Postal worker Eddie Smith, dressed as Santa Claus, waves to a neighbor on his mail route in Washington, U.S., December 21, 2021. (Photo by Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

Actress Elaine C Smith grazes Siusan, the Highland cow, on Glasgow Green to mark being given the Freedom of the City of Glasgow, UK on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (Photo by Jane Barlow/PA Wire)

Astronauts Harrison Schmitt (left) and Eugene Andrew Cernan practice taking geological samples at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, in preparation for NASA's scheduled Apollo 17 lunar landing mission, on August 28, 1972. Schmitt is the Lunar Module Pilot and Cernan is the mission's Commander. They are training for their period of EVA (extravehicular activity) on the Moon. (Photo by Space Frontiers/Getty Images)

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)

A Shinto priest prays to the dedicated dolls during the Festival of Repayment of Kindness at Dairoku-tensakaki Shrine in Tokyo, Saturday, May 16, 2015. Traditionally, it is believed that the dolls can give good health and happiness to children by absorbing sickness and ill fate. The dolls are then sacrificed during the festival after they have protected their young owners. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)

It might have been foggy in the Willamette Valley, but Cerridwen Martin was able to revel in a view of the top of the clouds from the summit of Spencer Butte in Eugene, Ore., on Tuesday, December 16, 2014. Martin was joined by Joe Martinson, right, for the 1.1 mile trek. Fog shrouded much of the city for most of the day. (Photo by Andy Nelson/AP Photo/The Register-Guard)

The Solar Impulse 2 airplane, flown by test pilot Markus Scherdel, flies off the coast of Oahu during a test flight from Kalaealoa Airfield in Kapolei, Hawaii, March 3, 2016. The solar-powered plane is ready to continue its revolutionary voyage around the world. After the craft was grounded in Hawaii last July due to overheated batteries, it was repaired and upgraded, and a recent initial test flight proved successful. (Photo by Eugene Tanner/Reuters)

A landmark lion statue of a department store placed a protective mask is seen Wednesday, August 12, 2020, in Tokyo. The Japanese capital confirmed more than 200 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)