A woman wearing her traditional headgear attends celebrations to mark the Gudi Padwa festival, the beginning of the New Year for Maharashtrians, in Mumbai, April 6, 2019. Gudi Padwa is the Hindu festival that falls on the first day of Chaitra month and marks the beginning of the Lunar Calendar, which dictates the dates for all Hindu festivals, also known as Panchang. (Photo by Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters)

A man takes a photo of a radio antenna that's part of the Atacama Large Milimeter Array Observatory on March 12, 2013 at Llano de Chajnantor, about 43 miles (70 kilometers) from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. The $1.5 billion ALMA facility, which had its official inauguration on March 13, is considered the world's most expensive ground-based observatory. (Photo by Felipe Trueba/EPA)

Despite any political differences between the United States and Russia, the space agencies of the two countries continue their cooperative work in Earth's orbit, aboard the International Space Station. Apart from the research being done in microgravity, ISS crew members continue to send back amazing images of our home world, photographed from low Earth orbit. Gathered here are recent images of Earth from aboard the ISS, and from a handful of other NASA satellites.

The National Geographic Photo Ark is a travelling exhibition of photographer Joel Sartore’s quest to create a photo archive of biodiversity around the world. So far, Sartore has captured studio portraits of more than 6,000 species – a number that he hopes to double. On 1 July, the ark will open at Melbourne zoo – the first time it has been exhibited in the southern hemisphere. More than 50 portraits will be on display, including many of Australian endangered animals being protected by programs at the zoo itself. These captions have been edited from text supplied by Melbourne zoo. Here: Barking owl. (Photo by Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark/The Guardian)

Parade goers draped in American flags walk down the street before a Fourth of July parade begins Saturday, July 4, 2020, in Bristol, R.I. The town, which lays claim to the nation's oldest Independence Day celebration in the country, held a vehicle-only scaled down version of its annual parade Saturday due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by David Goldman/AP Photo)

Hindu devotees celebrate Diwali with oil lamps, candles, Incense and flowers at Dhakeshwari Temple in Dhaka on November 12, 2023. (Photo by Syed Mahabubul Kader/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Boozed-out revellers donned fancy dress as they welcomed in the Bank Holiday at the Otley Run. Hundreds swarmed Leeds, UK on Saturday, March 30, 2024, as the infamous tipple mission got underway beneath blue skies and sunshine. (Photo by NB Press LTD)

“Sky burial or ritual dissection was once a common funerary practice in Tibet wherein a human corpse is cut in specific locations and placed on a mountaintop, exposing it to the elements or the mahabhuta and animals – especially to birds of prey. The location of the sky burial preparation and place of execution are understood in the Vajrayana traditions as charnel grounds. In Tibet the practice is known as jhator, which literally means, «giving alms to the birds»”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A burial master chops bones of a body to feed vultures during a celestial burial ceremony on April 19, 2006 in Dari County of Guoluo Prefecture, Qinghai Province, northwest China. Celestial burial is a traditional funeral of Tibetan people, which began in the 7th century. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)