A balloon takes part in the 43rd International Hot Air Balloon Festival in Chateau-d'Oex, Switzerland on January 24, 2023. (Photo by Denis Balibouse/Reuters)

English singer, songwriter and model Sophie Ellis-Bextor performs at G-A-Y at The Astoria on February 17, 2007 in London, England. (Photo by Jo Hale/Getty Images)

A massive positive cloud-to-ground lightning strike hits in Coolidge, Arizona, 31 August 2016. Thousands of rain drops merge to form mammoth travelling sheets of water in these breathtaking monsoons. Veteran storm chaser and photographer Mike Olbinski captured the stunning beauty of monsoons in timelapses and stills while chasing storm systems across America. (Photo by Mike Olbinski/Barcroft Images)

A protester with his face smeared with soot from burning barricades stands in the Musaga neighbourhood of Bujumbura on May 6, 2015. Government and opposition rivals are meeting in Burundi in a bid to end deadly demonstrations against a third term bid by the president, as regional foreign ministers arrived to add pressure. (Photo by Phil Moore/AFP Photo)

With its huge eyes, comical name and diminutive size, Mark R. Smith’s image of a baby Hawaiian bobtail squid can’t help but raise a smile. A curiously endearing creature, the cephalopod is just 1.5cm across, its mantle cavity bearing more than a passing resemblance to a rather natty shower cap. But it is also a beautiful example of symbiosis – nature’s version of “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” – for on the underside of the squid is a light organ which houses bioluminescent bacteria. The squid offers the bacteria protection and food, while the bacteria emit a glow – a handy trait that the squid uses to offset its silhouette, helping it to evade predators in the depths below. Mark R. Smith’s entry combines several images of a Hawaiian bobtail squid with different focus lengths to create a final picture with greater depth of field than normal. (Photo by Mark R. Smith/Wellcome Images/Macroscopic Solutions)

American actress Sydney Sweeney and American model Emily Ratajkowski cuddle up at the Kerastase Pop-Up at Lavan New York in the first decade of April 2025. (Photo by sydney_sweeney/Instagagram)

A view of popular train street in the old quarter of Hanoi, Vietnam on July 30, 2022. Hanoi Train Street is one of the most well-known and exciting tourist destinations in the city and trains pass the street twice a day close to buildings on either side of the tracks. (Photo by Chris Humphrey/Anadolu Agency via AFP Photo)

Chase Elliott (9) makes a pit stop during the NASCAR Xfinity series auto race at Chicagoland Speedway, Sunday, June 21, 2015, in Joliet, Ill. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)