Women holding the Singapore national flag pose for a photograph at the Merlion Park to mark the 55th National Day celebrations in Singapore on August 9, 2020. National Day is celebrated in commemoration of Singapore's independence from Malaysia in 1965. (Photo by Roslan Rahman/AFP Photo)

Aurorae category runner-up: Lone Tree under a Scandinavian Aurora by Tom Archer (UK). The photographer decided to explore the area around the hotel on a very crisp -35C evening in Finnish Lapland. When he found this tree, he decided to wait for the misty conditions to change and could not believe his luck when the sky cleared and the aurora came out in the perfect spot. Archer spent about an hour photographing it before his camera started to lock up because of the harsh conditions, but by then he was happy to call it a night. (Photo by Tom Archer/2020 Astronomy Photographer of the Year)

New York Islanders left wing Pierre Engvall and Columbus Blue Jackets Sean Kuraly (7) fight in the third period at UBS Arena on January 20, 2025 in Elmont, New York. (Photo by Wendell Cruz/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters)

Ivana Knoll, former Miss Croatia poses for a photo during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 quarter final match between Croatia and Brazil at Education City Stadium on December 09, 2022 in Al Rayyan, Qatar. (Photo by William Volcov/Brazil Photo Press/Splash News and Pictures)

Visitors are seen with giraffes on a bus at Safari Park in Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand, January 19, 2020. Kanchanaburi in western Thailand an area known for its waterfalls and caves. (Photo by Rachen Sageamsak/Xinhua News Agency/Eyevine)

A car is submerged in flood water at an apartment complex in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, Thursday, October 10, 2024, in Clearwater, Fla. (Photo by Mike Stewart/AP Photo)

William Gibson is not one of the authors that spits out novels like a machine – in his long and fruitful career he has only published 11 novels andof short stories and articles in the tens each. Still his impact on modern literature was huge – the “noir prophet” of the cyberpunk subgenre (that he was one of the pioneers of) has predicted the rise of reality television, virtual reality, video games and the internet. He is a Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction writer, with a special eye for what the future might bring.

A small section of the expanding remains of the Veil Nebula, a massive star that exploded about 8,000 years ago. The entire nebula is 110 light-years across, covering six full moons on the sky as seen from Earth, and resides about 2,100 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus, the Swan. (Photo by Reuters/NASA/ESA/Hubble)