While vacationing on the Maldives Islands, Taiwanese amateur photographer Will Ho stumbled onto an incredible stretch of beach covered in millions of bioluminescent phytoplankton. These tiny organisms glow similarly to fireflies and tend to emit light when stressed, such as when waves crash or when they are otherwise agitated. While the phenomenon and its chemical mechanisms have been known for some time, biologists have only recently began to understand the reasons behind it. Photo: Bioluminescent phytoplankton washes up on Maldives beach. (Photo by Will Ho)

Rebel fighters fire towards positions of regime forces in Ramussa on the southwestern edges of Syria's northern city of Aleppo on August 6, 2016. Syrian rebels said they have broken a three-week government siege of second city Aleppo, turning the tables on Russian-backed regime forces who are now on the defensive. (Photo by Fadi Al-Halabi/AFP Photo)

In his series “Ballerinas of Cairo”, photographer Mohamed Taher documents Egyptian dancers making the city streets their stage – pirouetting, leaping and posing their way through their country’s sprawling capital. The photos are, at first glance, stunning snapshots of a city’s vibrant culture in motion. (Photo by Mohamed Taher/Ballerinas of Cairo)

People look up at a dead body hanged by the Taliban from a crane in the main square of Herat city in western Afghanistan, on Saturday September 25, 2021. A witness told The Associated Press that the bodies of four men were brought to the main square and three of them were moved to other parts of the city for public display. The Taliban announced in the square that the four were caught taking part in a kidnapping and were killed by police. (Photo by AP Photo/Stringer)

Manchester City's Norwegian striker #09 Erling Haaland (L) sees his shot deflected into the net by Luton Town's Japanese defender #27 Daiki Hashioka (R) for an own-goal during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Luton Town at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on April 13, 2024. (Photo by Darren Staples/AFP Photo)

A member of Wagner group stands guard in a street in the city of Rostov-on-Don, on June 24, 2023. President Vladimir Putin on June 24, 2023 said an armed mutiny by Wagner mercenaries was a “stab in the back” and that the group's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin had betrayed Russia, as he vowed to punish the dissidents. Prigozhin said his fighters control key military sites in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg gets on a custom made World Trade Center inspired motorcycle in front of the 9/11 Memorial Preview Site on October 5, 2011 in New York City. The motorcycle was designed by Paul Teutul Jr. of the television show “American Chopper” and was built to commemorate the rebuilding of the World Trade Center Site. Another motorcycle, nearly identical to the one unveiled, will also be built by Paul Jr. and raffled to raise money for the 9/11 Memorial. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

“The popularity of the Internet in China has driven the explosive growth of profitable Web companies and made fortunes for some Chinese entrepreneurs despite government controls on what the public can see online. The number of mainland Internet users rose to 513 million in December, up 12 percent from a year earlier, the government-sanctioned China Internet Network Information Center said”. – AP Business Writer

Photo: Shi Yongxin, abbot of the Shaolin Temple, works on the computer April 8, 2005 in Dengfeng, Henan Province, China. (Photo by Cancan Chu/Getty Images)