A view of Yarimoglu sinkhole (obruk), caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer in 2009, in Konya province, Turkiye on May 15, 2025. The gigantic pit formed between the fields where intensive irrigation activities are carried out is expanding and growing every year. (Photo by Abdullah Dogan/Anadolu via Getty Images)

A group of friends react during “Ladies Day” at the Randox Grand National Festival held at the Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, Britain, 12 April 2024. The Grand National Festival is held over three days, culminating in the world famous 6.9 kilometer handicapped steeplechase, running for the 176th time in 2024. (Photo by Adam Vaughan/EPA/EFE)

Humanoid robots fight during a kickboxing match on day two of the 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games at National Speed Skating Oval on August 16, 2025 in Beijing, China. The 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games (WHRG) will be held from August 14 to 17 in Beijing's National Speed Skating Oval, bringing together 280 teams from 16 countries across five continents. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj poses at the Met Gala, an annual fundraising gala held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute with this year's theme “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” in New York City, New York, U.S., May 6, 2024. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

A visitor takes a picture of illuminated sculptures on display at the Festival de lumiere “Light festival” at Paris Jardin des Plantes in Paris, France, 15 November 2024. Festival de lumiere “Light festival” runs in Paris from 20 November 2024 to 19 January 2025. (Photo by Mohammed Badra/EPA/EFE)

Dhofar Region, Oman. Much of Oman is desert, but the Arabian Sea coast in the Dhofar region represents a startling difference in climate. This coastal region catches the monsoon rains, or khareef, during the summer months. Drenching rains fall primarily on the mountainous ridge that separates the lush, fertile areas along the coast from the arid interior, recharging streams, waterfalls and springs that provide plentiful water supplies in the fertile lowlands for the remainder of the year. Image taken by Landsat 5 on April 2, 2005. (Photo by USGS/NASA)

The civilised world lies on its knees, a sickness wracking its body. The affliction causes a necrotising of tissues so perfectly uniform in distribution that victims take on the appearance of corpses long before death occurs due to organ failure or secondary infections. ...