A Nihang' or Sikh warrior performs “Gatka”, an ancient form of Sikh martial arts, during a Fateh Divas celebration a day after the Hindu festival Diwali, in Amritsar on November 5, 2021. (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP Photo)

William Gibson is not one of the authors that spits out novels like a machine – in his long and fruitful career he has only published 11 novels andof short stories and articles in the tens each. Still his impact on modern literature was huge – the “noir prophet” of the cyberpunk subgenre (that he was one of the pioneers of) has predicted the rise of reality television, virtual reality, video games and the internet. He is a Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction writer, with a special eye for what the future might bring.

The Wovel could possibly be the most advanced human snow removal machine ever created, next to simply getting someone else to do it. The revolutionary wheel design reduces the risks associated with heart attacks and back injuries because it uses adjustable leverage and your own body weight to push, lift, and throw snow up to 18" deep. The best feature about the Wovel is compared to a gas-powered snow blower, this one will always start.

Joshua Hoffine, based in Kansas City, Mo., and a self-proclaimed “Horror Photographer”, is interested in the psychology of fear. In his project “After Dark, My Sweet”, Hoffine’s surreal and staged images render these fears visible with the “visual grammar of a child”. Through elaborate sets, costumes, makeup and fog machines, Hoffine’s children act out these terrifying scenes in front of his camera. Here: “Basement”. (Photo by Joshua Hoffine/The Washington Post)

More great and peculiar work from Chicago based sculptor Jessica Joslin. Joslin assembles her hybrid creatures from objects found in obscure junk shops, flea markets, attics, taxidermy supply houses, specialty hardware distributors…or even just walking through the woods. “Miniature machine bolts, springs and couplings comprise anatomical structures. Many of the beasts have hidden movements: a spring loaded beak, snapping jaws, jointed legs and adjustable tails. Some creatures are free-standing but have mechanisms to allow for movement or multiple positions.”

Spectators in Moscow were treated to the site of humorously designed makeshift aircraft plunging into the Muskova River during the Red Bull Flugtag Moscow 2011 competition. 38 teams took part at the Flugtag – which means “flying day” – a competition in which teams in fancy dress attempt to pilot human-powered, home-made flying machines off a six-meter-high platform into water.

Photo: A makeshift aircraft plummets into the Moskva River during the Red Bull Flugtag Moscow 2011 competition. (Photo by Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters)

Greek actress Xanthi Georgiou, playing the role of the High Priestess, lights up the torch during the flame lighting ceremony for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at the Ancient Olympia archeological site, birthplace of the ancient Olympics in southern Greece on October 18, 2021. The Olympic flame will once again be lit in an empty stadium on Ovtober 18, 2021, as it starts its truncated journey to Beijing for the Winter Games in February. Like the ceremony in March 2020 to light the flame for Tokyo, and like those Games, which were put back a year, Monday's ceremony is a victim of coronavirus restrictions. (Photo by Aris Messinis/AFP Photo)