A former Gurkha (special forces soldier), Nirmal Purja, takes a selfie at the start of his attempt to scale the world’s 14 highest peaks in seven months to break a 31-year-old record. Nirmal Purja, known as Nims, aims to smash the current record – which stands at seven years, 11 months and 14 days – set by Polish climber Jerzy Kukuczka. On the way, he also plans to defeat at least seven speed world records on mountains over 8,000m high. (Photo by Nirmal Purja/PA Wire Press Association)

Wakodahatchee wetlands, Delray Beach, Florida, US. Equipped with sinewy necks and spear-like bills, great blue herons can lunge with fearsome speed to strike their aquatic prey. Adults will also employ rapid stabbing motions as one aspect of their complex courtship displays; they’re seemingly dangerous moves, but fitting to the intensity of mating season. (Photo by Melissa Rowell/Audubon Photography Awards)

Owners and their dogs take part in “HK Doggie Dash 2018”, an event held to raise money for for abandoned and surrendered dogs in Hong Kong on April 15, 2018. Dozens of pugs and dachshunds compensated for their modest speed with peppy spirits at Hong Kong’s inaugural “doggie dash” on April 15 that raised funds and awareness for the city’s abandoned and rescued dogs. (Photo by Isaac Lawrence/AFP Photo)

A hungry pelican is shown in a high-speed aerial pursuit of a rival's fish dinner. Having caught the fish, the osprey had to fend off competition from the much bigger bird. These stunning pictures were captured by Hanping Xiao in Sebastian Inlet State Park, Florida, USA in February 2023. (Photo by Hanping Xiao/Solent News & Photo Agency)

360Cities PRO member Andrew Bodrov has just published another stunning panorama stitched from images taken by the Curiosity Rover on Mars. Photo: “Mars Panorama – Curiosity Rover: Martian Solar Day 177” (Photo by NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Andrew Bodrov)

School students attend a pioneer induction ceremony in Moscow's Red Square in Moscow, Russia on May 22, 2022. Pro-Communist Russians are trying to preserve the Young Pioneers, which used to be the Communist league for pre-teens in the Soviet Union. (Photo by Sergei Karpukhin/TASS)

These stunning images show the 20-stone cat striking with lightning speed while the eight-foot reptile basks on a river island. The scene unfolded by the Cuiabá River in the Pantanal Wetlands of western Brazil. Photo: Jaguar attacks a Yacare Caiman. (Photo by Barcroft Media)

Figurines of former pro-Russian separatist commander Igor Strelkov from the collection entitled “Toy Soldiers of Novorossiya” are on display at a workshop in Moscow August 29, 2014. A Moscow-based maker of toy soldiers has sought inspiration for his creations from Ukrainian rebels fighting government troops in the east of Ukraine. Toy soldier maker, Timur Zamilov, displayed his new collection of rebel fighters cast in metal on Friday, before they are due to go on sale. His new collection is entitled “Toy Soldiers of Novorossiya” (New Russia), a reference to regions in eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian separatist fighters want full independence. Zamilov's selection includes models of Cossack soldiers, volunteers, soldiers bearing anti-aircraft missiles and even a miniature of prominent rebel leader Igor Strelkov. (Photo by Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters)