Merit Prize Winner: “A Well Earned Rest in the Sahara”. This photo of Moussa Macher, our Tuareg guide, was taken at the summit of Tin-Merzouga, the largest dune (or erg) in the Tadrat region of the Sahara desert in southern Algeria. Moussa rested while waiting for us to finish our 45-minute struggle to the top. It only took ten minutes of rolling, running, and jumping to get back down. The Tadrat is part of the Tassili N'Ajjer National Park World Heritage area, famous for its red sand and engravings and rock paintings of cattle, elephants, giraffes, and rhinos that lived there when the climate was milder. Photo location: Summit of Tin-Merzouga, Tadrat, Tassili N'Ajjer National Park, Algeria. (Photo and caption by Evan Cole/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Hundreds of onlookers descended upon White Rock beach, just south of Vancouver, Canada, on June 12, 2012 to mourn a beached whale that died on the sandy tidal flats. (Photo by Nick Procaylo/PNG/PNG Merlin Archive)

“The Glasswinged butterfly (Greta oto) is a brush-footed butterfly, and is a member of the subfamily Danainae, tribe Ithomiini, subtribe Godyridina”. – Wikipedia.

NASA space shuttle Atlantis is prepared on the Vehicle Assembly Building floor at the Kennedy Space Center May 18, 2011 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The space shuttle program ends with Atlantis mission STS-135 scheduled for early July. Space shuttle Atlantis will carry the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module to deliver supplies, logistics and spare parts to the International Space Station. Atlantis also will fly a system to investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing spacecraft and return a failed ammonia pump module. (Photo by Roberto Gonzalez/Getty Images)

A woman looks at photographs of dogs to choose a pet to rent at Puppy The World on January 24, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan. Rent-a-dog is becoming increasingly popular amongst people who love dogs but are unable to look after a pet full time due to limited living space or long working hours. Customers pay the dog-rental outlet around 2500 yen (32.5 USD) for an hour, and usually take their rented pet for a walk along the nearby beach. (Photo by Junko Kimura/Getty Images)

“Li Xiaolu (also known as Lulu and as Jacqueline Li) (born 30 September 1982) is a Golden Horse award-winning Chinese actress, best known for her role in Joan Chen's directing debut Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Chinese actress and singer Li Xiaolu performs during the 2008 Beijing Pop Music Awards ceremony organized by Beijing Music Radio FM 97.4 on January 11, 2009 in Beijing, China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

Visitors stand inside a church made entirely of snow and ice in southern Bavaria on January 14, 2012 in Mitterfirmiansreut, Germany. (Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images)

Ukrainian servicemen are seen training with a BMP-2 in Donetsk Region, Ukraine on February 10, 2022. (Photo by Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)