Wu Lingling, a nurse from Central Hospital of Shanghai Fengxian District says goodbye to her husband Zhao Kun before leaving for Wuhan at Shanghai South Railway Station in east China's Shanghai, January 27, 2020. A team comprised of 50 medical workers from 40 hospitals in Shanghai left for Wuhan City on Monday to aid the novel coronavirus control efforts there. (Photo by Ding Ting/Xinhua News AgencyAlamy Live News)

A Nepalese girl in traditional attire takes part in Kumari Puja, a mass worship ceremony for preteen girls, in Kathmandu, Nepal on September 27, 2023. In Nepal, Kumari Puja is the tradition of selecting a Kumari, usually a preadolescent girl, to worship symbolically as a goddess. More than hundred girls under the age of nine from across the country gathered for the mass worship. Performing Kumari Puja for three continuous years is believed to protect the girls from diseases throughout their entire life. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA/EFE)

Members of the Beltane Fire Society take part in Samhuinn Fire Festival on October 31, 2023 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Once celebrated from October 31 to November 1 by ancient Celts, Samhain, pronounced “SOW-in” or “SAH-win”, marked the shift from the brighter to the darker half of the year and was seen as a time when the boundary between the physical and spirit worlds was thought to weaken, influencing the development of contemporary Halloween customs. (Photo by Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian)

Fraser Davidson gobbles a plane at The Hangar at Manchester Airport on June 26, 2024. An airport pub serves drinks just 15 metres from the runway–- and drinkers can watch planes coming into land over a pint. The Hangar, Manchester, is 50 feet away from the airport, and people don't need to be checked in to drink there. It boasts a “unique perspective” for customers, who can enjoy a pint right next to planes taking off and landing. (Photo by South West News Service)

A sick California sea lion with possible domoic acid poisoning is rescued to be evaluated by volunteers from CIMWI (Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute) in Santa Barbara, California, on March 25, 2025. Over a hundred sea lions, dolphins and other marine mammals, including birds, have been sickened by domoic acid poisoning from algal blooms in Southern California since February, US media reported. (Photo by David Swanson/AFP Photo)

A child poses with face painting during the event in Canning, West Bengal on June 15, 2025. For generations Bahurupi artists from West Bengal have been practicing in the art of face painting. Using their painting techniques they can easily metamorphose into different characters during a performance, which often represents tribal myths. These traditional artists scrape a living from their performances, relying on the generosity of audiences for their income. (Photo by Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

An Iranian athlete warms up prior to the start of the women's karate competition, made-up of clubs and teams from around the Tehran province, in Tehran on November 6, 2025. Some 230 participants, including 5-year-old girls, took part in the competition, with team's deriving only from the Tehran province taking part. (Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP Photo)

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”.