Madison Chock and Evan Bates, of the United States, compete in the ice dance's rhythm dance segment at the ISU Grand Prix Finals of Figure Skating, Friday, December 6, 2024, in Grenoble, France. (Photo by Laurent Cipriani/AP Photo)

Members of the Knights Guard clean the ice during the Vegas Golden Knights' game against the Anaheim Ducks at T-Mobile Arena on January 14, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Golden Knights defeated the Ducks 5-2. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty images/Profimedia)

Penitentes, or nieves penitentes (Spanish for “penitent-shaped snows”), are a snow formation found at high altitudes. They take the form of tall thin blades of hardened snow or ice, closely spaced with the blades oriented towards the general direction of the sun.

Astronaut Edward H. White II, pilot for the Gemini-Titan 4 (GT-4) spaceflight, floats in the zero-gravity of space during the third revolution of the GT-4 spacecraft on June 3, 1965. White wears a specially designed spacesuit. His face is shaded by a gold-plated visor to protect him from unfiltered rays of the sun. In his right hand he carries a Hand-Held Self-Maneuvering Unit (HHSMU) that gives him control over his movements in space. White also wears an emergency oxygen chest pack; and he carries a camera mounted on the HHSMU for taking pictures of the sky, Earth and the GT-4 spacecraft. He is secured to the spacecraft by a 25-feet umbilical line and a 23-feet tether line. Both lines are wrapped together in gold tape to form one cord. Astronaut James A. McDivitt, command pilot, remained inside the spacecraft during the extravehicular activity (EVA). Astronaut White died in the Apollo/Saturn 204 fire at Cape Kennedy on January 27, 1967. (Photo by NASA)

Water is seen on part of the glacial ice sheet that covers about 80 percent of the country is seen on July 17, 2013 on the Glacial Ice Sheet, Greenland. As the sea levels around the globe rise, researchers affilitated with the National Science Foundation and other organizations are studying the phenomena of the melting glaciers and its long-term ramifications. The warmer temperatures that have had an effect on the glaciers in Greenland also have altered the ways in which the local populace farm, fish, hunt and even travel across land. In recent years, sea level rise in places such as Miami Beach has led to increased street flooding and prompted leaders such as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to propose a $19.5 billion plan to boost the citys capacity to withstand future extreme weather events by, among other things, devising mechanisms to withstand flooding. (Photo by Joe Raedle)

Automated guided vehicle robot “Ray” lifts up an Audi car during a pilot project at the parking area of the Audi plant in Ingolstadt, Germany, May 13, 2015. The robot has been designed to help make work more efficient and more comfortable for employees, some whom walk up to eight kilometres a day, while coordinating the finished cars for the subsequent train transportation. “Robot Ray” technology, currently being used at Dusseldorf International Airport in Germany, claims to be able to park 60 per cent more vehicles in one area compared with a human driver. (Photo by Michaela Rehle/Reuters)

It’s the United States of Air-merica! Pilot Jassen Todorov from San Francisco spent three weeks flying across eight states in a 1976 Piper Warrior plane to capture the this shots – from deep craters in Arizona’s red desert and the swamps and wetlands in Florida and Louisiana, that look like they could be on alien planets, to freeways and stretches of suburban Texas. Here: El Paso, Texas at sunset. (Photo by Jassen Todorov/Caters News)

Female pilot Anna climbs out the cockpit of Japanese electronics company Suidobashi Heavy Industry's newly unveiled robot “Kuratas” at the Wonder Festival in Chiba, suburban Tokyo on July 29, 2012. The “Kuratas” robot, which will go on sale with a price tag of one million USD, measures four meters in height, weighs four tons and has four wheeled legs that can either be controlled remotely through the 3G network or by a human seated within the cockpit. (Photo by Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP Photo)