Zhou Xiaoxuan, center, weeps as she speaks to her supporters upon arrival at a courthouse in Beijing, Wednesday, December 2, 2020. Zhou, a Chinese woman who filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against a TV host, told dozens of cheering supporters at a courthouse Wednesday she hopes her case will encourage other victims of gender violence in a system that gives them few options to pursue complaints. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)

Jean-François Leroy launched Visa Pour l’Image, the international photojournalism festival, in Perpignan in 1989. Before heading up the festival, Leroy was shooting reportage for the agency Sipa Press and also working for Photo-Reporter, Le Photographe, Photo-Revue and Photo Magazine. He is the chairman of the company Images Evidence. Photo: 2008 Visa d'or Feature: Brent Stirton. Conservation Rangers from an Anti-Poaching unit work with locals to evacuate the bodies of four Mountain Gorrillas killed in mysterious circumstances in the park, July 24, 2007, Virunga National Park, Eastern Congo. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Exclusive by Getty Images)

Do you think that history is a science? Well, not exactly. First, and foremost, history is the state's “legend of wars”, it’s official regalia. Of course, public historians are not interested in scientific truth – quite the opposite. In this respect, any attempt to present a state’s history as altruistic and benevolent as possible is welcomed and encouraged – as opposed to any revisionism attempts that may be more accurate. In this matter, Chinese have surpassed us all – they revised in highly creative manner (but rather shamelessly) the technology already invented by Europeans, a process that resulted in oldest state on the planet. Here is an interesting paradox: ask any sinologist about the Middle Kingdom during second century B.C., and he will describe it to you in such a vivid manner as if he has been living there all his life – but as soon as you will ask him to describe Chinese history in the 19-20th centuries… let's say, his eagerness will be greatly diminished. However, we will discuss China in a different article, and in the meantime we will try to understand how exactly historic “legend of wars” is formed and functions – based on a specific and well-known example. A great example is Ferdinand Magellan's first voyage around the world.

Shoppers walk down stairs featuring a five-metre-high reproduction of Vincent van Gogh's signature painting “Sunflowers”, at the entrance to Ocean Terminal in Hong Kong July 15, 2013. A premium three-dimensional reproduction of works of Van Gogh, the RELIEVO collection, approved by the curators of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, is on display at a gallery inside Harbour City shopping mall attached to the terminal. (Photo by Bobby Yip/Reuters)

It has taken 3,000 hours and 34 years to make – but the results are incredible. Artist Scott Weaver has created a huge but incredibly detailed model of San Francisco using 100,000 toothpicks. The work entitled Rolling Through the Bay also doubles as a marble run. Ping pong balls dropped on several ramps at the top of the model follow several “tours” through the city. They pass matchstick replicas of sights such as Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge and the city's trademark terraced houses on steep hills.

Incredibeard is an Instagram showcasing a San Francisco beard-enthusiasts crazy designs. Isaiah Webb, dubbed Incredibeard, has taken his hirsute super-powers to the extreme by making them into some pretty crazy art. Check them all out.

Yogis and street performers have been simulating levitation with nifty contraptions forever. They appear to be held aloft via nothing but their preternatural mental prowess. But are really enjoying the benefits of basic physics just like the rest of us when we use a chair. However, just because it’s perfectly explainable doesn’t mean it isn’t nifty. I’m especially impressed by this 2-person version and am still trying to work out how exactly the chair they’re using is shaped at the base.