Visitors to West Midlands Safari Park in Bewdley, UK on October 17, 2023 are enjoying the bright October sunshine ahead of the storms to come. A curious giraffe meets eye to eye with a car full of happy visitors while licking the car windscreen with his long tongue. (Photo by Lee Hudson/Alamy Live News)

Indian Air Force soldiers toss their rifles as they perform during the full-dress rehearsal for Indian Air Force Day at the Hindon air force station on the outskirts of New Delhi October 6, 2015. (Photo by Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters)

Refugees and migrants try to find a place on an already full train headed for Serbia, near the city of Gevgelija, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, on February 24, 2016. Refugees and migrants from Iraq and Syria continue to pass through Macedonia on their way to the European Union. (Photo by Georgi Licovski/EPA)

A small section of the expanding remains of the Veil Nebula, a massive star that exploded about 8,000 years ago. The entire nebula is 110 light-years across, covering six full moons on the sky as seen from Earth, and resides about 2,100 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus, the Swan. (Photo by Reuters/NASA/ESA/Hubble)

Devotees pour water on a revered Bodhi tree at Shwedagon Pagoda to mark Buddha's Birthday, which falls on the Full Moon Day of Kasone, in Yangon on May 11, 2025. (Photo by Sai Aung Main/AFP Photo)

With its huge eyes, comical name and diminutive size, Mark R. Smith’s image of a baby Hawaiian bobtail squid can’t help but raise a smile. A curiously endearing creature, the cephalopod is just 1.5cm across, its mantle cavity bearing more than a passing resemblance to a rather natty shower cap. But it is also a beautiful example of symbiosis – nature’s version of “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” – for on the underside of the squid is a light organ which houses bioluminescent bacteria. The squid offers the bacteria protection and food, while the bacteria emit a glow – a handy trait that the squid uses to offset its silhouette, helping it to evade predators in the depths below. Mark R. Smith’s entry combines several images of a Hawaiian bobtail squid with different focus lengths to create a final picture with greater depth of field than normal. (Photo by Mark R. Smith/Wellcome Images/Macroscopic Solutions)

A fan waves a Brazilian flag before the arrival of the Olympic torch ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on August 2, 2016 in Sao Goncalo, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. The torch will arrive in the city of Rio tomorrow and the Games commence on August 5. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)