Talk-show host Oprah Winfrey interviewing cyclist Lance Armstrong during taping for the show "Oprah and Lance Armstrong: The Worldwide Exclusive" in Austin, Texas. The two-part episode of "Oprah's Next Chapter" will air nationally Thursday and Friday, Jan. 17-18, 2013. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Harpo Studios, Inc., George Burns)

Yalena Leuliette, 7, of Greenbelt, Md., throws seeds from a cattail plant up in the air as she plays while visiting the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in northeast Washington, on Sunday, August 9, 2015. Leuliette visits the public garden with her parents a few times a year. (Photo by Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo)

Two Chinese farmers got more than they bargained for when they pulled up the root of a fleece flower – and came face-to-face with the doppelganger of Homer Simpson, on May 17, 2013. The large root appears to have two bulging eyes and a prominent nose – giving it an uncanny resemblance to the famous cartoon character. With two offshoot roots shaped like arms, it even looks like it is pondering or confused – just what you would expect from the real Homer. (Photo by ImagineChina)

Elephants munch on Christmas trees in their enclosure at Berlin's Zoologischer Garten Zoo on January 4, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. Traditionally, the animals get in the first week of the year leftover Christmas trees. (Photo by Andreas Rentz)

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.

Mamoni Mandal, member of the Rapid Action Force (RAF), attends a training session at a police training school in Kolkata April 15, 2007. (Photo by Parth Sanyal/Reuters)

Japanese artist Mami Kiyoshi has spent 15 years creating vivid portraits of people surrounded by their belongings – from wine bottles and violins to the odd stray pet. Mami Kiyoshi’s ongoing series “New Reading Portraits” is, in part, a nod to the mise-en-scène found in traditional woodcut printing. Here: Sakura and Kazuhiro, Tokyo, 2015. (Photo by Mami Kiyoshi/Galerie Annie Gabrielli/The Guardian)