Palestinian youths from the freestyle parkour team in Gaza practice their skills at the beach in the northern Gaza Strip on August 29, 2023. (Photo by Mahmoud Issa/SOPA Images/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Two white storks stand close to each other on their nest on a tree in Zerbolo, Italy, Thursday, October 26, 2017. (Photo by Antonio Calanni/AP Photo)

McMurdo Station is a U.S. Antarctic research centre located on the southern tip of Ross Island, which is in the New Zealand-claimed Ross Dependency on the shore of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. It is operated by the United States through the United States Antarctic Program, a branch of the National Science Foundation. The station is the largest community in Antarctica, capable of supporting up to 1,258 residents, and serves as the United States Antarctic science facility. All personnel and cargo going to or coming from Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station first pass through McMurdo.

At 10,582 square kilometres, the Bolivian salt flats – otherwise known as Salar de Uyuni – are the largest on the planet and contain between 50 and 70% of the world’s lithium reserves. After exploring Chile and Argentina, photographer Joel Santos decided to travel to Bolivia in January 2017 to check the salt flats off his bucket list. With an electrical storm rolling in, Joel and his two travelling companions were the only souls left on the vast flats and captured the eerie flats without a person in sight. (Photo by Joel Santos/Barcroft Images)

General view of the atmosphere at the Halloween celebrating in city centre on October 29, 2021 in Newcastle, United Kingdom. (Photo by Newcastle New Projects)

Goose, a nine-month-old cat, sits in a backpack as people gather during a Speak Out Against Sexual Violence demonstration at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan, U.S., March 28, 2021. (Photo by Emily Elconin/Reuters)

American singer and songwriter Ava Max gestures as she arrives at the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California, U.S., May 27, 2021. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

A pool ingeniously filled with clear water in the middle of Lake Kerniki in Greece enabled this shot of feeding pelicans. (Photo by Bence Mate/Close Up Photographer of the Year 2020)