a mesmerizing animation, Perpetual Ocean, in which 2½ years' worth of data recording the oceans' surface currents was fed into a modelling program. The result—extravagant and whimsical and truly beautiful—merits a couple of minutes viewing.

(Do yourself a favor and watch it full-screen.)

Ann Shields is a senior digital editor at Travel + Leisure.