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)

People wear face masks while watching the marine life at Ripley's Aquarium of Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto, on Wednesday, October 28, 2020. (Photo by Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP Photo)

Iceland horses play on a meadow of a stud farm in Obernhain near Frankfurt, Germany, as the sun rises Thursday, July 23, 2020. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

A young festivalgoer jumps to burst a bubble at Latitude Festival at Henham Park, Britain, July 22, 2021. (Photo by Peter Cziborra/Reuters)

American actress Sydney Sweeney attending the European premiere of Echo Valley, at BFI Southbank in London on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (Photo by Ian West/PA Wire)

American singer-songwriter FLETCHER celebrates with Tequila Don Julio 1942 at her Pride after party in Los Angeles, CA on June 9, 2023. (Photo by Taylor Kahan)

A man wearing the traditional Carnival Neapolitan mask of Pulcinella performs on Via Caracciolo avenue in Naples, Italy, Saturday, November 14, 2020. The regions of Campania and Tuscany were designated red zone on Friday, signaling the dire condition of a hospitals struggling with a surge of new admissions. (Photo by Gregorio Borgia/AP Photo)

People wearing protective face masks amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak are seen near foodstuffs, which are displayed for sale on a car in Omsk, Russia on December 4, 2020. (Photo by Alexey Malgavko/Reuters)