Starting on Monday, August 12, Perseid meteors will streak across the summer sky for a couple of nights, offering casual stargazers and serious nighttime photographers a chance to capture a glimpse of the annual meteor shower. Photo: Photographer David Kingham created this composite image from 23 photos on August 12, 2012. (Photo by David Kingham)

“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)

A man looks at a figure outside a store as he walks along a street in Beijing on March 2, 2021. (Photo by Wang Zhao/AFP Photo)

Carnival participants dressed in costume and wearing body paint pose for a group picture during the annual Zambo carnival held in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli on March 14, 2021, marking the last period of excess on the eve of the Christian Greek Orthodox lent. The inspiration of the annual Zambo celebration is unclear, despite it being a tradition that stretches back over a century to when an emigrant to Brazil returned to his native Tripoli bringing the carnival with him. (Photo by Ibrahim Chalhoub/AFP Photo)

Residents with faces covered in ash ride on a motorcycle as Mount Sinabung volcano erupts, in Sukandebi village in Karo Regency, Indonesia's North Sumatra province, Indonesia June 13, 2015, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. (Photo by Rony Muharrman/Reuters/Antara Foto)

This photo provided by Steamboat Ski Resort shows hot air balloons that visitors can tour in above the town and mountains in Steamboat Springs, Colo. Wild West Adventures offer continental breakfast, champagne ceremony with flight certificates and courtesy pick-up are included. (Photo by Larry Pierce/AP Photo/Steamboat Ski Resort)

An aerial view of paddy fields at Debao County on October 16, 2022 in Baise, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China. The paddy fields in Baise have entered harvest season. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

An Army Sikorsky VH-34s Choctaw helicopter once used to transport President Dwight D. Eisenhower sits in a field at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group boneyard Thursday, May 14, 2015 at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz. President Eisenhower became the first chief executive to be transported by helicopter. Presidents Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy were transported in VH-34 helicopters and VH-34's served as “Army One” from 1958 through 1963. (Photo by Matt York/AP Photo)