Hundreds of flamingos take flight in the Rift Valley in East Africa early September 2024. The birds gather in the region’s saline lakes to eat the blue-green algae that grows in abundance. The red-orange pigment in the algae is what gives them their distinctive pink plumage. They also use the site to breed. (Photo by Alexandre and Chloe Bes/Naturagency/Solent News)

Situated in the Pacific Ocean some 620 miles (1,000 km) from the South American continent, these 19 islands and the surrounding marine reserve have been called a unique “living museum and showcase of evolution”. Photo: “Close-up. We had a juvenile Red-Footed Booby come visit us on the sun deck. I got some closeups with my ultrawide 11-16mm Tokina”. (Photo by Carl Fredrickson)

This artist's scoreboard displays a fictional game between Mars and Earth, with Mars in the lead. It refers to the success rate of sending missions to Mars, both as orbiters and landers. Of the previous 39 missions targeted for Mars from around the world, 15 have been successes and 24 failures. For baseball fans, that's a batting average of .385. The United States has had 13 successes out of 18 attempts, or a “batting average” of .722. NASA's Curiosity rover, set to land on the Red Planet the evening of Aug. 5, 2012 PDT (morning of Aug. 6 EDT), will mark the United States' 19th attempt to tackle the challenge of Mars, and the world's 40th attempt. (Image by NASA/JPL-Caltech)

A police officer has weapons blessed by a Hindu priest during the Vishwakarma Puja festival in the outskirts of Agartala, India, September 17, 2016. (Photo by Jayanta Dey/Reuters)

A woman with a snake on her body, taken in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 2017. A holistic therapist uses snakes to massage her clients – claiming it cures depression and even helps victims of abuse. Instead of traditional massaging techniques, Sarah Zaad uses up to six pythons and boa constrictors on brave customers who want to relax or be treated for mental disorders. The flamboyant therapist from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil believes her snakes have a magic touch, which can benefit people by massaging their bodies. (Photo by Kadeh Ferreira/Barcroft Images)

A woman aims a World War II machine gun at a military show during celebration of the Defenders of the Fatherland Day in St.Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, February 23, 2016. The day, celebrated in Russia on February 23, honors the nation's military and is a nationwide holiday. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

A weeping South Vietnamese mother and her three children are shown on the deck of this amphibious command ship being plucked out of Saigon by U.S. Marine helicopters in Vietnam, April 29, 1975. (Photo by AP Photo)

British model Kate Moss attends the Saint Laurent Womenswear Spring/Summer 2023 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on September 27, 2022 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)