Paul Salopek and his guide walk into the desert, on day 19 of the "Out of Eden walk" in the Afar region of Northeast Ethiopia. The walk with take about 7 years total. Paul Salopek/National Geographic hide caption
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An arctic fox pup, just beginning to show its white winter coat, plays with a lemming carcass. Wrangel's foxes subsist largely on these snow-burrowing rodents, whose numbers fluctuate wildly from year to year. Sergey Gorshkov/National Geographic hide caption
The bucardo, or Pyrenean ibex, lived high in the Pyrenees until its extinction in 2000. Three years later, researchers attempted to clone Celia, the last bucardo. The clone died minutes after birth. Taxidermic specimen, Regional Government of Aragon, Spain Robb Kendrick/National Geographic hide caption
It's Called 'De-Extinction' — It's Like 'Jurassic Park,' Except It's Real
Hanami (flower viewing), Sakura (Cherry Blossom Festival), Maruyama Park, Kyoto, Japan Diane Cook and Len Jenshel/National Geographic hide caption
Kyrgyz girls slide plastic jugs back to their family's camp after chopping a hole in a frozen spring to fetch water. Men handle herding and trading; much of the hard labor of daily life falls to the females. Matthieu Paley/National Geographic hide caption
"I was surrounded by thousands of fish that moved in synchrony because of the predation that was happening. It was an incredible experience." Fransisca Harlijanto/National Geographic Photo Contest hide caption
"I drove out past the town of Marion beneath a quiet sky, as beautiful as anything I'd seen, to the house of a woman who lived by herself." 1969 Eugene Richards/Magnum Photos hide caption
The giant sequoia is a snow tree, says scientist Steve Sillett, adapted for long winters in the Sierra Nevada. But it's a fire tree, too. Thick bark protects it from burning in lightning-caused fires, which open cones and clear the understory, allowing saplings to find light and prosper. Michael Nichols/National Geographic hide caption
A worker emerges from one of hundreds of smuggling tunnels that connect the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Paolo Pellegrin/National Geographic hide caption
"A sculpture like this can take a master carver years to produce. Front and center are the popular Taoist gods Shou, Lu and Fu — symbols of long life, money, and luck. 'We hope — no, we insist — we can continue to protect these skills,' says Wang Shan, secretary-general of the China Arts and Crafts Association." Brent Stirton/National Geographic hide caption
Mitchell Crow plays with his dog on what remains of 28,000 pounds of donated used clothes near Loneman, S.D. Unclaimed, the rain-soaked handouts began to go moldy during the summer. Aaron Huey/National Geographic hide caption
"The statues walked," Easter Islanders say. Archaeologists are still trying to figure out how. Randy Olson/National Geographic hide caption
Summer, the short, sweet release from the interminable cocoon of Russian winter, is a time for swimming and riding, and sometimes both. Jonas Bendiksen/National Geographic hide caption
Two joeys cling to each other at an animal hospital before being placed with human caregivers. Later on, they'll be released into the wild. Joel Sartore/National Geographic hide caption
Conrad Anker descends an ice step in the Khumbu Icefall with a fixed rope. Cory Richards/Courtesy of National Geographic hide caption
A white rhino cow (left) grazes with a bull that has become her companion after a poaching attack in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Brent Stirton/National Geographic hide caption
"Leaverites" — as in, "leave 'er right there" — is another nickname for erratics too big to move, like the one by a parking lot in Mystic, Conn. Fritz Hoffmann/National Geographic hide caption
Sulfur and algae turn hot springs into pools of living color. The water is condensation from hot gases rising from magma chambers. As the water evaporates, salts and minerals form a vivid crust. George Steinmetz/National Geographic hide caption
Rotating their arms to stay warm, Jesper Olsen (right) and Rasmus Jorgensen ski beside a sled full of supplies: rifles, a radio, first aid, a tent, sleeping bags, a big map and plenty of dog food. Fritz Hoffmann/National Geographic hide caption
A photograph shows what amounted to more than a ton of ivory seized in Malaysia in December. Elizabeth John/Traffic Southeast Asia hide caption
Marta (left) and Emma. The 15-year-old sisters want to go to the same university and become opera singers. They both like to draw but have a different approach to their art. Marta depicts finely detailed faces, while Emma prefers more expansive images: the sky, the rain, objects in motion. Martin Schoeller/National Geographic hide caption
Dara Arista, 8, holds a photo of Sheila in front of the tiger's cage at the zoo in Jambi, Indonesia. Poachers had slaughtered Sheila during the night. Steve Winter/National Geographic hide caption
Listen to a Tiger Call for Her Mate (Hans Weise, National Geographic)
Nils Peder kneels calmly in the midst of a reindeer herd on which his livelihood depends.
Erika Larsen/National Geographic hide caption
Late summer thunderheads build above Garnet Lake.
Peter Essick/National Geographic hide caption
At the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's Nairobi Elephant Nursery in Kenya, an orphan elephant is protected from the cold and rain with a custom-made raincoat. Michael Nichols/National Geographic hide caption