Senate pages wear eclipse glasses as they view the moon partially covering the sun during a total solar eclipse, in front of the U.S. Senate on Capitol Hill, Monday, April 8, 2024, in Washington. (Photo by Alex Brandon/AP Photo)

A walker has left a handprint on a snow- covered tree trunk on Grosser Feldberg mountain in the Taunus mountain range, Germany, 16 January 2017. (Photo by Frank Rumpenhorst/DPA)

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 man carries his wife over an obstacle while competing in the Wife Carrying Championship to mark City Day in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia, June 25, 2016. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

A string is used to ensure that the skirts of female members of the honour guard are in the same height from the ground as they prepare for a welcoming ceremony for Congo Republic President Denis Sassou Nguesso outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, July 5, 2016. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

Steve Kent skis through Times Square during a snowstorm, Monday, February 1, 2021, in the Manhattan borough of New York. (Photo by John Minchillo/AP Photo)

Colombia's goalkeeper #01 Catalina Perez (R) makes a save during the Australia and New Zealand 2023 Women's World Cup Group H football match between Colombia and South Korea at Sydney Football Stadium in Sydney on July 25, 2023. (Photo by Franck Fife/AFP Photo)

A child, from Municipal school Parana, poses during the project “Fencing School” in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 30, 2016. Children in Rio de Janeiro lift their sights and their swords to new idols, as a round of fencing workshops takes to public schools. The International Fencing Federation, together with the Brazilian and state federations, will reach 40 public schools in March and April. The aim is to whip up a following for the Olympic sport, little known in the soccer-mad nation, as Rio sets the stage for the Summer Games in August. (Photo by Sergio Moraes/Reuters)