“The nuclear football (also known as the atomic football, the president's emergency satchel, the button, the black box, or just the football) is a briefcase, the contents of which are to be used by the President of the United States of America to authorize a nuclear attack while away from fixed command centers, such as the White House Situation Room. It functions as a mobile hub in the strategic defense system of the United States. It is a metallic Zero Halliburton briefcase carried in a black leather “jacket”. The package weighs around 45 pounds (20 kilograms). A small antenna protrudes from the bag near the handle”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A U.S. Military officer carries the “football”, which carries nuclear launch codes, on South Lawn after returning with U.S. President George W. Bush to the White House January 7, 2002 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Beautiful, strange and occasionally alarming pictures from the shortlist for this year’s Wellcome image awards – which celebrate the very best in science photography and imaging – from an x-ray of a bat to a micrograph of a kidney stone. The exhibition opens on 12 March at three science centres and the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. Photo: Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of an Arabidopsis thaliana flower, also commonly known as thale cress. Some of the anthers are open, revealing pollen grains ready for dispersal. Arabidopsis was the first plant to have its entire genome sequenced and is widely used as a model organism in molecular and plant biology. Horizontal width of image is 1200 microns. Magnification 100x. (Photo by Stefan Eberhard/Wellcome Images)

Xabi Zurutuza of Spain for Red Bull KTM Ajo crashes during Moto3 Free Practice Three as part of the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Phillip Island, Australia, 19 October 2024. (Photo by Joel Carrett/EPA)

A Chinese girl in traditional dress eats her lunch in a Five Guys restaurant in between shooting videos for her Chinese social media account on October 18, 2023 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Team Bahrain Raid Xtreme's French driver Sebastien Loeb and his Belgian co-driver Fabian Lurquin steer their car, during stage 9 of the Dakar rally 2024, between Hail and Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia, on January 16, 2024. (Photo by Patrick Hertzog/AFP Photo)

The 20-year-old American fashion model Kaia Jordan Gerber – who is the daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford, 55, and businessman Rande Gerber, 59 – poses braless as she stuns in an edgy shoot in January 2022. (Photo by Ports 1961’s Spring/Summer Campaign)