Soap Bubble Structures by Kym Cox. Bubbles optimise space and minimise their surface area for a given volume of air. This phenomenon makes them a useful tool in many areas of research, in particular, materials science and “packing” – how things fit together. Bubble walls drain under gravity, thin at the top, thick at the bottom, which interferes with travelling lightwaves to create bands of colour. Black spots show the wall is too thin for interference colours, indicating the bubble is about to burst. (Photo by Kym Cox/2019 Science Photographer of the Year/RPS)

Nick Bull captured the Geminid meteor shower above Stonehenge in Wiltshire, UK on December 14, 2023. (Photo by Nick Bull/Picture Eexclusive)

This picture taken on February 16, 2017 in Fangshan village in China's coastal province Fujians, shows a villager performing the “eating flowers” ritual. Villagers in eastern China have a unique way of washing away the taint of evil spirits – by bathing in a shower of scorching sparks. (Photo by Johannes Eisele/AFP Photo)

Malaysian firemen make their way to a designated area to spray disinfectant, in an effort to combat coronavirus and COVID-19, at the entrance to a school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 14 April 2020. According to media reports, Malaysia has confirmed over 4,000 cases of coronavirus and COVID-19. (Photo by Ahmad Yusni/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Children play football on March 10, 2022 on a concrete slab in Mukuru Kwa Njenga informal settlements, where structures have been demolished in November 2021 to pave the way for the construction of the Nairobi Expressway. (Photo by Simón Maina/AFP Photo)

A Secret Service police officer wrestles a protester to the ground after she ran towards a motorcade on its way to the LA Convention Center where North and South American leaders are gathered for the ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, June 8, 2022. (Photo by Apu Gomes/AFP Photo)

Girl scouts pose for a group photo at the third station of the Way of the Cross reenactment marking Good Friday, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, March 30, 2018. Thousands of Haitians are commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ by reenacting the Way of the Cross, visiting the 14 stations, each marking an event that befell Jesus Christ on his final journey. (Photo by Dieu Nalio Chery/AP Photo)