Tanbo Art is the strategic planting of four varieties of rice which have different colored leaves in order to create a giant image in the rice paddy. This type of aesthetic planting began in the Japanese village of Inakadate in 1993 in order to celebrate the village’s over 2000 year history of rice farming. The practice has spread to other rice cultivating communities in Japan and even other countries such as Thailand and South Korea.

Enya Kim from the Natural History department at auctioneers Bonhams & Butterfields stands in front of one of the world's largest set of shark jaws comprised of about 180 fossil teeth from the prehistoric species, Carcharocles megalodon, which grew to the size of a school bus, at the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino September 30, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

The X-47B prototype on Tuesday flew off an aircraft carrier and into the history books. Today's achievement, the first-ever catapult launch of an unmanned aircraft from the flight deck of a carrier, promises to open up a new chapter in the annals of naval aviation. Photo: An X-47B pilot-less drone combat aircraft is launched for the first time off an aircraft carrier, the USS George H. W. Bush, in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Virginia, May 14, 2013. The U.S. Navy made aviation history on Tuesday by catapulting an unmanned jet off an aircraft carrier for the first time, testing a long-range, stealthy, bat-winged plane that represents a jump forward in drone technology. (Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters)

Ali Asair, who has left his family behind and traveled hundreds of kilometers in search for a pasture for his animals, attends to his camel in a pastoralists' settlement in the Bandarbeyla district in Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland, Somalia, 24 March 2017. According to media reports, the United Nations says only 31 percent of 864 million US dollars appeal for a drought-hit Somalia is funded. The UN said the world is facing the largest humanitarian crisis since 1945, adding that more than 20 million people are facing the threat of famine in Somalia, Yemen, South Sudan and Nigeria and 1.4 million children could die from starvation this year. (Photo by Dai Kurokawa/EPA)

For most ironing is one of those boring chores we tend to put off doing – but for one teenager ironing has become something of an extreme sport. Kevin Krupitzer, 17, has turned the mundane into the insane by taking his ironing board to the most extraordinary of locations, from the edge of cliff to on board a canoe. The daring teenager travels around his hometown of Gilbert, Arizona in search of the weirdest places to iron. And he has even climbed to the top of a 120ft high rock, dubbed the Totem Pole in Queen Creek Canyon, AZ in pursuit of his bizarre hobby. (Photo by Kevin Krupitzer/Caters News)

These stunning light art pictures of skateboarding skeletons were created by Darren Pearson from Los Angeles. He works as a full time illustrator by day and by night he explores the varying landscapes of California in search of the perfect scene for his light-sculptures. Pearson makes complex light-effect photographs, none of which are photoshopped. He describes the work as location-based light art. Photo: A light skateboarder grinding a rail. (Photo by Darren Pearson/Caters News)

Throughout the course of the long war in Afghanistan, Coalition troops have relied on thousands of military working dogs to help keep them safe, and make their jobs easier. The dogs are trained to detect explosives, to find illegal drugs, to search for missing comrades, or target enemy combatants. Not only are they active on the front lines, but behind the lines they serve as therapy dogs, service dogs, and loyal companions. They also share the same risks as the ground troops, suffering injuries and sometimes death on the battlefields. Gathered here are images of these dogs and their handlers in Afghanistan and back home, from over the past several years, part of the ongoing series here on Afghanistan.