High winds blow sand across the highway near the original north shore of Owens Lake, now miles from the nearest pool of water, on May 5, 2007 near Lone Pine, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

The hot air balloon “Hopper T Frog” from Park City, Utah, peeks over the red rock cliffs during the 23nd Annual Red Rock Balloon Rally at Red Rock State Park December 6, 2003 near Gallup, New Mexico. (Photo By Douglas Tesner/Getty Images)

Photographer John Maher, once the drummer with punk bank Buzzcocks, travelled to the Outer Hebrides to photograph abandoned crofters’ cottages – many of which, like this one, have seemingly been untouched since. Here: “Peat Fire”. Taken in March 2013 on the east coast of Harris. The fire is from muir-burning, when farmers burn off grasses and heather to improve grazing for their sheep. (Photo by John Maher/The Guardian)

“El rio mas bonito del Mundo”, the most beautiful river of the world, the “River of five colors”, the “Rainbow River”, or even the “Escaped from Paradise”, are the shimmering appellations that Colombians give to Cano Cristales, a small stream located in the heart of the Macarena National Park, 150 km (93 miles) south of Bogota. Photo: A waterfall is seen at the end of the rainy season, in August, when the water level finally decreases, in the Cano Cristales RIver in the Sierra de la Macarena in Colombia. It has become covered with a bright pink endemic aquatic plant, Macarenia Clavigera. (Photo by Olivier Grunewald)

“Theyyam”. Preparation for the Theyyam performance in the surroundings of Kasaragod city. Theyyam is a popular ritual dance form of North Kerala, particularly in Kannur and Kasargod districts. The Theyyam represents a mythological, divine or heroic character. Make up of Theyyams is done by specialist. There are different types of face painting for which primarily and secondary colours are used. Therefore it is essential that the makeup man should have perfect knowledge of primary and secondary colour combinations. Sometimes, it takes several hours to paint each face. Photo location: Kasaragod, India. (Photo and caption by Rafal Ziejewski/National Geographic Photo Contest)

These otherworldly images give a rare glimpse inside caves barely ever seen by the human eye. With its peculiar pools of water and strange colored sediments, the bizarre looking tunnels of the Shakuranskaya cave could be a set straight out of a science fiction film. Found in the disputed region of Abkhazia, around 75 miles outside of Sochi, Russia, it is rumored the incredible underground chambers were formed after a huge earthquake struck the area in 1892. After causing part of a nearby mountain to collapse into the Amtkel River, it is thought the dam-like affect has created a series of interconnecting underground tunnels. Here: a large pool of water inside one of the tunnels. (Photo by Vladimir Mulde/Caters News)

A girl looks with comic disgust at a guy who falls asleep with a bottle of beer at a party; her friend laughs. (Photo by Edward Corbett/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Aurorae category runner-up: Lone Tree under a Scandinavian Aurora by Tom Archer (UK). The photographer decided to explore the area around the hotel on a very crisp -35C evening in Finnish Lapland. When he found this tree, he decided to wait for the misty conditions to change and could not believe his luck when the sky cleared and the aurora came out in the perfect spot. Archer spent about an hour photographing it before his camera started to lock up because of the harsh conditions, but by then he was happy to call it a night. (Photo by Tom Archer/2020 Astronomy Photographer of the Year)