Some people think of trolls as nothing but savage beast, yet others realize that beneath their rock-hard skin hides a gentle kind heart. Ivar Rodningem is one of the people who knows the true nature of trolls. Though these creatures look unruly, it is just the way they were born. Trolls come in all shapes and sizes. Some are small, some are large, and some are simply enormous. They help each other out, though elders tend to be loners, preferring the company of their own thoughts to anybody else. You shouldn’t run for your life if you ever meet a troll, though we wouldn’t recommend pestering them, as they are mighty strong, even the little ones.

Most people know Nikon as a purveyor of pro and consumer-grade digital cameras. But the company's expertise with optics bleeds over into related markets – it's one of the science community's major suppliers of microscopes. And each year the company asks the community to send it some of their favorite images of tiny objects. A panel of scientists and journalists have chosen the best of this past year's submissions, which Nikon has placed on its Small World site.

Photo: Honorable Mention. “Snow crystal, illuminated with colored lights (5x)”. (Photo by Dr. Kenneth Libbrecht, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Department of Physics, Pasadena, California, USA)

All the people we meet, all the things we know, and all of our experiences shape our souls, forever marking our faces. This was probably the main idea of the performance piece created by Chinese artist Zhang Huan, in which his face was painted over by three calligraphers with the names of people he knew, personal stories, and random thoughts. Truly, it amazing just how much we can find out about a person just by looking at their face. Surely, not everyone has the ability to see into the soul of the person just by looking at their face, but those that do can easily see the person’s personality, their intelligence, and sometimes even get glimpse into their past. Though it sounds like magic to people who don’t have this ability, it is completely true. Somehow, our mind can pick up on the miniscule changes of the facial structure and figure out the dominant facial expressions of that person. (Photo by Zhang Huan)

For more than a century, the Barcelona skyline has been graced (or marred, depending on who’s talking) by the spectacle of the Basilica designed by Anton Gaudi, first started in 1882. If you want to know what it’ll look like when finished, don’t fret — 2026 is right around the corner. Or you can watch this video, released last week on YouTube by Basílica de la Sagrada Família and titled simply “2026 We Build Tomorrow,” a 3-D artists’ rendering of the building stages through completion.
(If 144 years sounds like a long time to finish a cathedral, keep in mind that there were decades that they didn’t work on it — and that Notre Dame de Paris took 182 years, although the 13th century Parisians didn’t have diesel-powered industrial cranes.) Now, if only the video could show us what the admission and hours will be in 2026 (and how to avoid the inevitable long lines).

MiG-15 jet fighters are pictured in Kucova Air Base in Kucova, Albania on October 3, 2018. Albania retired its 224 Soviet- and Chinese-made MiGs in 2005, and since 2009 NATO neighbors Italy and Greece monitor its airspace. That led to economic decline in and around Kucova, which was called “Stalin City” during the era of Communist rule. (Photo by Florion Goga/Reuters)

British artist, Mark Coreth sits on top of the “Sydney Ice Bear” carved from a 10 tonne block of ice to illustrate how humans affect climate change in the Arctic at Customs House on June 3, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. The public will be welcomed to touch the bear, and leave an imprint which will begin the melting process and act as a metaphor for how humans affect the environment. The ice bear's has visited six cities on it's global tour since 2009; the visit to Sydney coincides with World Environment Day on June 5. (Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

A cat yawns at Nekorobi cat cafe on January 20, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan. Cat cafes, where people can spend time with their favorite cat for about 10 US dollars an hour, are now getting more popular with people living in urban areas. The regular customers are mainly in their 20's to 30's and seaking healing by cats, or people who cannot afford to have pets full time. Some visiters come to the cat cafe three times a week. (Photo by Junko Kimura/Getty Images)

Retired teacher Geoff Ostling displays his tattooed skin at a portrait session at his home in Petersham on May 11, 2009 in Sydney, Australia. The 62-year old has pledged to donate his skin to the National Gallery in Canberra after his death. Ostling, who did not get his first tattoo until he was in his forties, is now covered in the artwork by artist eX de Merci from neck to ankle with the theme 'all the flowers of a Sydney garden'. (Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)