Aurorae category runner-up: Lone Tree under a Scandinavian Aurora by Tom Archer (UK). The photographer decided to explore the area around the hotel on a very crisp -35C evening in Finnish Lapland. When he found this tree, he decided to wait for the misty conditions to change and could not believe his luck when the sky cleared and the aurora came out in the perfect spot. Archer spent about an hour photographing it before his camera started to lock up because of the harsh conditions, but by then he was happy to call it a night. (Photo by Tom Archer/2020 Astronomy Photographer of the Year)

A woman learns how to use an AK-47 assault rifle during a civilians self-defence course in the outskirts of Lviv, western Ukraine, on March 4, 2022. The Russian army occupied on March 4, 2022 the Ukrainian nuclear power plant of Zaporozhie (south), the largest in Europe, where bombings in the night have raised fears of a disaster as more than 1.2 million people have fled Ukraine into neighbouring countries since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, United Nations figures showed on March 4, 2022. (Photo by Daniel Leal/AFP Photo)

Twin brothers Keith (L) and Deano Stapleton (R) interact with one another as people gather to witness the winter solstice on December 21, 2022 in Newgrange, Ireland. Crowds are gathering at Newgrange in Co Meath, this morning for the winter solstice – the astronomical phenomenon that marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year. Newgrange is a Stone Age (Neolithic) monument in the Boyne Valley, County Meath, it is the jewel in the crown of Ireland's Ancient East and was constructed approximately 5,200 years ago (3,200 B.C.) which makes it older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids of Giza. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

Law enforcement clashes with demonstrators outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, MDC, in downtown Los Angeles, California on June 8, 2025. US President Donald Trump deployed 2,000 troops on June 7 to handle escalating protests against immigration enforcement raids in the Los Angeles area, a move the state's governor termed “purposefully inflammatory”. Federal agents clashed with angry crowds in a Los Angeles suburb as protests stretched into a second night Saturday, shooting flash-bang grenades and shutting part of a freeway amid raids on undocumented migrants, reports said. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP Photo)

Every November (AKA Dinovember), Refe Tuma and his wife pose their kids’ plastic dinosaurs engaging in activities in order to convince their kids the toys come to life while they sleep. It started out small, with dinosaurs stealing food from the kitchen and making small messes, but Dinovember quickely escalated into dinosaurs playing board games, kidnapping other toys, and watching that scene from The Land Before Time while crying tiny little toy dinosaur tears made from paper.

One glance at the 3D models created by Rebeca Puebla is enough to realize that this artist has a soft spot for BDSM. The finely detailed model of a nun with heavily tattooed hands and a ball gag in her mouth or an Asian woman in a latex suit of a horse leave no doubt about it. At first, Rebeca Puebla has started out as a traditional illustrator. However, in later years she became a 3D character artist for films, TV, and video games. Though she has many regular-looking 3D models and illustrations, many of her works are quite controversial featuring 3D models of ladies in latex suits or wearing Nazi uniforms. (Photo by Rebeca Puebla)

Conservation staff members move the eight-years-old White Rhino Seha into a truck in Johannesburg, South Africa, 28 July 2017. Seha is the only survivor after five rhinos where poached on the same game farm. South Africa has the world's largest population of Rhinos in the world. (Photo by Kim Ludbrook/EPA/EFE)

A midnight safari has been caught on camera as wild animals gather in front of a full moon. Photographer Brendon Cremer, 35, snapped the impressive collection of night sky images while in South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana. It can be challenging for even the best photographers to take full control of their camera while ensuring they don’t become the deadly animals' next meal. But this impressive set of images looks both effortless and fierce. Here: A elepant strolls under the milkyway. (Photo by Brendon Cremer/Caters News)