Soap Bubble Structures by Kym Cox. Bubbles optimise space and minimise their surface area for a given volume of air. This phenomenon makes them a useful tool in many areas of research, in particular, materials science and “packing” – how things fit together. Bubble walls drain under gravity, thin at the top, thick at the bottom, which interferes with travelling lightwaves to create bands of colour. Black spots show the wall is too thin for interference colours, indicating the bubble is about to burst. (Photo by Kym Cox/2019 Science Photographer of the Year/RPS)

Japan's electronics equipment maker MuRata Manufacturing Co., Ltd's showcased their bicycle-riding robot “MuRata Boy” during the CEATEC Japan 2006 exhibition on October 3, 2006 in Chiba, Japan. The “MuRata Boy” robot can ride up a 25-degree slope, stop without losing its balance and make an S-curve without falling. (Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images)

A worker stands by a historic building as it is moved down the block on wheels on New York Avenue to make way for a new construction July 28, 2014 in Washington, DC. A team from Expert House Movers have been moving the historic building near 4th Street which is one of the largest structures in the DC area to be moved. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP Photo)

An employee of German car manufacturer Mercedes Benz adjusts the brand's characteristic star on a GLA model at their production line at the factory in Rastatt, Germany, January 22, 2016. (Photo by Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)

Indian passengers travel on a local train in New Delhi, India, October 2017. Constructed in 1975 to bypass the crowded and passenger-heavy Old Delhi, New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin railway stations, the railway line once used to be the lifeline of the capital. (Photo by Ankur Dutta/Barcroft Media)

In this March 29, 2016 photo, a man shoulders a coffin with the remains of a loved one who was slain more than two decades ago by Shining Path rebels, as he walks to the cemetery for a group burial service, in Ccano, a village in the Huanta area of Ayachcuo department, Peru. Presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori's base of support is in places like Ccano, where promises to build roads, clinics and schools recall her agronomist father’s own legacy of delivering aid to the long-overlooked countryside. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

Snorkellers approach an adult manatee at Three Sisters Spring, Crystal River, Florida. You might imagine that coming face to face with one of these enormous underwater mammals would cause some concern. However, the likelihood is that the rotund creature just wants you to scratch its belly while it floats around happily, as world-renowned underwater photographer Alex Mustard discovered. (Photo by Alexander Mustard/Barcroft Media)

Yak near Yamdrok lake, Tibet. It is a long-haired bovinae found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia and Russia. The Tibetan economy is dominated by subsistence agriculture. Due to limited arable land, the primary occupation of the Tibetan Plateau is raising livestock, such as sheep, cattle, goats, camels, yaks, dzo, and horses. The Tibetan yak is an integral part of Tibetan life. (Photo by Dennis Jarvis)