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)

Firework display from the top of the Sky Tower to welcome the New Year on January 1, 2015 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Dave Rowland/Getty Images)

A major new exhibition exploring the irresistible force of cuteness in contemporary culture at Somerset House, London on January 24, 2024. From emojis to internet memes, video games to plushie toys, food to loveable robotic design, cuteness has taken over our world. (Photo by Paul Quezada-Neiman/Alamy Live News)

People are seen at Avalon Beach on December 18, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. A cluster of Covid-19 cases on the northern beaches of Sydney has grown to 28, prompting NSW health officials to urge residents of affected suburbs to stay home. Traffic at Sydney Airport has increased as people rush to leave the city with several states imposing quarantine restrictions for New South Wales residents. (Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

People admire “Dinosaur”, a pigeon sculpture along the High Line in New York, on Monday, October 21, 2024. The hand-painted sculpture by artist Iván Argote celebrates the pigeon's distant past as the birds descended from dinosaurs. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

A member of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) reacts as her mother (L) places a badge with stars on the uniform during the 34th batch assistant commandants pipping ceremony at the National Industrial Security Academy (NISA) in Hyderabad on October 29, 2021. (Photo by Noah Seelam/AFP Photo)

These stunning images capture some of America's most intense storms from an extraordinarily close perspective. Here: A tornado storm is rolling over the town of Stratford, Texas on May 17, 2016. (Photo by Maximilian Conrad/Caters News)

The German Society for Nature Photography (GDT) has selected its Nature Photographer of the Year 2020. Here: Winner, Other animals. Jens Cullmann – Danger in the Mud. Crocodile in a drying pool. (Photo by Jens Cullmann/2020 GDT Nature Photographer of the Year)