Grand banqueting halls, opulent lobbies and vast ballrooms; you could easily be forgiven for thinking this was a collection of photographs was documenting some of Europe’s grandest hotels. However, a closer look will reveal the majestic rooms to be engulfed in swathes of dust and moss; hotels that once hosted royals and high society abandoned to the elements. This is the latest result of urban exploration photography, going beyond “no entry” signs to capture images of dilapidated buildings across Europe. IT worker Thomas Windisch, from Graz in Austria, indulged his passion for photography by traveling across the continent, visiting over 100 abandoned hotels along the way. Here: inside a hotel in Austria. (Photo by Thomas Windisch/Caters News)

Atsushi Abe and Yumi Adachi from Japan perform in the synchronised swimming mixed duet technical routine preliminary at the Aquatics World Championships in Kazan, Russia July 25, 2015. (Photo by Michael Dalder/Reuters)

Mates Jimi Hunt and Dan Drupstee dug the 650m slippery slide on a property at Helensville, northwest of Auckland and opened it this weekend as part of a festival to help combat depression.

Catherine Nelson is a visual artist who uses the digital medium to paint images together into personal and imaginary landscapes. Trained as a painter in Sydney and London and with years of experience in the creation of visual effects for feature films like Moulin Rouge and Harry Potter, she now has dedicated her skills to her own art work combining the techniques from both these worlds into a new contemporary art medium. Her latest series have been exhibited in Australia, New Zealand, China, Korea, USA and Europe and have captivated audiences and art collectors in cities like Sydney, Paris, Los Angeles, Beijing and Seoul.

A white-skinned Indian couple are set to enter the record books along with their offspring, after becoming the world's biggest albino family. The ten members of the Pullan family, headed by Rosetauri, 50, and his wife Mani, 45, all have the extremely pale skin and near-white hair of albinos.But despite years of prejudice and suffering the poor vision which is a side effect of the condition, the Pullans and their eight other family members are set to land a Guinness World Record.

Fireworks explode over a floating Christmas tree in Lagoa Lake in Rio de Janeiro. (Photo by Victor R. Caivano/Associated Press)

Travis Gerrits of Canada competes during qualifying for the Mens Aerials at the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup Aerial Competition at Deer Valley on January 10, 2014 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Miss Zero, whose real name is Sasha Frolova, of Russia celebrates winning the Alternative Miss World contest at Shakespeare's Globe theatre in London, October 18, 2014. The competition, which is open to entrants of any gender or nationality, was started by artist Andrew Logan in 1972. (Photo by Peter Nicholls/Reuters)