Nature – first prize, stories. Pandemic Pigeons – A Love Story. The photographer’s daughter, Merel, cowers after Dollie flies past and perches on the balcony before entering the house in Vlaardingen in the Netherlands on 6 April 2020. “She’s still frightened when Dollie suddenly lands on the balcony railing. I hide my smile behind the camera, as I try to comfort her by saying they won’t hurt you. “I thought he was going to attack me”, she replies. As the nesting pigeons keep coming back to our place, slowly my girls have started to appreciate them – perhaps not as much as I do, but it’s a start”. (Photo by Jasper Doest/World Press Photo 2021)

Lance Cpl. Blas Trevino of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, shouts out as he is rescued on a medevac helicopter from the U.S. Army's Task Force Lift “Dust Off”, Charlie Company 1-214 Aviation Regiment after he got shot in the stomach outside Sangin, in the Helmand Province of southern Afghanistan on June 11, 2011. The Army's 'Dust Off' crew needed two attempts to get him out, as they were fired upon and took five rounds of bullets into the tail of their aircraft. (Photo by Anja Niedringhaus/AP Photo/File)

Palestinian plain-clothed security officers detain a man during a demonstration in the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, on June 26, 2021, to protest the death of human rights activist Nizar Banat while in the custody of Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces. Thousands of mourners attended on June 25 the funeral of the 43-year-old Banat, a day after he died in custody following his violent arrest by Palestinian security forces, which sparked outrage in the occupied West Bank. He was known for social media videos denouncing alleged corruption within the PA. (Photo by Ahmad Gharabli/AFP Photo)

A handout photo made available by the Indian Air Force (IAF) showing an IAF helicopters during the rescue operation in flood affected areas of Dhanyaghari of Khanakul in West Bengal, India, 02 August 2021. According to the IAF, helicopters of Indian Air Force rescued 31 people from rooftops and brought them to safety to Arambaug. The helicopters also dropped emergency food supplies in the affected areas after the torrential rain in the state has thrown life out of gear and created flood like situation in many districts. (Photo by Indian Air Force/Handout via EPA/EFE)

A young sloth named Gloria, that was rescued after being stolen from the wild destined for trafficking, peeks out of the box it is being taken to be released at the city's Botanical Garden in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, March 13, 2023. Gloria was cared for by the Free Life Institute NGO that rehabilitates injured wildlife found in the surrounding Rio area and returns them, when possible, back to the wild. Those that are too injured to be released are sent to other rehab centers or sanctuaries to live out their lives in protected environments. (Photo by Bruna Prado/AP Photo)

Will Burrard-Lucas takes a photo while a Meerkat perches on his lens on January 2014 in Makgadikgadi, Botswana. These adorable Meerkats used a photographer as a look out post before trying their hand at taking pictures. The beautiful images were caught by wildlife photographer Will Burrard-Lucas after he spent six days with the quirky new families in the Makgadikgadi region of Botswana. Will has photographed Meerkats in the past and was delighted when he realised he would be shooting new arrivals. (Photo by Will Burrard-Lucas/Barcroft Media)

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Luis Hernan was always curious about how wireless technologies like radio are transmitted through the air. So after finishing up his studies in architecture, computer science, and design, Hernan decided to research these invisible signals through a PhD at Newcastle University. Hernan set up a system that turned the wireless signals around him into colourful, ghostlike images using long-exposure photography, allowing people to see the strength of the signals around them. (Photo by Luis Hernan)

This brave swimmer certainly has a brrracing workout each weekend she skinny dips in one of the coldest rivers in Europe which regularly plummets to temperaturess of –9C. Inna Vladimirskaya, 32, strips off on the banks of the Dnieper river, in Kiev, Ukraine, every Sunday morning, and takes a swim after jogging along the snowy banks of the river in the nip. (Photo by David Tesinsky/Caters News Agency)