Soap Bubble Structures by Kym Cox. Bubbles optimise space and minimise their surface area for a given volume of air. This phenomenon makes them a useful tool in many areas of research, in particular, materials science and “packing” – how things fit together. Bubble walls drain under gravity, thin at the top, thick at the bottom, which interferes with travelling lightwaves to create bands of colour. Black spots show the wall is too thin for interference colours, indicating the bubble is about to burst. (Photo by Kym Cox/2019 Science Photographer of the Year/RPS)

This 2014 series Shanghai Tian Wa saw Chinese photographer Liu Tao train his lens on two distinct districts in Shanghai. Here: “Shanghai Tian Wai №26, 2014”. (Photo by Liu Tao/The Guardian)

This time exposure photo provided by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department shows a series of lightning strikes over Santa Barbara, Calif., seen from Stearns Wharf in the city's harbor, Tuesday evening, March 5, 2019. A storm soaking California on Wednesday could trigger mudslides in wildfire burn areas where thousands of residents are under evacuation orders, authorities warned. (Photo by Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP Photo)

A man walks near a boat which has capsized due to strong winds in Istanbul on November 30, 2021. Strong winds continue to blow across Istanbul where the Bosphorus strait is temporarily closed to boat traffic. Four people were killed and dozens injured on Monday in Istanbul, which was hit by high winds. (Photo by Yasin Akgul/AFP Photo)

People dressed as Adam and Barbara Maitland from “Beetlejuice” ride the subway after leaving New York Comic Con 2022 on October 08, 2022 in New York City. The four-day event, which began Thursday morning at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, is expected to attract over 200,000 comic, fantasy and pop culture fans from across the country and world. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

Crews paddle fast towards the turning mark during the annual Great Salem Maritime Cardboard Boat Regatta in Salem, Massachusetts on August 9, 2025. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso/Anadolu via Getty Images)

This is the remarkable moment a group of skydivers performed a world record breaking feat in honour of their friend who died while skydiving. Known as a “Bigway”, the daring jump involves 57 people holding hands in a predetermined design as they hurtle towards the ground, head first. After making the first shape, the group then break away before coming back together to form a second shape all in a single skydive. Captured using a GoPro camera by Alaskan skydiver, Ben Nelson, 36, the topsy-turvy footage shows the adrenalin junkies soaring through the air at around 160mph before banding together twice in mid-air, making the stunt a world first. (Photo by Ben Nelson/Caters News)

Astronaut Donald R. Pettit would often rig an array of as many as six cameras in the cupola windows and set them all to fire continuously for events such as sunsets, which only last around seven seconds on the ISS. (Photo by Donald R. Pettit)