People will spout about impermanence of digital records, but books are really fragile, too. Alexis Arnold from San Francisco wanted to illustrate that with her project The Crystallized Book: collecting books and growing Borax crystals on them. Books range from literature classics to magazines, and there’s even a mysterious and arcane tome called “Linux: The Complete Manual”.

Nova Scotia Duck Tolling retriever Torrey competes in the 10th annual Petco Unleashed surfing dog contest at Imperial Beach, California August 1, 2015. Proceeds raised at the event go to benefit the San Diego Humane Society. (Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters)

Terence Chang's (aka exxonvaldez) long exposure photographs, capturing only streaks of light as airplanes arrive and depart from the San Francisco airport, certainly are stunning. There's just something so magical about seeing the various patterns created in the sky, even over a relatively short amount of time.

Sharon Beals is a San Francisco based photographer who has photographed nest and eggs specimens collected over the last two centuries at The California Academy of Sciences, The Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, and The Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology. While few nests are collected today, these nests and eggs are used for research, providing important information about their builder’s habitats, DNA, diseases and other survival issues.

Yedam Kim (L) and Chaewon Kim, both of South Korea, look at a smartphone backstage after performing on stage during the first day of the 51st Prix de Lausanne at the Theatre de Beaulieu, in Lausanne, Switzerland, 30 January 2023. (Photo by Laurent Gillieron/EPA)

A man covered in motor oil, poses for a picture next to a girl dress a traditional clothes during a festivities in honor of Santo Domingo de Guzman in Managua, Nicaragua, Saturday, August 1, 2015. Some of the faithful coat their bodies in a black motor oil, red paint and wear traditional clothes as a promise for a prayer or miracle they believe was performed or answered by Managua's patron saint, Santo Domingo de Guzman. (Photo by Esteban Felix/AP Photo)

“Adventurers have gone deep underground to discover previously unexplored caves in these pictures. The awe-inspiring snaps show the cavers dwarfed by the huge series natural rock chambers in the Leye – Fengshan Geopark, China. Belgian photographer Francois-Xavier De Ruydts, 33, captured the team of explorers as they trekked through the deep wonderground in January 2014”. – Caters News. Here: Caving expedition in Fengshan, China, Guangxi province. (Photo by Francois-Xavier De Ruydts/Caters News)

A woman laughs as she takes part in the “Domingo Fareleiro” (Floury Sunday in Galician) festival in the village of Xinzo de Limia, northwestern Spain, on January 21, 2018. Domingo Fareleiro (Floury Sunday) takes place annually in Xinzo de Limia, Spain, in a unique celebration that gives the starting signal for a long festive period known as Entroido, or Carnival. (Photo by Miguel Riopa/AFP Photo)