Merit Prize Winner: “A Well Earned Rest in the Sahara”. This photo of Moussa Macher, our Tuareg guide, was taken at the summit of Tin-Merzouga, the largest dune (or erg) in the Tadrat region of the Sahara desert in southern Algeria. Moussa rested while waiting for us to finish our 45-minute struggle to the top. It only took ten minutes of rolling, running, and jumping to get back down. The Tadrat is part of the Tassili N'Ajjer National Park World Heritage area, famous for its red sand and engravings and rock paintings of cattle, elephants, giraffes, and rhinos that lived there when the climate was milder. Photo location: Summit of Tin-Merzouga, Tadrat, Tassili N'Ajjer National Park, Algeria. (Photo and caption by Evan Cole/National Geographic Photo Contest)

A gibbon drinks from a soft drink bottle, given by a tourist, at a zoo in Kunming, Yunnan province, June 18, 2015. (Photo by Wong Campion/Reuters)

American singer-songwriter Madonna nearly bares it all while partying after the Fashion Awards with English singer Dua Lipa and photographer Mert Alas on November 29, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Instagram)

American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo (R) seen at BRIT Awards 2022 Sam Fender's After Party at Four Quarters in Peckham on February 08, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Neil Mockford/Ricky Vigil M/GC Images)

Three children receive “best Christmas present ever” bionic arms in Bristol, England in the second decade of December 2024. Colette Baker, Finley Jarvis and Zoey Pidgeon-Hampton with their new Open Bionics arms. (Photo by Tom Wren/SWNS)

Dance Team Rage Crew perform at BAFTA LA's 6th Annual Christmas Party and Toy Drive at Helen Keller Park on December 17, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Steamed Chinese-style buns, known locally as salapao, are decorated with faces during the start of the annual 10-day vegetarian festival in Bang Saphan, southern Thailand on October 13, 2015. (Photo by Matthew Richards/Courtesy Image)

Women play soccer as the Tungurahua volcano spews a column of ash during an eruption in Huambalo, Ecuador, Saturday, March 5, 2016. Tungurahua is 16,480 feet (5,023 meters) high and has been active since 1999. (Photo by Dolores Ochoa/AP Photo)