Grand prize winner: environmental photographer of the year 2023; also 1st place in the humanity v nature category; and winner of the 2023 public award. Lopé national park, Gabon, 2021. An angry elephant tries to defend itself after it was hit by a train that crosses paths the animals use within Lopé national park. Park officials decided the elephant was too severely injured to be saved. After it was killed, the park director distributed the meat to local people. As the forest loses its carrying capacity to sustain its megafauna, this kind of human-wildlife conflict is increasing. (Photo by Jasper Doest/Environmental Photography Award)

“Igor Sikorsky (May 25, 1889 – October 26, 1972), born Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky was a Russian American pioneer of aviation in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. He designed and flew the world's first multi-engine fixed-wing aircraft, the Russky Vityaz in 1913, and the first airliner, Ilya Muromets, in 1914. After immigrating to the United States in 1919, Sikorsky founded the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in 1923, and developed the first of Pan American Airways' ocean-conquering flying boats in the 1930s. In 1939 Sikorsky designed and flew the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, the first viable American helicopter, which pioneered the rotor configuration used by most helicopters today. Sikorsky would modify the design into the Sikorsky R-4, which became the world's first mass-produced helicopter in 1942”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Westland Sikorsky H-5's, used by British European Airways Helicopters, which fly between London and Birmingham. The Sikorsky H-5, (aka R-5, S-51, HO3S-1, or Horse) (R-5 until 1948; company designation VS-327) is a helicopter built by Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, formerly used by the United States Air Force, and its predecessor, the United States Army Air Forces, as well as the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard (with the designations HO2S and HO3S). (Photo by Harrison /Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). 22nd May 1951

Some people think of trolls as nothing but savage beast, yet others realize that beneath their rock-hard skin hides a gentle kind heart. Ivar Rodningem is one of the people who knows the true nature of trolls. Though these creatures look unruly, it is just the way they were born. Trolls come in all shapes and sizes. Some are small, some are large, and some are simply enormous. They help each other out, though elders tend to be loners, preferring the company of their own thoughts to anybody else. You shouldn’t run for your life if you ever meet a troll, though we wouldn’t recommend pestering them, as they are mighty strong, even the little ones.

A Tibetan artists wearing a traditional costume waits before their performance during the 82nd pre-birthday celebration of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama at a Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal, 05 July 2017. More than 1,000 monks and other Tibetans gathered at the Monastery compound to celebrate their spiritual leader's birthday. The Nepalese government has banned all kinds of Tibetan activities against the Chinese rule in Tibet so Tibetans have been changing the venue of the Dalai Lama's birthday celebration. The Dalai Lama will turn 82 on 06 July 2017. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA)

Twenty-four-year-old Maryam Aghayee makes hyper-realistic baby dolls acting as surrogates for some Iranian families who are apprehensive of having more children. “It has been about three or four months since I started this work”, says Maryam in Tehran, Iran on October 7, 2020. “After making my second doll, many orders have been coming in. The second doll was much more realistic than the previous one. After making my second doll, I said that from now on I can take customer orders. I did not intend to start a business from the beginning because it was a hobby, but after the second doll, the demand for these kinds of dolls increased, customers want to have such dolls”. (Photo by Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)

A little girl holding her newborn sister waits for their turn in a queue during a vaccination campaign under the supervision of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) humanitarian nonprofit organization, in the besieged Syrian town of Douma, Syria, 23 May 2017. According to a statement from SARC, in the city of Douma some 12,809 children under the age of five were immunized in a vaccination campaign to prevent measles and poliomyelitis. The campaign was the first of its kind with the participation of 100 volunteers. SARC has been delivering vaccines to 17 health centers approved for vaccination campaigns in towns and villages in the Eastern Ghouta area. (Photo by Mohammed Badra/EPA)

A Donald Trump impersonator with a bikini clad model stops at a hot dog vendor near Trump Tower on October 25, 2016 in New York, as part of a performance art piece by British artist Alison Jackson. The event is to promote Jackson's new show, “Private”, in New York, which features staged photographs portraying the private lives of public individuals. (Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP Photo)

In this picture taken on November 28, 2016, a hot-air balloon carrying tourists sails over the archeological site at sunrise in Bagan. Located in central Myanmar, Bagan is home to more than 2,000 ancient Buddhist monuments deeply revered in the Buddhist-majority nation and is one of the country's most popular tourist destinations. (Photo by Dale De La Rey/AFP Photo)