Employees conduct a final check to fix any cavities in the seams of balls inside the soccer ball factory that produces official match balls for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, in Sialkot, Punjab province May 16, 2014. It was when he felt the roar of the crowd at the 2006 World Cup in Germany that Pakistani factory owner Khawaja Akhtar first dreamt up a goal of his own: to manufacture the ball for the biggest soccer tournament on the planet. Last year he finally got his chance – but only 33 days to make it happen. (Photo by Sara Farid/Reuters)

This diver almost got sucked into the mouth of a massive whale shark as it feeds on plankton. But far from staring into the jaws of death – the shark, which are the sea's largest fish, is actually vegetarian. The relieved diver escaped from the encounter unscathed and continued to enjoy the presence of the incredibly docile animals. The stunning photograph, by Mauricio Handler, was taken during a feeding session where more than 600 of the huge creatures gathered to feed on tuna spawn. (Photo by Mauricio Handler/Daily Mail/Solent)

“The scientists behind NASA's $2.5 billion Curiosity rover mission on Mars on Tuesday explained the nature of a tiny, gleaming "flower" embedded in Red Planet rock, and revealed where they'll be using the SUV-sized robot's drill for the first time”. – Alan Boyle via NBCNews.com

Photo: Scientists say that a “Martian flower”, seen here in an image from the Curiosity rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager, is a 2-millimeter-wide grain or pebble that's embedded in the surrounding rock. Another, darker-colored mineral grain can be seen above and to the left. (Photo by NASA)

Tourists feed freshly picked grapes to 40-year-old elephant Boonruen, a long-term resident of the Hua Hin Hills vineyard, that used to be an elephant corral in Hua Hin, about 200km southwest of Bangkok, Thailand, 08 March 2016. The winery is among a handful of companies producing new latitude wines in non-traditional wine areas of the world near the equator. Harvest is only once a year in Thailand, this year in March. (Photo by Barbara Walton/EPA)

Ultra Orthodox Jews look at the body of an alleged Palestinian assailant in Jerusalem Saturday, December 26, 2015. According to a police spokeswoman, policemen approached a man who drew their suspicions just outside the Old City for following a pair of Jewish worshippers. Then he pulled out a knife and tried to stab one of them, officers opened fire and killed the assailant. (Photo by Mahmoud Illean/AP Photo)

Buddhists monks and children look out from the rooftop at a Buddhist mission hostel and school for underprivileged children as an international passenger flight takes off at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport as the authorities eased restrictions imposed as a preventive measure against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, in Kolkata on July 5, 2020. (Photo by Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP Photo)

A Fulani Pastoralist carries two baby sheep on her donkey cart as her family move on northwards in Barkedji, Senegal on July 21, 2020. Thousands of Pastoralist families will start the movement north in the next weeks. With the first rains comes fresh grass and water for the Fulani herders' livestock, it also marks the point where most of the Pastoralist will move northwards until the dry season. (Photo by John Wessels/AFP Photo)

Cheetah Darcy enjoys her newly-developed Cheetah Territory that covers 10,000 square at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, near Doncaster, UK on Wednesday, August 16, 2023. Darcy, who is four-years-old, travelled from Ireland's Fota Wildlife Park to YWP last week where she will be joined by 13-year-old male Brooke who is on his way from the Bristol Zoo Project as a recommendation by the European Endangered Species Programme. (Photo by Danny Lawson/PA Images via Getty Images)