During a jungle survival program February 20, 2013 taught by Royal Thai Special Forces in Sannapit, Thailand, U.S. Marines learned to catch cobras and drink their fresh blood, not to mention eat forest insects and pull the heads off of chicken. The training was part of Operation Cobra Gold 13, the 32nd edition of international military exercises hosted by the Thai. According to a U.S. Marines press release, Cobra Gold is the largest exercise of its kind in Asia and incorporates troops from five other nations in addition to the U.S. and Thailand. The Daily Mail reports that the Marines were invited to experience the local custom of drinking cobra blood after being taught to catch and kill cobras in the wild. As CNN notes, Cobra blood is believed to be a panacea and aphrodiasic in parts of Southeast Asia. In Jakarta, vendors can earn over $100 a night selling shots of cobra blood mixed with liquor. (Photo by Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP Photo)

Women perform a pole dancing routine during the national day celebration of “Urban Pole” dance along a street in Monterrey, Mexico, on June 9, 2013. (Photo by Daniel Becerril/Reuters)

“Cub”. In the colony of penguins in South Georgia. (Photo and caption by Ondrej Zaruba/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

Waves triggered by Typhoon Hato are seen in Hong Kong, China on August 23, 2017. A powerful typhoon barreled into Hong Kong on Wednesday, forcing offices and schools to close and leaving flooded streets, shattered windows and hundreds of canceled flights in its wake. Typhoon Hato came within 60 kilometers (37 miles) of Hong Kong, close enough to be considered a direct hit under Hong Kong's storm warning system. It was headed toward the western side of mainland China's Pearl River Delta. (Photo by Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV heavy rocket carrying classified spy satellite cargo for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office lifts off from Space Launch Complex 37B at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. This is the final flight of a Delta IV heavy rocket. (Photo by John Raoux/AP Photo)

The Spanish photographer Xavi Bou digitally combines sequential pictures of birds to create a single image, or chronophotograph, that reveals the shapes of their flight paths against Catalonian skies. His work shows the variety and beauty to be found in the daily activities of the local birds, including spiralling storks, swooping starlings and giddy swifts. Here: European herring gulls at Llobregat Delta. (Photo by Xavi Bou/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Delta CEO Ed Bastian talks about the century-old airline's past and technology such as generative artificial intelligence that he sees shaping its future during a Consumer Electronics Show (CES) presentation at The Sphere concert venue in Las Vegas on January 7, 2025. Delta on January 7 marked a century of flying with visions of a future in which artificial intelligence and internet age partnerships make air travel fun and seamless. (Photo by Glenn Chapman/AFP Photo)

Villagers gather long grass in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam in the first decade of February 2024. The grasses are used as an alternative for plastic products such as baskets. (Photo by Natnattcha Chaturapitamorn/Solent News)