A folk artist gives a fire pot performance at the foot of Ulan Hada volcano group on November 16, 2024 in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. A tourism festival themed on ice and snow opened in Ulanqab on November 16, which will last for five months. (Photo by Wang Zheng/VCG via Getty Images)

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)

Italy's Charlene Guignard (L) and Marco Fabbri react to their score after the ice dance rhythm dance competition during the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2023 in Saitama, on March 24, 2023. (Photo by Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP Photo)

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.

These photographs of hundreds of ducks following their leader down a river are truly mesmerizing. Rafeur Rahman of Bangladesh climbed a high bridge and saw hundreds of ducks apparently playing a game of follow the leader. More than 500 ducks live on the river, where the mosses and snails provide the perfect habitat. Here: Ducks in the river Baral in Bangladesh. (Photo by Rafeur Rahman/Caters News Agency)

Protesters run for cover after riot police fired tear gas towards the bridge they were climbing down to the road below, to escape from Hong Kong Polytechnic University campus and from police, in Hung Hom district in Hong Kong on November 18, 2019. Dozens of Hong Kong protesters escaped a besieged university campus on November 18 by lowering themselves on a rope from a footbridge to a highway, AFP video showed. Once on the road they were seen being picked up by waiting motorcyclists. (Photo by Anthony Wallace/AFP Photo)

“Tough Times for Orangutans”. Nature, first prize stories. Tim Laman, USA. Location: West Kalimantan, Indonesia. A Bornean orangutan climbs over 30 meters up a tree in the rain forest of Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, August 12, 2015. The lives of wild orangutans are brought to light. Threats to these orangutans from fires, the illegal animal trade and loss of habitat due to deforestation have resulted in many orphan orangutans ending up at rehabilitation centers. (Photo by Tim Laman/World Press Photo Contest)

A hot air ball balloon floats past while people stand in line to climb the Pyramid of the Sun and welcome the spring equinox in the pre-hispanic city of Teotihuacan, on the outskirts of Mexico City, Mexico, March 20, 2016. Spring equinox in Teotihuacán is an annual event which takes place around the 20th and 21st of March at the pre-Hispanic site of Teotihuacán, Mexico. This event is mirrored by other similar events in other pre-Hispanic sites such as Chichén Itzá and Malinalco, Mexico State. (Photo by Edgard Garrido/Reuters)