A surfer falls from their board a day after Tropical Storm Hilary swept through the area with large waves hitting south-facing beaches in Huntington Beach, California, on August 21, 2023. Tropical Storm Hilary drenched Southern California with record rainfall, shutting down schools, roads and businesses before edging in on Nevada on August 21, 2023. California Governor Gavin Newsom had declared a state of emergency over much of the typically dry area, where flash flood warnings remained in effect until this morning. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP Photo)

Londoners enjoy a “Silent Night” as Big Ben falls silent, London, UK on August 21, 2017. ose Allerston from Clapham, London said “After a stressful day in the office, I couldn't think of anything better than going home and climbing into bed – but when I saw this bed opposite Big Ben I just couldn't resist getting in for a snuggle”. (Photo by Imagewise Ltd/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Myanmar punks walk in the downtown area as they take part in a punk gathering ahead of the Thingyan water festival in Yangon, Myanmar, 12 April 2017. Myanmar punks have been gathering in Yangon on the day ahead of Thingyan water festival to celebrate every year. The annual water festival is marked with large groups of people congregating to celebrate by splashing water and throwing powder at each others faces as a symbolic sign of cleansing and washing away the sins from the old year to mark the traditional New Year in countries such as Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. This year, the Myanmar Thingyan water festival falls on 13 April and ends on 16 April. (Photo by Lynn Bo Bo/EPA)

A baby Black-crowned Night Heron squawks in its incubator while being cared for at City Wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center in Washington, DC on May 31, 2017. The heron is one of several that have been brought to CW by the staff at The National Zoo over the past few years. (Photo Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)

In this photograph taken on October 4, 2016, an Afghan baker prepares bread at his shop as he waits for customers in Lashkar Gah, the capital city of Helmand province. For years Helmand was the centerpiece of the Western military intervention in Afghanistan only for it to slip deeper into a quagmire of instability, with almost the entire southern province teetering on the verge of collapse. Intensified fighting has killed hundreds and forced thousands to flee to besieged capital Lashkar Gah, sparking a humanitarian crisis as the city – one of the last government- held enclaves – risks falling to the Taliban' s repeated ferocious assaults. (Photo by Wakil Kohsar/AFP Photo)

“The Lun-class ekranoplan (NATO reporting name Duck) was a ground effect vehicle (GEV) designed by Rostislav Evgenievich Alexeev and used by the Soviet and Russian navies from 1987 until sometime in the late 1990s. It “flew” using the lift generated by the ground effect of its large wings when close to the surface of the water – about four metres or less. Although they might look similar and/or have related technical characteristics, ekranoplans like the Lun are not aircraft, seaplanes, hovercraft, or hydrofoils – ground effect is a separate technology altogether. The International Maritime Organization classifies these vehicles as maritime ships. The name Lun comes from the Russian for harrier”. – Wikipedia (Photo by Igor113)

Star trails form over the Memorial House of the Bulgarian Communist Party on mount Buzludzha in this long exposure picture taken on September 12, 2014. The monument was officially opened in 1981 by the Bulgarian Communist regime to mark 100 years of the set up of an organised Socialist movement, a predecessor of the Bulgarian Communist Party. The monument, no longer maintained by the Bulgarian government after the fall of the Communist regime in 1989, is now abandoned and vandalized. (Photo by Stoyan Nenov/Reuters)

The Longsheng Rice Terraces are located in Longsheng County, about 100 km (2 hours drive) from Guilin, Guangxi, China. The most popular are Ping An Rice Terrace and Jinkeng Rice Terrace. The terraced fields are built along the slope winding from the riverside up to the mountain top, the highest part being 880 m in elevation while the lowest part is 380 m[citation needed]. The coiling line that starts from the mountain foot up to the mountain top divides the mountain into layers of water glittering in the sun in spring, layers of green rice shoots in summer, layers of golden rice in fall, and layers of silvery frost in winter. The terraced fields were mostly built during the Ming Dynasty, about 500 years ago.