Visitors pose for pictures under blooming cherry blossoms at a botanical garden in Nanjing, capital of China’s eastern Jiangsu province on March 15, 2019. (Photo by Reuters/China Stringer Network)
Athlets run during the women's 3000 meter steeplechase at the International Athletics Meeting in Lucerne, Switzerland, 14 June 2016. (Photo by Alexandra Wey/EPA)
A participant poses with his laptop during the 33rd Chaos Communication Congress on its opening day on December 27, 2016 in Hamburg, Germany. The annual event is bringing together 12,000 computer hackers and activists who will meet over the next four days to share expertise and discuss topics related to the society and the digital world. (Photo by Morris MacMatzen/Getty Images)
Carine Louis-Jean, 22, poses for a photograph in her destroyed house after Hurricane Matthew hit Jeremie, Haiti, October 17, 2016. “The roof of my house is completely gone and some of walls were destroyed. I have lost everything I had, but I thank God that I have a friend who is letting me stay at her house. I could say I'm lucky, because none of my family died during the hurricane, but I do not think I'm lucky”, said Louis-Jean. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)
With its huge eyes, comical name and diminutive size, Mark R. Smith’s image of a baby Hawaiian bobtail squid can’t help but raise a smile. A curiously endearing creature, the cephalopod is just 1.5cm across, its mantle cavity bearing more than a passing resemblance to a rather natty shower cap. But it is also a beautiful example of symbiosis – nature’s version of “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” – for on the underside of the squid is a light organ which houses bioluminescent bacteria. The squid offers the bacteria protection and food, while the bacteria emit a glow – a handy trait that the squid uses to offset its silhouette, helping it to evade predators in the depths below. Mark R. Smith’s entry combines several images of a Hawaiian bobtail squid with different focus lengths to create a final picture with greater depth of field than normal. (Photo by Mark R. Smith/Wellcome Images/Macroscopic Solutions)
The Zammitt Family. “A portrait of the Zammitt family at their western Sydney home, with their dogs, Benji and Beau. Brian Zammitt (second from left) is the head of his booming family business, BAMS Hygiene Management, one of Australia’s leading deep cleaning companies, which specialises in disinfecting workplaces and locations contaminated with Covid-19. His wife, Sandra, and daughters Natalie and Louisa all play key frontline roles in the business”. (Photo by John Janson-Moore/Australia’s National Photographic Portrait Prize 2022)
“A small British company with a dream of building a re-usable space plane has won an important endorsement from the European Space Agency (ESA) after completing key tests on its novel engine technology. Reaction Engines Ltd believes its Sabre engine, which would operate like a jet engine in the atmosphere and a rocket in space, could displace rockets for space access and transform air travel by bringing any destination on Earth to no more than four hours away”. – Chris Wickham via Reuters. Photo: Artist's impression of Skylon. (Photo by Reaction Engines Ltd)