“Himalayan Dog”. This dog just appeared out of nowhere and followed us for an entire week during our trekking trip in the Himalayan outback. He always used to sleep in front of our tent and guarded us in the nights. When I decided to get up at 4 a.m. to climb the next 5000 m peak for sunrise he accompanied me as well. On the top he was sitting for the entire 30 minutes on this place looking straight into the countryside. Photo location: Ladakh, India. (Photo and caption by Sebastian Wahlhuetter/National Geographic Photo Contest)

A man wearing a mask and dressed in a clown costume rides an electric tricycle while carrying a container in the shape of a rubber duck amid heavy smog in Beijing, China, December 29, 2015. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

“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)

A woman walks past a mural depicting RM, a member of K-pop group BTS, in Goyang, northwest of Seoul, on June 15, 2022. (Photo by Anthony Wallace/AFP Photo)

Medical staff celebrate after all patients were discharged at a temporary hospital set up to treat people with the COVID-19 coronavirus in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on March 9, 2020. China closed most of its makeshift hospitals for coronavirus patients, some schools reopened and Disney resort staff went back to work on March 9 as normality slowly returns to the country after weeks battling the epidemic. (Photo by AFP Photo/China Stringer Network)

This artist's rendering illustrates the evaporation of HD 189733b's atmosphere in response to a powerful eruption from its host star. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope detected the escaping gases and NASA's Swift satellite caught the stellar flare. (Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center)

People walk behind the Medusa head in the Basilica Cistern in Istanbul, Turkey, 24 July 2022. The site has been restored by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and is now open for visitors again. The Byzantine structure was commissioned by Emperor Justinian and built in 532. The underground Basilica, also called Underground Cistern, is the largest well preserved cistern in Istanbul, which rests on a total of 336 columns. According to historical texts, more than 7,000 slaves were involved in the construction of the cistern. (Photo by Sedat Suna/EPA/EFE)

As an airliner prepares to land, a bird takes off at the Gravelly Point park near Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Va. on December 23, 2018. (Photo by Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)