Farmers arrange bunches of water lilies after harvesting them from the wetlands in Barishal, Bangladesh on March 21, 2023. Floating through 10,000 acres of canal, farmers use their little boats to fetch the flowers. (Photo by Joy Saha/Cover Images)

In this Thursday, April 11, 2013 photo, North Korean female soldiers stand watch on the river bank of the North Korean town of Sinuiju, opposite to the Chinese border city of Dandong. (Photo by AP Photo)

“Cassowaries are large, flightless birds related to emus and (more distantly) to ostriches, rheas, and kiwis”, writes Olivia Judson in the September issue of National Geographic magazine. How large? People-size: Adult males stand well over five foot five and top 110 pounds. Females are even taller, and can weigh more than 160 pounds. Dangerous when roused, they’re shy and peaceable when left alone. But even birds this big and tough are prey to habitat loss. The dense New Guinea and Australia rain forests where they live have dwindled. Today cassowaries might number 1,500 to 2,000. And because they help shape those same forests – by moving seeds from one place to another – “if they vanish”, Judson writes, “the structure of the forest would gradually change” too. (Photo by Christian Ziegler/National Geographic)

An unidentified runner gestures while being attended by medical services following the first running of the bulls of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, July 7, 2015. Two runners were gored in the run that lasted 2 minutes and 23 seconds, according to local media. (Photo by Eloy Alonso/Reuters)

A man dressed as Hindu Lord Shiva looks into the mirror as he gets ready to take part in a religious procession on the eve of Janmashtami festival in Amritsar, India, September 4, 2015. The festival, which marks the birth anniversary of Lord Krishna, will be celebrated across India on Saturday. (Photo by Munish Sharma/Reuters)

“A Mothers Tail”. A baby cub pulls on his mother's tail to get attention. Photo location: Masai Mara, Kenya. (Photo and caption by Tori Marsh/National Geographic Photo Contest)

This picture taken on November 1, 2014 shows Japanese body-painting artist Hikaru Cho (L) adding the finishing touches to a body painting of fingers sticking out from prison cell bars on the head of Ryonosuke Tanaka during “Tokyo Designers Week” in Tokyo. Cho, 21, was born to Chinese parents in Japan and burst onto Tokyo's art scene when she entered the city's Musashino Art University in 2012. Cho's ultimate ambition is to paint an entire – and naked – body. (Photo by Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP Photo)

“Thunderstruck”. Summer stom. A super cell formed off the coast of New Zealand, intensified and swept across Christchurch and North Canterbury, February 23, 2014. Photo location: Christchurch, New Zealand. (Photo and caption by David Hardy/National Geographic Photo Contest)