Young children at a Bristol, Great Britain health centre unsure of the benefits of sun-lamps and the special glasses that must be worn, July 1948. The health centre was part of the newly introduced free National Health Service. (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)

South Korea's Hur Yoonseo and Lee Riyoung take part in the Free Routine segment of the Artistic Swimming Women's Duet competition at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Saturday, October 7, 2023. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

Artem, a 40-year-old Ukrainian commander, shouts a warning before his artillery team fires toward Russian positions near Pokrovsk in early October 2024. (Photo by Serhiy Nuzhnenko/Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

A participant rides a bicycle carrying an orangutan mascot costume as he attends an awareness action calling for the protection of orangutans, organised by local environmental NGO Satya Bumi to mark World Orangutan Day, observed on August 19, during Car Free Day in Jakarta on August 24, 2025. (Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP Photo)

“Hey! I'm Thomas Shahan, an artist and macrophotographer from Oklahoma. In my spare time over the past few years, I've been shooting portraiture of local arthropods. Why would I devote countless hours to tramping through forests, fields and the like searching for insects and spiders? Well, despite some common beliefs, arthropods (members of the phylum Arthropoda – insects, spiders, crustaceans...) represent an endlessly varied, wildly beautiful and fascinating bunch of animals with surprisingly personable faces and behavior. Often, all it takes is simply inspecting their lives on a closer level to turn repulsion to reverence”. – Thomas Shahan

Photo: Adult Male Jumping Spider at Sunset – Phidippus mystaceus. (Photo by Thomas Shahan; Source: Flickr)

“Sperm whale opening it's huge mouth, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. Sperm whales are the biggest carnivorous animals on the planet. Each teeth in the mouth of adult specimen weights more than 1 kilogram. Interestingly enough that modern marine biologists believe that these teeth despite being fearsome play little role in capturing and eating giant squid – with their main function being mainly ritual aggression between males!”. (Photo by Alexander Safonov)

One of two 9-month old Cheetahs is seen after it was released into a quarantine facility at Zoo Miami on November 29, 2012 in Miami, Florida. The two sub-adult brothers who arrived today were captive-born on March 6th of this year at the Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre just outside of Pretoria, South Africa. The Cheetahs, after being monitored and examined for a minimum of 30 days to insure that they are healthy and stable, will be featured in Zoo Miami's Wildlife Show at the newly constructed amphitheater and will continue the work of Zoo Miami's Cheetah Ambassador Program by making appearances off Zoo grounds at a variety of venues including schools and civic organizations. (Photo by Joe Raedle)

Snorkellers approach an adult manatee at Three Sisters Spring, Crystal River, Florida. You might imagine that coming face to face with one of these enormous underwater mammals would cause some concern. However, the likelihood is that the rotund creature just wants you to scratch its belly while it floats around happily, as world-renowned underwater photographer Alex Mustard discovered. (Photo by Alexander Mustard/Barcroft Media)