Kiritimati is a far-flung outpost of the Republic of Kiribati. The world's largest coral atoll, Kiritimati has just one flight a week to either Fiji or Hawaii, four-and-a-half hours in either direction. Tarawa, the capital of Kiribati lies nearly 3,300 km (2,000 miles) to the west – about three weeks by boat. No lawyers are based on Kiritimati and the High Court only comes once or twice a year to clear a backlog of the most serious cases, bringing a public lawyer for defendants who can't afford their own. (Photo by Lincoln Feast/Reuters)

French photographer Laurent Chehere's “Flying Houses” exhibit takes workaday houses and lets them lift the imagination. The exhibit is showing at the Muriel Guépin Gallery in New York. Photo: Laurent Chehere's “Flying Houses”: “The Great Illusion”. (Photo by Laurent Chehere)

A 10-year-old pet goldfish named George undergoes veterinarian Tristan Rich's scalpel to remove a life-threatening head tumor in this handout picture taken September 11, 2014 and provided to Reuters by the Lort Smith Animal Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. In a 45-minute long procedure described by Rich as “fiddly”, the fish was sedated by water laced with anaesthetic, the tumour removed and the wound sealed with tissue glue followed by antibiotics and painkillers. (Photo by Reuters/Lort Smith Animal Hospital)

A pair of gloved hands are dwarfed by the furry paws of Boris the Polar Bear at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium's animal health care hospital Saturday, February 23, 2013 in Tacoma, Washington. (Dean J. Koepfler/Tacoma News Tribune/MCT)

“Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986), better known as L. Ron Hubbard (and often referred to by his initials, LRH), was an American pulp fiction author and religious leader who founded the Church of Scientology. After establishing a career as a writer, becoming best known for his science fiction and fantasy stories, he developed a self-help system called Dianetics which was first published in May 1950. He subsequently developed his ideas into a wide-ranging set of doctrines and rituals as part of a new religious movement that he called Scientology. His writings became the guiding texts for the Church of Scientology and a number of affiliated organizations that address such diverse topics as business administration, literacy and drug rehabilitation”. – Wikipedia

Photo: American science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology, uses his Hubbard Electrometer (patent pending) to determine whether tomatoes experience pain, 1959. His work led him to the conclusion that tomatoes “scream when sliced”. (Photo by Scott Lauder/Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Each year Nikon Small World recognizes the excellence of photography taken under the microscope. The contest showcases the beauty and complexity of life. Anyone interested in microscopy and photography can enter the contest and in its 42nd year, Nikon Small World received 2,000 entries from 70 countries. Here: 11th Place; Scales of a butterfly wing underside (Vanessa atalanta). (Photo by Francis Sneyers/Nikon's Small World 2016)

People walk behind the Medusa head in the Basilica Cistern in Istanbul, Turkey, 24 July 2022. The site has been restored by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and is now open for visitors again. The Byzantine structure was commissioned by Emperor Justinian and built in 532. The underground Basilica, also called Underground Cistern, is the largest well preserved cistern in Istanbul, which rests on a total of 336 columns. According to historical texts, more than 7,000 slaves were involved in the construction of the cistern. (Photo by Sedat Suna/EPA/EFE)

Trees are consumed by the Bridge Fire near Wrightwood, Calif., Wednesday, September 11, 2024. (Photo by Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)