Meropidae are seen on a rock in Van in Turkey on March 03, 2018. (Photo by Ali Ihsan Ozturk/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

In this picture taken on Sunday, March 5, 2017, a Tehran's urban animal control worker catches a stray dog after being shot with his anesthetic dart on the outskirts of the capital Tehran, Iran. The shelter has been hired by the Tehran city government to take a new, more humane approach to deal with the burgeoning problem of stray dogs in the capital. It’s a sign of changing attitudes among officials in a country where Islamic authorities long saw dogs as “un-Islamic” and would at times confiscate them from people who kept them as pets. (Photo by Vahid Salemi/AP Photo)

There is an endless bounty of eye-catching gemstones throughout the world and this spectacular boulder opal is one unique beauty that looks like a shimmering crystal encased in a tree fossil. Its opalescent sheen seeps through the cracks of the seemingly wooden rings in lustrous hues of emerald green and aqua blue. Like something out of a fairy tale, the triangular piece radiates through an organic pattern mimicking the growth rings of tree.

A puma rolls and yawns on frost-covered ground in Laguna Amarga, Torres del Paine, Chile in the first decade of December 2025, pausing briefly after several hours of rest before continuing on her way. (Photo by Sara Jenner/Solent News & Photo Agency)

Merit Prize Winner: “A Well Earned Rest in the Sahara”. This photo of Moussa Macher, our Tuareg guide, was taken at the summit of Tin-Merzouga, the largest dune (or erg) in the Tadrat region of the Sahara desert in southern Algeria. Moussa rested while waiting for us to finish our 45-minute struggle to the top. It only took ten minutes of rolling, running, and jumping to get back down. The Tadrat is part of the Tassili N'Ajjer National Park World Heritage area, famous for its red sand and engravings and rock paintings of cattle, elephants, giraffes, and rhinos that lived there when the climate was milder. Photo location: Summit of Tin-Merzouga, Tadrat, Tassili N'Ajjer National Park, Algeria. (Photo and caption by Evan Cole/National Geographic Photo Contest)

A man carries his wife on his back as they make their way with their luggage along a flooded tunnel to catch their train, after heavy rainfall hit Jinhua, Zhejiang province, China, July 21, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

Bathers brave the cold waters of the North Sea as they take part in the annual Boxing Day dip at Redcar Beach on December 26, 2023 in Redcar, England. The event attracts hundreds of people each year, with many wearing fancy dress, who take to the water to help raise money for a number of charities. (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)

A Kevo smart lock is demonstrated during the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada January 4, 2015. The lock, which opens with a smart phone App and a touch, is smart enough to know what side of the door you are on and won't accidentally unlock the door when you are inside. A new subscription service offers unlimited e-keys and other benefits, a representative said. (Photo by Steve Marcus/Reuters)