A man dressed in Christmas garb smokes a hand-rolled cigarette, Thursday, December 24, 2020, in Times Square on Christmas Eve in New York. (Photo by Kathy Willens/AP Photo)

Four-year-old Riley Gillet, of Orlando, lights a candle with her family, marking the beginning of the traditional Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, during the Chabad of Greater Orlando's “Chanukah on the Park” celebration in Winter Park, Fla., late Sunday, November 28, 2021. Held at Central Park, the event included the lighting of a giant menorah, live performers, music and dancing. Jews worldwide will celebrate Hanukkah through Dec. 6. (Photo by Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP Photo)

Lava gushes from the southern side crater of Mt. Etna, Europe's largest active volcano, near Catania, southern Italy Sicily, early Tuesday, May 25, 2021. (Photo by Salvatore Allegra/AP Photo)

“Sunward”. When the Mediterrenean Mantis opened its wings, It seemed very impressive at the sunshine... Photo location: Nicosia, Cyprus. (Photo and caption by Hasan Baglar/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Centuries ago, Inuit hunted the bowhead whale. At that time, whale hunting undoubtedly was part of a complex and very important ritual, if only because of the size of the catch. The position that the ancestors of today's Inuit occupied in the living world involved a relationship with the spirit that inhabited each animal but also their species”. (Photo by Robert Frechette/2014 Sony World Photography Awards)

Commended. In late May, about a quarter of a million snow geese arrive from North America to nest on Wrangel Island, in northeastern Russia. They form the world's largest breeding colony of snow geese. Photographer Sergey Gorshkov spent two months on the remote island photographing the unfolding dramas. Arctic foxes take advantage of the abundance of eggs, caching surplus eggs for leaner times. But a goose (here the gander) is easily a match for a fox, which must rely on speed and guile to steal eggs. “The battles were fairly equal”, notes Sergey, “and I only saw a fox succeed in grabbing an egg on a couple of occasions, despite many attempts”. Surprisingly, “the geese lacked any sense of community spirit”, he adds, “and never reacted when a fox harassed a neighboring pair nesting close by”. (Photo by Sergey Gorshkov/Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer)

A vehicle leaves light trails in a long exposure photograph as it drives beneath the 500-metre Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope in Pingtang county, China. Construction on the device began in 2011 and is nearing completion. (Photo by Liu Xu/AP Photo)

A brilliant sunset makes for a fun silhouette picture by jumping between sand bars at Shi Shi Beach on the Olympic Peninsula Friday July 17, 2015. (Photo by Bettina Hansen/The Seattle Times)