Easter Island, Chile, January 2009Remote mysteries

Easter Island is some 2,000 miles from the mainland and is considered the planet's most remote inhabited island. Here, a visitor takes a photo of the only moai figure there with restored eyes. Both of the huge stone figures carved by the islanders represent ancient ancestors. They stand on the edge of the Pacific Ocean and look inward toward the land rather than out at the vast ocean.

David J. Patten, St. Petersburg