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Up until recently, Kylie Jenner – youngest of the Kardashian-Jenner clan – held the title for most-liked Instagram post ever. The image in question was taken last February and shows a little baby Stormi clutching a manicured thumb (presumably Kylie's).
But alas, it is no more. So, what example of photographic genius has taken over such a coveted title?
A picture of an egg.
And here it is in its full glory:
The post has, at time of writing, racked up more than 33 million likes, making Kylie's 18 million look like a drop in the ocean. What's more, the account (world_record_egg) has just 3.6 million followers compared to Kylie's admittedly impressive 123 million.
In retaliation, she hit back with a video of herself with an egg, which she then proceeds to smash on the ground. That has 3.5 million likes – so sorry, Kylie. It looks like the egg is still winning. At least for now.
Anyway, while we have nothing against Kylie or, indeed, the egg, we do think there are photos out there that deserve the title of most-liked Instagram post a little more. Here are just a few:
Titan, NASA
Last July, NASA published a series of images taken on its Cassini spacecraft, including this trippy-looking number of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. The yolk-like circle in the middle is Titan as it appears in natural light. The other six, taken in infrared, are the result of 13 years of data and the most-detailed view of the moon to date.
Snow in the Arizona desert, @acbohme
The Arizona desert looks pretty spectacular whatever time of year you visit, but there is something particularly surreal and magical about cacti dripping in snow. Earlier this year, people took to Twitter and Instagram to share their shots of this unusual sight.
Seahorse riding a Q-tip, NatGeo
The photographer, Justin Hofman, who took this image of a seahorse floating along on a Q-tip won an award, not just because of his serendipitous timing and photographic skill but because it highlighted the ever-growing problem of single-use plastic, particularly when it comes to marine life.
Plesiosaur skeleton, Natural History Museum
We like to imagine these plastic dinos skulking around the museum's halls at night, when all the visitors have gone.
Far side of the moon, NASA
Earlier this year, a Chinese probe sent back the first-ever images actually taken on the far side of the moon. Although this shot, taken a little earlier, was captured from a distance, it shows the far side of the moon illuminated by the Sun with the Earth in the background. It looks rather magical, don't you think?
"Fire Rainbow", @charlestonsc
Instagram is full of dazzling images of aurora borealis (aka the Northern Lights), but have you ever seen a fire rainbow? Ok, so it is not actually a fire rainbow. Technically speaking, it's a circumhorizontal arc, a natural phenomenon that can occur when the Sun has risen higher than 58° in the sky. This particular example was taken in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015.
Daddy penguin surrounded by chicks, @paulnicklen
Paul Nicklen is a Canadian photographer, filmmaker, and marine biologist whose work has been featured in NatGeo. This particular shot shows an adult penguin caught in a crowd of chicks. According to Nicklen, chicks huddle close together when their parents go out to sea, presumably making it hard for parent and chick to find each other on their return.
Fuego Volcano, @albertdrosphotography
This shot of Fuego volcano in Guatemala was taken in 2017, showing that nature can be both beautiful and absolutely terrifying – even at the same time.
Human brain, Interstellate
This looks like the work of an abstract artist, but it actually shows the nerves connecting the left and right hemispheres of a human brain, aka the "corpus callosum" (shown in red).
Mount Sharp, Mars Curiosity
This black-and-white shot taken by NASA's Curiosity Rover looks like it could have been captured on Earth, but it is actually Mount Sharp, a 5-kilometer-tall (3 mile) mountain on the surface of Mars. NASA believes the Gale Crater used to be filled with water, but over millions of years, layers of sediment built up to form Mount Sharp.
