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)

Michelle Rodriguez attends the 2016 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 28, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)

Kayla Amara sprays down their home as the Hughes Fire burns in Castaic, California, U.S. January 22, 2025. (Photo by Joel Angel Juarez/Reuters)

A visitor walks past an installation artwork entitled “Confuciuse” which combines the word “Confucius” and “confuse” in the contemporary art exhibition at “Fun and Art” Festival on December 13, 2008 in Xian of Shaanxi Province, China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

Street musicians with their faces covered with animal masks play to earn some money in central Vienna, Austria, November 8, 2015. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

Alex Plunkett, left, and Sean Hart, both of Arlington, Va., join hundreds participating in the annual International Pillow Fight Day on April 5. Massive pillow fights broke out on the Mall in Washington and in cities around the world. (Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

In this February 2, 2015 photo, tourists jump as they pose for a picture, after disembarking from the Ocean Nova cruise ship, on King George Island, Antarctica. This tourist season, which runs November through March, more than 37,000 visitors are expected to walk on the coldest continent on Earth, about 10 percent more than the year before. (Photo by Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo)

English actress Florence Pugh attends the EE British Academy Film Awards 2022 at Royal Albert Hall on March 13, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)