With its huge eyes, comical name and diminutive size, Mark R. Smith’s image of a baby Hawaiian bobtail squid can’t help but raise a smile. A curiously endearing creature, the cephalopod is just 1.5cm across, its mantle cavity bearing more than a passing resemblance to a rather natty shower cap. But it is also a beautiful example of symbiosis – nature’s version of “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” – for on the underside of the squid is a light organ which houses bioluminescent bacteria. The squid offers the bacteria protection and food, while the bacteria emit a glow – a handy trait that the squid uses to offset its silhouette, helping it to evade predators in the depths below. Mark R. Smith’s entry combines several images of a Hawaiian bobtail squid with different focus lengths to create a final picture with greater depth of field than normal. (Photo by Mark R. Smith/Wellcome Images/Macroscopic Solutions)

A brown bears cools off in a pool at the bear sanctuary near the village of Mramor, on August 18, 2020. The bear sanctuary was closed for visitors on August 18, as part of safety measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) disease. (Photo by Armend Nimani/AFP Photo)

Revellers chat on Havana's Malecon seafront before performing at a carnival parade, Cuba, August 12, 2016. (Photo by Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

Riders compete during a kok boru, also called ulak tartysh, a traditional game in which players on horseback manoeuvre with a goat's carcass and score by putting it into the opponents' goal outside Sokuluk village, 20 km (12,5 miles) west of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Tuesday, March 30, 2021. (Photo by Vladimir Voronin/AP Photo)

San Diego Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) dodges a pitch during the seventh inning against the Chicago Cubs at Petco Park in San Diego, California on April 16, 2025. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Reuters)

A passenger aircraft passes over a residential house as it prepares to land at London Heathrow Airport in west London on October 17, 2016. Britain's government is considering whether to approve a third runway at Heathrow or expand air capacity in southeast England at another airport such as London Gatwick. (Photo by Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP Photo)

Once upon a time a myth was born that insects, unlike animals, are just a machines that not capable of learning and survive only based on their instincts. That myth has become the widespread opinion. Of course, this opinion is indeed erroneous, like many other widespread opinions. Let us try to find out which part is a myth and which part is true.

General view of festival goers at the main stage on Day 3 of Download festival at Donnington Park on June 12, 2022 in Donnington, England. (Photo by Chris Bethell/The Guardian)