An eight-week-old sea otter rescued from Seldovia, Alaska, peaks out of his enclosure at Shedd Aquarium Wednesday, December 6, 2023, in Chicago. The otter was found alone and malnourished and was taken to the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward, Alaska, which contacted Shedd, and the Chicago aquarium was able to take the otter in. He will remain quarantined for a few months while he learns to groom and eat solid foods before being introduced to Shedd's five other sea otters. (Photo by Erin Hooley/AP Photo)

Dallas Cowboys cheerleader performs during the game against the Detroit Lions at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on October 13, 2024. (Photo by Kevin Jairaj/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters)

People wearing Christmas hats bath in a pool of watermelon peel during a Christmas service at a hot spring in Luoyang, Henan province, China, December 24, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Night lovers; Hormozgan province, Iran. “In this picture, you can see the Milky Way rising on a fascinating spring night on the Persian Gulf coast. The stunning cliffs of this area make every viewer imagine and even talk to them! The light pollution from a faraway city was quite strong, so it was a challenging post-processing process. I’m a nightscaper who tries to achieve an artistic look in my images, and in this image, I tried to convey and capture the magic of this location”. (Photo by Mohammad Hayati/Milky Way Photographer of the Year)

A Kevo smart lock is demonstrated during the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada January 4, 2015. The lock, which opens with a smart phone App and a touch, is smart enough to know what side of the door you are on and won't accidentally unlock the door when you are inside. A new subscription service offers unlimited e-keys and other benefits, a representative said. (Photo by Steve Marcus/Reuters)

Journalists interview a girl, member of the Cryophile amateurs winter swimmers club, after bathing in the ice waters of the Yenisei River, during the celebrations for the upcoming Christmas and New Year, in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, December 23, 2017. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

Aurorae category runner-up: Lone Tree under a Scandinavian Aurora by Tom Archer (UK). The photographer decided to explore the area around the hotel on a very crisp -35C evening in Finnish Lapland. When he found this tree, he decided to wait for the misty conditions to change and could not believe his luck when the sky cleared and the aurora came out in the perfect spot. Archer spent about an hour photographing it before his camera started to lock up because of the harsh conditions, but by then he was happy to call it a night. (Photo by Tom Archer/2020 Astronomy Photographer of the Year)