In the past people used to bury their loved ones or turn them into ashes. However, now there is a completely new possibility. Since having an urn with ashes in your house may be a bit weird, you may want to choose the option of turning your deceased relative into a diamond. Yes, diamond! You’ve heard us correctly. By using immense heat and pressure, the ashes you get after cremating a person can be turned into a real diamond. After this, the diamond can be left as it is, and stored in a jewelry box, or it can be used as a piece of jewelry, such as a ring or a pendant, allowing you to always keep your loved one close to your heart. (Photo by djd/Algordanza memorial diamonds)

A woman takes a photo of a mural by Berlin-based street artist Eme Freethinker featuring the likeness of US actor Will Smith (R) slapping US comedian Chris Rock during the Oscars ceremony, in Berlin on March 30, 2022. (Photo by John MacDougall/AFP Photo)

There isn’t exactly a college out there for face painting so Elsa Rhae Pageler‘s talent is as raw as it comes. Perhaps what’s even more amazing is that the video editor and producer from Kansas City graduated with a degree in Film and Media Studies and only does face painting and airbrushing as a side job. An application may take anywhere from 1 to 3 hours and apart from outside gigs, she features video tutorials on her YouTube channel showing how she paints herself to recreate video game and fictional characters. Photo: “Face Palm”. (Photo by Elsa Rhae Pageler)

There are so many little, seemingly simple, yet ingenious things that make our life so much simpler. Take scotch tape for example. It’s just a roll of thin plastic film that is sticky on one side, yet how much simpler it made the packaging process of various goods! However, the removal of scotch tape, now there is a problem. Unless you have something sharp, it’s nearly impossible to tear it. To combat this, a brand new product has come out. Rip cord tape – is a regular scotch tape combined with a rip cord. The manufacturer of this product claims that it will make the removal of scotch tape much easier. However, when we look at the pictures, we realize, that yes, the rip cord will remove the middle of the scotch tape; however, the sides will remain in place! This will once again present a problem during the removal process.

It is amazing how much the humanity can change the face of the earth. Not only can it create huge craters, which look a lot like craters from meteors, they leave a big enough impact that it can be seen from space. Though this crater, caused by a massive explosion on 1 July 1916, looks large, being 90 feet deep and 300 feet across; it is nowhere big enough to be viewed for space. A common misconception is that the Great Wall of China can be seen from space. In reality, however, it is impossible. Not only is it of the same color as the earth near it, it is also not that wide. Deforestation, on the other hand, can be clearly seen from space. Also, at night, all the lights that the large cities produce are also very visible.

While communism, collectivism, worms, dry rot and casual looting failed to destroy the majestic wooden churches of Russia, it may be ordinary neglect that finally does them in. Dwindled now to several hundred remaining examples, these glories of vernacular architecture lie scattered amid the vastness of the world’s largest country. Just over a decade ago, Richard Davies, a British architectural photographer, struck out on a mission to record the fragile and poetic structures. Austerely beautiful and haunting, “Wooden Churches: Traveling in the Russian North” (White Sea Publishing; $132) is the result. Covering thousands of miles, Mr. Davies described how he and the writer Matilda Moreton tracked down the survivors from among the thousands of onion-domed structures built after Prince Vladimir converted to Christianity in 988.

James Kerr started his project “Scorpion Dagger” without any real direction, except for the intention to make one GIF everyday(ish) for one year. He had been making collages for some time and “Scorpion Dagger” started out to be a test of discipline and a way for him to learn how to animate. Making GIFs was a logical evolution to him. The project represents many different things to him, the works from which he draws upon are so powerful and inspirational to him, that he is now nearly obsessed with repurposing them to share his vision of the world, and perhaps inspire people to look at art differently. The project is tremendously personal to him, it’s a lot more than the humor that’s at its surface and he is still trying to work out what “Scorpion Dagger” really is.

A woman reacts as she uses a selfie stick to take a photo of herself at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, Thursday, April 30, 2015. Selfie sticks are gaining popular in China, and many people are using them at popular tourist destinations. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)