United States Coast Guard Academy Cadets Second Class Aurimas Juodka, left, and Sheila Bertrand get in the face of “swab” Kevin Lennox as Bravo Company finishes at the barber shop and mailroom during R-Day, the reporting-in day that marks the beginning of the 7-week “Swab Summer” for the class of 2018 Monday, June 30, 2014, in New London, Conn. About 250 prospective cadets, Swabs, start the program designed to indoctrinate them to the military life of the academy and at the end will be accepted into the corps of cadets. (Photo by Sean D. Elliot/AP Photo/The Day)

“YagYang”. The Apatani are tribal people living in north east of India in the region of Arunachal Pradesh. Tattooing and stuffing of large nose plugs is the particularity of these women. YagYang 75 years old, her husband passed away few months ago and she feels very alone, during my visit I was very fond of this woman and I wanted to spend some more time with her, so I asked her which was her favorite dish. The next day i returned with the fresh fish, as she mentioned, and when she saw me she was very happy and welcomed me with a big smile. Photo location: India. (Photo and caption by Passarini Mattia/National Geographic Photo Contest)

People wear clothing to protect them from the heat while riding along a street in Hanoi, Vietnam, 24 April 2019. North and central Vietnam was recently affected by extreme hot weather, with the highest temperatures reaching over 40 degrees Celcius, according to the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting. (Photo by Luong Thai Linh/EPA/EFE)

An aerial view of Syrian people flocked to the streets in the capital Damascus to celebrate US President Donald Trump's decision to lift sanctions in Damascus, Syria on May 13, 2025. (Photo by Amadeusz Mikolaj Swierk/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“Cassowaries are large, flightless birds related to emus and (more distantly) to ostriches, rheas, and kiwis”, writes Olivia Judson in the September issue of National Geographic magazine. How large? People-size: Adult males stand well over five foot five and top 110 pounds. Females are even taller, and can weigh more than 160 pounds. Dangerous when roused, they’re shy and peaceable when left alone. But even birds this big and tough are prey to habitat loss. The dense New Guinea and Australia rain forests where they live have dwindled. Today cassowaries might number 1,500 to 2,000. And because they help shape those same forests – by moving seeds from one place to another – “if they vanish”, Judson writes, “the structure of the forest would gradually change” too. (Photo by Christian Ziegler/National Geographic)

A recruitment drive during the First World War at Trafalgar Square, London. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)

Wingsuit flyer contestant Melissa Pemberton of the U.S. jumps off a mountain at Tianmen Mountain National Park in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province October 19, 2014. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

The Wuppertal Suspension Railways is one a kind elevated railway located in Wuppertak, Germany. It is the oldest elevated railway in the world, though it doesn’t look like it. It is kept in great condition by the government and provides for a great attraction for the tourists. It provides a great overview, as it runs above a number of city streets and a small river. Moreover, since it is powered by electricity, it proves an ecologically clean method of travel for the residents of the city.