Mariam, a 9-year-old girl, carries her brother as she stands with other children at an underground ancient cemetery in Jabal al-Zawiya in the southern countryside of Idlib November 26, 2014. Residents are using ancient caves and cemeteries as underground shelters to hide in during shelling from forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. Picture taken November 26, 2014. (Photo by Khalil Ashawi/Reuters)

A man cools off under a pipe of flowing water on a hot summer day in New Delhi, India, May 11, 2022. (Photo by Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters)

Roosters attack each other during a cockfight as part of Jonbeel festival near Jagiroad, in Morigaon district, India, Friday, January 17, 2025. (Photo by Anupam Nath/AP Photo)

Fighters of the Free Syrian Army fire an anti-aircraft weapon in the rebel-held Mashhad area in southeastern Aleppo, on December 12, 2016, as they battle Syrian government forces during an operation to retake the embattled city. The crucial battle for Aleppo entered its “final phase” after Syrian rebels retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances. The retreat leaves opposition fighters confined to just a handful of neighbourhoods in southeast Aleppo, the largest of them Sukkari and Mashhad. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)

In this Wednesday, July 23, 2014 file photo, Omaha photographer Lane Hickenbottom photographs the night sky in a pasture near Callaway, Neb. With no moon in the sky, the Milky Way was visible to the naked eye. More than one-third of the world’s population can no longer see the Milky Way because of man-made lights, according to a scientific paper by Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute's Fabio Falchi and his team members, published on Friday, June 10, 2016. (Photo by Travis Heying/The Wichita Eagle via AP Photo)

A pro-Russian supporter with the Russian national flag on her shoulders takes part in a meeting in Simferopol, March 6, 2014. Crimea's parliament voted to join Russia on Thursday and its Moscow-backed government set a referendum within 10 days on the decision in a dramatic escalation of the crisis over the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

This year’s World Nomad Games, a celebration of nomadic heritage, took place in the Issyk-Kul province of Kyrgyzstan. Eleanor Moseman photographed female competitors who had travelled from all over central Asia and eastern Europe, and explored the difficulties and challenges they face as competitors. (Photo by Eleanor Moseman/The Guardian)

With its huge eyes, comical name and diminutive size, Mark R. Smith’s image of a baby Hawaiian bobtail squid can’t help but raise a smile. A curiously endearing creature, the cephalopod is just 1.5cm across, its mantle cavity bearing more than a passing resemblance to a rather natty shower cap. But it is also a beautiful example of symbiosis – nature’s version of “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” – for on the underside of the squid is a light organ which houses bioluminescent bacteria. The squid offers the bacteria protection and food, while the bacteria emit a glow – a handy trait that the squid uses to offset its silhouette, helping it to evade predators in the depths below. Mark R. Smith’s entry combines several images of a Hawaiian bobtail squid with different focus lengths to create a final picture with greater depth of field than normal. (Photo by Mark R. Smith/Wellcome Images/Macroscopic Solutions)