Merit Prize Winner: “A Well Earned Rest in the Sahara”. This photo of Moussa Macher, our Tuareg guide, was taken at the summit of Tin-Merzouga, the largest dune (or erg) in the Tadrat region of the Sahara desert in southern Algeria. Moussa rested while waiting for us to finish our 45-minute struggle to the top. It only took ten minutes of rolling, running, and jumping to get back down. The Tadrat is part of the Tassili N'Ajjer National Park World Heritage area, famous for its red sand and engravings and rock paintings of cattle, elephants, giraffes, and rhinos that lived there when the climate was milder. Photo location: Summit of Tin-Merzouga, Tadrat, Tassili N'Ajjer National Park, Algeria. (Photo and caption by Evan Cole/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Girls of the Long Horn Miao ethnic minority group wear headdresses as they prepare gather for Tiaohua or Flower Festival as part of the Lunar New Year on February 6, 2017 in Longga village, Guizhou province, southern China. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

British singer-songwriter Rita Ora early May 2024 makes an eye-catching face as she promotes “The Masked Singer”, where she’s a judge. (Photo by Rita Ora/Instagram)

Rapper Cardi B attends the 65th GRAMMY Awards on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

American singer Madison Beer arrives at the 2019 TrevorLive Los Angeles Gala at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on November 17, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Splash News and Pictures)

American model Emily Ratajkowski are spotted arriving to the La Ligne dinner at the Hotel Barriere Fouquet in New York City on February 8, 2023. (Photo by The Image Direct)

Singer Rihanna prepares for a photoshoot with photographer Annie Leibovitz in Havana, Cuba, May 28, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

The first jaguar litter since 1975 was born at the Milwaukee County Zoo to Stella and Pat on November 13, 2013. The litter was on public display for the first time on March 13 when the jaguar baby's names were released. Belize schoolchildren named one Zean, which is the end of Belizean, and a public contest named the other B'alam, which means "great and powerful king" in Mayan. Photo: Stella the mother and her cub Zean rest together at The Milwaukee County Zoo. (Photo by Rick Wood)