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)

Stefan Sigmund, 29, from the Transylvanian city of Cluj, attempt to smoke 800 cigarettes through a self designed device in less than five minutes, in central Bucharest Tuesday, January 30, 1996, trying to enter the Guinness Book of Records. It is the last of his several attempts entering the record book which included eating 29 hard boiled eggs in four minutes and leaping into a lake from a height of 41 meters (135 feet) even if the Guinness Book of Records no longer rewards self damaging attempts. (Photo by AP Photo/Stringer)

“In the ongoing epics of the Pakistani Starfleet in their ever lasting quest to embrace and protect the freedoms of all humanity and life elsewhere in the cosmos we explore the future of Pakistan as a leader in advanced technology, diverse culture, exploration, helping to preserve peace & help those in need from the less than benign that reside in the darkest reaches of the cosmos to those who share & cherish kinship with all of humanity from the brightest reaches of the cosmos”. – Kenny Hassan Irwin

Mingora Hovoped Takes No Ordinary Rider. (Photo by Kenny Hassan Irwin)

A photographer has taken an explosive set of images by igniting gasoline in midair. Rob Prideaux, 45, photographs fire and smoke and then creates patterns from it. The San Francisco-based artist captures the fire in the split second its visible by using highly arcane methods. Rob's Smoke and Fire series is his quest “to shape one of the more uncontrollable phenomena in nature”. (Photo by Rob Prideaux)

A novice monk holds a book during an inauguration ceremony at Jogye temple in Seoul, May 11, 2015. Ten children on Monday were given the opportunity to experience life as Buddhist monks by staying at the temple until Buddha's birthday in two weeks. The writing on the book reads, “Novice Monk Prayer”. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Libyan rebel soldiers watch as they fire rockets (background) toward Libyan government troops near front-line positions April 6, 2011 outside of Brega, Libya. Rebel militias fighting against Libyan government loyalist soldiers continued their stand-off in the eastern Libyan desert today, regaining ground toward a key oil port while awaiting further NATO airstrikes in their quest to unseat longtime Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

British-American fashion model and designer Georgia May Jagger put on a busty display as she barely covered her boobs for a for CR Fashion Book in the second decade of March 2024. (Photo by Matt Jones for CR Fashion Book)

If Kim Kardashian was a feline shed be purr-fect for this new book which features a collection the worlds best cat “selfies”. The furry frames have been compiled by cat owner Charlie Ellis who has scoured the globe for the perfect puss pictures. In his book “Cat Selfies” moggies try their hand at the craze most of their humans have become addicted to posting on social media. And it turns out cats might be better at taking photos than their owners with a variety of poses captioned in the book. (Photo by Charlie Ellis/Caters News)