A fuzzy caterpillar on a basil plant in west Bengal, India on December 25, 2023. The caterpillar’s defence system is its hair, which has microscopic barbs that break off easily in the skin of would-be predators. (Photo by Soumyabrata Roy/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A woman rides her scooter as a dog chases her during heavy snowfall in Huai'an, in eastern China's Jiangsu province on February 4, 2024. (Photo by AFP Photo/China Stringer Network)

A girl watches as a man jumps to cool off at a swimming pool in the village of Zllakuqan near the town of Klina on July 9, 2024. (Photo by Armend Nimani/AFP Photo)

Mother hen chicken with cute tiny baby chicks all protected beneath her wings keeping warm outdoors only their 12 legs visible poking out the bottom outside. (Photo by Matthew Troke/iStockphoto via Getty Images)

Sea lion “Jay” paints a Chinese character reading “the Serpent” at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium in Yokohama, suburban Tokyo on January 3, 2013. The event, marking the forthcoming Chinese lunar calender year of the snake was held as part of a New Year's attraction. (Photo by Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP Photo)

Travel photographer Amos Chapple recently crossed into Turkmenistan on a three-day transit visa and was able to photograph many of the sights and monuments in Ashgabat, the capital and largest city. Turkmenistan is a single-party country, a former Soviet state, run by a president at the center of a cult of personality.

Photo: A young couple leave the Alem Entertainment Center in Ashgabat. The current president has a history of breaking obscure records. In 2012 the wheel atop this complex was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest enclosed Ferris wheel. The structure was built at a cost of $90m. (Photo by Amos Chapple via The Atlantic)

“Hiding In The Shadows”. This Baby Sandhill taking refuge under Moms wings while sitting on her second egg. I witnessed this baby being born earlier that day,and the next morning saw the other one hatch,what a sight to see. Photo location: Deland, Florida. (Photo and caption by Scott Helfrich/National Geographic Photo Contest)

A mother bear takes a dip in the water to cool off in the warm summer sun but refuses to leave her three youngsters behind – so they climb aboard her back. (Photo by Jon Langeland/Solent News & Photo Agency)