Shortlisted: “Two big eyes” by Miao Yong (Zejiang province, China). Damselflies look over the leaves. “I was photographing insects in a park near my home when suddenly I found two damselflies in the grass. They kept flying and it was very difficult to focus until suddenly they parked behind a leaf”. (Photo by Miao Yong/2017 Royal Society of Biology Photographer of the Year)

Homeless man Alonzo Harrison, 47, takes a nap on a bench at Pershing Square decorated with Christmas lights in the background on Monday, December 4, 2017, in Los Angeles. A homeless crisis of unprecedented proportions is rocking the West Coast, and its victims are being left behind by the very things that mark the region's success: soaring housing costs, rock-bottom vacancy rates and a roaring economy that waits for no one. (Photo by Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)

A surfer rides a wave at the snowy beach of Unstad, in Lofoten Island, Arctic Circle, on March 9, 2016. Surfers from all over the world comes to Lofoten island to surf in extrem conditions. Ocean temperature is 6-7 °C, air temperature around 0°C in spite of a weather very unstable. (Photo by Olivier Morin/AFP Photo)

Due to the influence of Sci-Fi movies, many of us have an obsession with giant robots. How cool would it be to ride a gigantic robotic dinosaur or elephant? It would be even cooler to control one! Regretfully, the modern technologies are not yet sophisticated enough to fulfill this dream. Pierre Orefice and François Delarozière, however, came very close. These two artists have made it their goal to turn Nantes, France, into a hot tourist destination spot for people who love robots. In their project of Machines de l'île in Nantes, they have created a whole park of robotic monstrosities, ranging from a giant 3 story high elephant to a 2 meter long centipede crawling on a rail track.

There are many types of hobbies. Some of them are strange, such as piercing your skin with huge metal hooks with ropes attached to them, and dangling yourself from the ceiling. Others might enjoy riding down huge mountain hills on skis, snowboards, mountain boards, bikes, etc. However, some enjoy pastimes that are more tranquil and meditative. For example, the art of contortionism is a very peculiar hobby that is usually practiced by women and children, due to the natural stretchiness of their tendons. Despite the fact that tendons of grown men are usually too stiff, a Berlin-based dancer is able to do amazing things with his body and is not afraid to show it to the world.

The works of Hu Shaoming immediately catch the eye of the onlookers with their level on intricacy and uniqueness. To provide a glimpse into the intricate workings of vintage cameras he uses a very unique method. He made it seem as if the fine leather covering of the camera was opened by zipper, showing its innards. A similar technique was used on an ancient telephone, though there it looks more like an embellishment. The idea was so marvelously put into life that it seems as if those items can actually be zipped up, though of course that is not possible.

When you look at the picture of a furry pig that resembles a sheep from a distance, you may think that this may be the result of the work of some crazy scientist that tinkered with the pig’s genome. However, in this case, this is not true. Mangalica is a natural breed of pigs, which were bred in Europe for their lard. This breed of pigs is very unique, since the only other breed of pigs which had a long coat was Loncolnshire Curly Coat, which is now extinct. In the past, these pigs were quite popular, since they were able to produce a lot of lard. However, when the demand for pig lard dwindled, the population of these pigs rapidly decreased, making it a “rare breed”.

In June, Mallory Gaudet picked up a little ginger kitten on the street and took him home. Mallory worried that the baby will not be able to get along with her ​​two other pets – ferrets, and they will hurt him. But it turned out that the new member of the family, named Ned, could get used to this neighborhood very fast. Moreover – these three animals became really best friends. Now kitten and ferrets play, eat and sleep all together. But the most touching thing is when Ned “washes” the ferrets. Interspecific and intergeneric animals’ friendship – is a rare phenomenon. But ginger kitten and two of his fellows break all the stereotypes.