People watch as Secretary of State Antony Blinken's motorcade moves through Kinshasa, Congo, Tuesday, August 9, 2022. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Pool via AP Photo)

Ameca, a humanoid robot developed by the British company Engineered Arts Digital, at the Re:publica trade fair in Berlin, Germany on May 28, 2024. (Photo by dts News Agency Germany/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

An Asian elephant swims in a pool with transparent sides at Fuji Safari Park in Susono city of Shizuoka Prefecture on August 8, 2024. Paddling with chunky legs and using their trunks as a snorkel, the elephants at Fuji Safari Park in Japan are taking a dip in their summer swimming pool – with each graceful movement visible thanks to a special see-through tank. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP Photo)

People have their photographs taken as they throw fallen leaves in autumn colours in Tokyo on November 13, 2022. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP Photo)

A man wears jacket in the colors of Iranian flag as he attends the annual rally commemorating Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, February 11, 2023. (Photo by Vahid Salemi/AP Photo)

Cars submerge in water as heavy rain floods the Southern part of the country in Najaf, Iraq on January 04, 2023. (Photo by Karar Essa/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Mailin Gobbo reacts as she leaves the courtroom after hearing a judge acquit former Catholic Priest Carlos Eduardo Jose, who she says sexually abused her for years when she was an adolescent, in San Martin, Argentina, Tuesday, March 9, 2021. The court acquitted the 62-year-old, citing the statute of limitations had run out. (Photo by Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo)

Honorable Mention: “The Storm”. During I was taking photo with my nephew, the storm came and I caught this beautiful moment. Photo location: Kocaeli, Turkey. (Photo and caption by Aytül Akbaş/National Geographic Photo Contest)