Russian riot policemen beat young PREGNANT female anti-Putin activist during a protest rally against the Presidential inauguration of Vladimir Putin on May 6, 2012 in Moscow, Russia.

“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)

The Washington Wizards dancers strike a pose during the team’s basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Capital One Arena on November 28, 2022 in Washington, DC. The Wizards won 142-127. (Photo by Geoff Burke/USA Today Sports via Reuters)

Taras Mychalewych, 75, poses for a portrait with his vaccination card after receiving his coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at a rural vaccination site in Columbus, New Mexico, U.S., April 16, 2021. (Photo by Paul Ratje/Reuters)

Dublin student beat depression by befriending sharks, stingrays and pigs in the Bahamas. Awesome underwater pictures show the 23-year-old diver cosying up to a range of animals including turtles, stingray and sharks. The sunny selfies were taken in the Bahamas by Stuart’s Cove dive instructor and native of the island, Amelia Klonaris – who beat depression by embracing her incredible beach paradise lifestyle. (Photo by Amelia Klonaris/Mediadrumworld)

A mannequin with boots is stuffed upside down in the snow in front of a home in Nisswa, Minnesota, on March 18, 2013. (Photo by Steve Kohls/The Brainerd Daily Dispatch)

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White smoke billowed from the chimney on the Sistine Chapel indicating that a new pope has been elected in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 13, 2013. (Photo by Dmitry Lovetsky/AP Photo)

An upside-down pair of pants is seen atop a mound of snow, Wednesday, February 20, 2019, the result of yet another snow storm to hit Omaha, Neb. The latest winter storm dumped more snow on top of the existing snow, creating a problem of what to do with all the cleared snow. (Photo by Nati Harnik/AP Photo)