Chinese female troops march during a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Japan and the end of World War II, in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on September 3, 2025. (Photo by Pedro Pardo/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 man dressed in traditional clothes tries to pull his opponent over the table at the 40th Alpine Country Championships in Fingerhakeln_finger wrestling_ in Woernsmuehl, Germany, Thursday, May 25, 2017. Competitors battled for the title in this traditional rural sport where the winner has to pull his opponent over a marked line on the table. (Photo by Matthias Schrader/AP Photo)

In this photo made late Saturday, August 9, 2014, in Keelung, Taiwan, a traditional Chinese dance troupe performs during a parade marking the beginning of the Chinese folklore's mid-summer's Ghost Month Festival. Fourteen days into the seventh month of the lunar calendar, August 9, in 2014, marks the traditional Chinese Ghost Month where the gates of the underworld are opened and spirits of the deceased are set free to roam the world of the living. The month long festivities are aimed to please the roaming spirits. (Photo by Chiang Ying-ying/AP Photo)

A Chinese snake charmer performs at a temple fair to mark Chinese New Year February 19, 2007 in Beijing, China. Chinese worldwide are celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Pig. (Photo by Guang Niu/Getty Images)

A Mark IV tank, part of the parade at the Lord Mayor's Show in London. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). November 1917

Sydney artist Phillip George poses with two surfboards of his own design at Marks Park, Tamarama on December 16, 2008 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Don Arnold/Getty Images)

Mary, 8-months-old female orphan elephant, drinks milk at Winga Baw Elephant Conservation Camp during the ceremony to mark World Elephant Day at Bago Region, Myanmar, 12 August 2017. Winga Baw Elephant Conservation Camp, 34-hectare former timber camp for logs located in Bago Region, currently has 14 elephants and was opened for recreation for locals as well as for tourists. World Elephant Day is marked annually on 12 August. (Photo by Lynn Bo Bo/EPA/EFE)