Respect, Kronotsky nature reserve, Russia. The photographer’s cat, Ryska – her name means little lynx in Russian – stands outside their cabin and with aggressive posturing warns off a fox. In winter, foxes would regularly visit the cabin searching for food. If one peered in at the window, possible when the snow was deep, Ryska would sit on the other side, fur raised, and growl. When outside, she would hold her ground. The foxes were not always frightened and so encounters could be a sort of dance. (Photo by Igor Shpilenok/Unforgettable Behaviour/NHM)

This picture taken on November 18, 2015 shows young participants preparing to release a hot-air balloon during the Tazaungdaing Lighting Festival at Taunggyi in Myanmar's northeastern Shan State. Every year in November as the full moon approaches, tens of thousands of people from all over the country gather in Taunggyi for the colourful hot-air balloons festival during which balloons lift fireworks or lanterns which illuminate the sky at night while balloons of all shapes are flown during the day. (Photo by Ye Aung Thu/AFP Photo)

Coloured X-ray of a barn owl. A physicist has used X-ray to create an extraordinary collection of artwork. Arie van't Riets pictures reveal birds, fish, monkeys and flowers in an incredible new light. The 66-year-old, from Bathmen in the Netherlands, began X-raying flowers as a means to teach radiographers and physicians how the machine worked. But after adding a bit of colour to the pictures, the retired medical physicist realised the potential for an exciting new collection of art. (Photo by Arie van't Riet/Barcroft Media)

The rotating updraft base of a supercell thunderstorm, and a rear flank downdraft containing rain and hail, backlit by the setting sun, on May 10, 2014, in Climax, Kansas, United States. To most of us, dark clouds on the horizon usually means rain – but here in Kansas, they can also signal the start of a supercell. The huge formations, also known as rotating thunderstorms, are among the most powerful weather phenomenon found over land. They can occur anywhere where the conditions are right, but are normally found in more arid climates. These awe-inspiring supercells were captured south of Climax city by storm chaser Stephen Locke. (Photo by Stephen Locke/Barcroft Media)

A picture of Moon Ji-sung, a high school student who died in the Sewol ferry disaster, hangs in her room in Ansan April 7, 2015. Her dream was to be a flight attendant. Nearly a year after the Sewol ferry sank on April 16, 2014, with the death of 250 students, some families keep their children’s bedrooms intact to remember and honour their loved ones. More than 300 people, most of them students and teachers from Danwon High School, are dead, or missing and presumed dead, after the Sewol ferry sank on a routine trip from the port of Incheon, near Seoul, to the holiday island of Jeju. (Photo by Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)

A humanoid robot named Kansei, meaning “sensibility” in Japanese, makes a facial expression depicting “happiness”, next to the word “Love” during a demonstration at a laboratory of Meiji University's Robot and Science Institute in Kawasaki, south of Tokyo in this June 4, 2007 file photo. Three-fourths of robot installations over the next decade are expected to be concentrated in four areas: transportation equipment, including the automotive sector; computer and electronic products; electrical equipment and machinery. Labor costs have climbed in countries such as China that have been popular for outsourcing production, while technological advances for robots allow them to be more flexible and perform more tasks. (Photo by Yuriko Nakao/Reuters)

A devotee gestures after being flogged by a reveler dressed as a devil during a mass celebration of the “Talciguines” of Texistepeque, El Salvador on Easter Monday, April 3, 2023. In the Nahuatl, Talciguin means “deviled men”, a traditional procession performed during Easter monday to represent the fight against the devil of the Christian prophet Jesus Christ. (Photo by Camilo Freedman/SOPA Images/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Iraqi Kurds carry fire torches as they celebrate Nowruz Day, a festival marking the first day of spring, Kurdish and Persian New Year in Akre, Iraq on March 20, 2024. Newroz or Nowruz means “new day” in Persian, and is celebrated to mark the arrival of spring and the first day of the Iranian calendar. It is widely celebrated in Persian and neighboring regions and is recognized on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Human List. (Photo by Ismael Adnan/SOPA Images/Rex Features/Shutterstock)