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.

Workers carry a rope line to fasten a decommissioned ship at the Alang shipyard in the western Indian state of Gujarat, March 27, 2015. The European Union plans to impose strict new rules on how companies scrap old tankers and cruise liners, run aground and dismantled on beaches in South Asia. However the practice in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, hazardous for humans and the environment, will still be hard to stop. European, Turkish and Chinese recyclers are set to benefit from the revamped standards. Depending on raw material prices, ship owners can make up to $500 per tonne of steel from an Indian yard, compared with $300 in China and just $150 in Europe. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

China has sent its first woman into space on a mission to dock with an orbiting station, the latest step in an ambitious programme to go to the moon and on to Mars.

Photo: China's first female astronaut Liu Yang, waves during a sending off ceremony before she departs for the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft rocket launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, China, Saturday, June 16, 2012. China will send its first woman and two other astronauts into space Saturday to work on a temporary space station for about a week, in a key step toward becoming only the third nation to set up a permanent base in orbit. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

An Indian girl cries as a medical worker collect her swab sample for COVID-19 test at a rural health center in Bagli, outskirts of Dharmsala, India, Monday, September 7, 2020. India's coronavirus cases are now the second-highest in the world and only behind the United States. (Photo by Ashwini Bhatia/AP Photo)

A clash has broken out among the police and the protesters on March, 25, 2021 against Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit in Motijheel, Dhaka, Bangladesh. (Photo by Harun-Or-Rashid/ZUMA Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A leopard attacks an Indian man as others climb a wall to get away from the animal in Lamba Pind area in Jalandhar on January 31, 2019. After a leopard was spotted in a house in Lamba Pind area of Jalandhar city, subsequent attempts to capture it led to the animal attacking at least six people, though none was injured seriously, local media said. (Photo by Shammi Mehra/AFP Photo)

In this November 20, 2017 photo, Indian kushti wrestlers fight in the ring, during their daily training at an akhada, a kind of wrestling hostel at Sabzi Mandi, in New Delhi, India. Like many traditions in rapidly modernizing India, kushti wrestling faces the threat of being left behind. But for many poor families, the ancient sport provides a glimmer of hope. (Photo by Dar Yasin/AP Photo)

A stork-billed kingfisher (Pelargopsis capensis) is seen perched on a tree during monsoon rain on July 25, 2016 in Bintan, Indonesia. The stork-billed kingfisher is a tree species which is widely but sparsely distributed in the tropical Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India to Indonesia. This kingfisher is resident throughout its range. It is very large, measuring 35 to 38 cm (14 to 15 in) in length. The adult has a green back, blue wings and tail, and grey head. (Photo by Sijori Images/Barcroft Images)