Soap Bubble Structures by Kym Cox. Bubbles optimise space and minimise their surface area for a given volume of air. This phenomenon makes them a useful tool in many areas of research, in particular, materials science and “packing” – how things fit together. Bubble walls drain under gravity, thin at the top, thick at the bottom, which interferes with travelling lightwaves to create bands of colour. Black spots show the wall is too thin for interference colours, indicating the bubble is about to burst. (Photo by Kym Cox/2019 Science Photographer of the Year/RPS)

July gestures next to her boyfriend Jason Schaller while they are suspended from hooks pierced through their skins by professional body artist Wei Yilaien at a bar in Shanghai, China September 16, 2018. “I like being unique and I don't like doing things that many people are aware of and would accept”, said Wei, 24, who staged the show of extreme body piercing in China's normally buttoned down financial capital. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

This photographer has a long love affair with lady liberty – and has captured it on film. The amazing pictures show the Statue of Liberty silhouetted against an array of beautiful backdrops. In some photographs she appears to be supporting the moon, in others celebrating with fireworks in the background. Here: The statue of liberty in New York City, New York. (Photo by Peter Alessandria/Caters News)

Shot by Bert Hardy, the black and white images show prisoners carrying out remedial tasks such as untying knots in post office string and sewing mail bags. Other intriguing shots show lags doing their daily one hour outdoor exercise, being frisked for contraband items by officers during a routine “rub down” and serving evening meals. Strangeways was designed by Alfred Waterhouse and cost £170,000 ($207,910) to build. The prison, famed for its prominent ventilation tower and imposing design, has become a local landmark. Here: A prison officer frisking prisoners during the “rub-down” at Strangeways Prison in Manchester, UK on November 1948. (Photo by Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Aliia Nasyrova laying her hair on the couch to show her hair's length on March 5, 2017 in Riga, Latvia. Real-life Rapunzel Aliia Nasyrova has hair so long that her husband admits he thinks of it as another member of the family. Aliia, 27, who lives in Riga, Latvia, took 20 years to grow out her hair, which measures 90 inches to the floor – and even has its own space in the marital bed. And while her massive mane attracts stares when out in public, her husband Ivan Balaban says he loves it and is proud of her for not cutting it. Weighing in at 4.5lbs (2kg), Aliia says her lengthy locks weigh as much as the family cat. (Photo by Eduard Kolik/Barcroft Media)

Alejandra Guajardo, Miss Universe El Salvador 2022 poses on stage in an outfit inspired by the country's use of Bitcoin, and previously the colón and cocoa beans as a currency, during the 71st Miss Universe National Costume Show at the Ernst N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. January 11, 2023. (Photo by Benjamin Askinas/©IMG Universe LLC/Handout via Reuters)

A juvenile blackcap is recorded in the soft light of morning at Minorca, UK, a former open-cast mine near Moira in the National Forest on June 18, 2025. Dr Heather Gilbert, research and evidence manager, checks mist nets among wildflowers and young trees as part of long-term monitoring that shows bird numbers have increased by 48 per cent over 30 years. (Photo by Rod Kirkpatrick/RKP Photography)

Faithful carry a boat out to sea, filled with offerings to Yemanja, the African sea goddess, during a ceremony honoring the deity in Montevideo, Uruguay, Saturday, February 2, 2013. Thousands of worshippers come to the beach in Montevideo on her feast day, February 2, bearing candles, flowers, perfumes and fruit to show their gratitude for her blessings bestowed upon them. The belief in the goddess sprouts from Umbanda, a blend of religions that include African, Catholicism and Spiritism. (Photo by Matilde Campodonico/AP Photo)