“Cassowaries are large, flightless birds related to emus and (more distantly) to ostriches, rheas, and kiwis”, writes Olivia Judson in the September issue of National Geographic magazine. How large? People-size: Adult males stand well over five foot five and top 110 pounds. Females are even taller, and can weigh more than 160 pounds. Dangerous when roused, they’re shy and peaceable when left alone. But even birds this big and tough are prey to habitat loss. The dense New Guinea and Australia rain forests where they live have dwindled. Today cassowaries might number 1,500 to 2,000. And because they help shape those same forests – by moving seeds from one place to another – “if they vanish”, Judson writes, “the structure of the forest would gradually change” too. (Photo by Christian Ziegler/National Geographic)

“Dubai is sometimes called the “City of Gold” because of its stunning growth from a sleepy Gulf port to a world-famous business crossroads in the space of a single generation. Its nickname has a literal meaning for traders in the precious metal. The city is building itself up as a center for the gold trade, between sources in Africa and consumers in the rising economies of China and India”. – Kamran Jebreili via Associated Press

Photo: A gold press operator collects 10 gram gold blanks to press them with the logo of the Emirates Gold company in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Gold prices remained relatively steady in 2012, close to $1,700 an ounce. (Photo by Kamran Jebreili/AP Photo)

A Geisha girl pouring a drink for a visitor, circa 1955. (Photo by Fox Photos). P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution.

A female honor guard has lipstick applied as they prepare for an official welcoming ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China on June 11, 2014. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

Naki'o, a mixed-breed dog with four prosthetic devices, goes for a run in Colorado Springs April 12, 2013. Naki'o lost all four feet to frostbite when he was abandoned as a puppy in a foreclosed home. (Photo by Rick Wilking/Reuters)

Space shuttle Discovery sits atop NASA's 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) ready to transport it from Kennedy Space Center to the Washington D.C., on April 17, 2012 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Following the retirement of the shuttle fleet, Discovery will fly to Washington for display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. (Photo by Lofty Ambitions)

The luxury Jetstar private jet, built in the seventies and retaining most of the original features which is now being used as a holiday let is seen in Redberth, Pembrokeshire, Wales, January 11, 2017. (Photo by Rebecca Naden/Reuters)

A light-up bow whose arrows are advertised as flying up to 145 feet and the “Catapencil” – a pencil with a miniature slingshot-style launcher on its end – are on an annual list of unsafe toys released Wednesday by a Massachusetts-based consumer watchdog group. World Against Toys Causing Harm, or W.A.T.C.H., issued the “10 Worst Toys” list to remind parents and consumers of the potential hazards in some toys as the holiday shopping season gets underway. (Photo by Charles Krupa/AP Photo)