Customers ride escalators at a shopping mall in central Moscow, Russia on March 2, 2019. (Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP Photo)

Merit Prize Winner: “A Well Earned Rest in the Sahara”. This photo of Moussa Macher, our Tuareg guide, was taken at the summit of Tin-Merzouga, the largest dune (or erg) in the Tadrat region of the Sahara desert in southern Algeria. Moussa rested while waiting for us to finish our 45-minute struggle to the top. It only took ten minutes of rolling, running, and jumping to get back down. The Tadrat is part of the Tassili N'Ajjer National Park World Heritage area, famous for its red sand and engravings and rock paintings of cattle, elephants, giraffes, and rhinos that lived there when the climate was milder. Photo location: Summit of Tin-Merzouga, Tadrat, Tassili N'Ajjer National Park, Algeria. (Photo and caption by Evan Cole/National Geographic Photo Contest)

A North Korean war veteran is decorated with medals as he attends a parade to celebrate the anniversary of the Korean War armistice agreement, Sunday, July 27, 2014 in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Koreans gathered at Kim Il Sung Square as part of celebrations for the 61st anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War. (Photo by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo)

A USGS geologist making observations of the fissure 8 lava channel at sunset is pictured in this July 3, 2018 fisheye lens handout photograph near the Kilauea volcano eruption in Hawaii, U.S. (Photo by USGS/Handout via Reuters)

Dead leaf or almost by Guilhem Duvot. Taken in Nován Stráž, Slovakia. Describe what is pictured? A dead leaf grasshopper. How does this image fit with the theme of the competition? The perfect camouflage – nature is amazing. I saw the grasshopper only because it jumped. (Photo by Guilhem Duvot/Royal Society of Biology)

A female police officer stands in the street during an anti-government protest in Santiago, Chile, Saturday, October 26, 2019. Chile has been facing days of unrest, triggered by a relatively minor increase in subway fares. The protests have shaken a nation noted for economic stability over the past decades, which has seen steadily declining poverty despite persistent high rates of inequality. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

A woman cries while being escorted by police officers during an anti-government protest in Santiago, Chile, 07 November 2019. A proposed increase in the price of metro fares sparked a series of anti-government protests that have left at least 20 people dead. The protestors are demanding improvements in the quality of healthcare, education and general distribution of wealth in Chile. (Photo by Orlando Barría/EPA/EFE)

A vintage American car drives down a road as a crab tries cross the road in Giron, Cuba, Saturday, April 9, 2022. The yearly migration causes concern to drivers that try to swerve in a futile attempt not to kill the crustaceans and are a nuisance to residents but the sight of their travels across the road is a wonder for tourists and anyone interested in the phenomenon. (Photo by Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo)