Rusting old petrol pumps outside a long-closed rural village petrol station are seen on a minor road near Trowbridge, Britain, October 21, 2016. From art deco apartments in Sussex to a trendy burger bar in London, some of England's former petrol stations are enjoying a new lease of life following creative makeovers. The overhaul opportunities have been created as more than 20,000 stations closed in the United Kingdom over the past 40 years, according to the U.K.'s Petroleum Industry Association (PIC). (Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters)

People take pictures as an Airbus Beluga XL transport plane lands during its first flight event in Colomiers near Toulouse, France, July 19, 2018. The Beluga XL, the new cargo plane of the Airbus family has taken off from Blagnac, in the south of France, for its first test flight. The launch of the aircraft triggered thunderous applause in an audience of more than 10,000 people, mostly employees and subcontractors of the European aircraft manufacturer. (Photo by Regis Duvignau/Reuters)

Riot police officers in position to crack down on demonstrators during a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas on April 20, 2017. Venezuelan riot police fired tear gas Thursday at groups of protesters seeking to oust President Nicolas Maduro, who have vowed new mass marches after a day of deadly unrest. Police in western Caracas broke up scores of opposition protesters trying to join a larger march, though there was no immediate repeat of Wednesday's violent clashes, which left three people dead. (Photo by Juan Barreto/AFP Photo)

“Jim Fiscus is an American photographer specializing in editorial and advertising photography, including several highly regarded campaigns for the Showtime series Dexter, starring Michael C. Hall. Fiscus, who is based in Athens, Georgia, has won many awards for his work, including at the 2005 International Photo Awards for his portraits of hip-hop and R&B artists Jay-Z, Usher, and Outkast. Also in 2005, he was named International Photographer of the Year at the Lucies, and he is the winner of the 2008 International Aperture Award for his photograph of English chef and best-selling cookbook author Jamie Oliver, commissioned by Channel 4 in the U.K. In 2009, his photographic novella, “The Unfortunate Moment of Misunderstanding”, was displayed at Industrial Color’s M Project Gallery in New York in June 2009”. – Wikipedia

“The red panda (Ailurus fulgens, or shining-cat), is a small arboreal mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It is the only species of the genus Ailurus. Slightly larger than a domestic cat, it has reddish-brown fur, a long, shaggy tail, and a waddling gait due to its shorter front legs. It feeds mainly on bamboo, but is omnivorous and may also eat eggs, birds, insects, and small mammals. It is a solitary animal, mainly active from dusk to dawn, and is largely sedentary during the day”. – Wikipedia

Photo: In this handout image provided by Taronga Zoo, Seba, a baby Red Panda, explores his new home at Taronga Zoo on April 7, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. The Red Panda cub was born at Christmas and is the 45th to be born at the zoo since 1977. (Photo by Peter Hardin/Taronga Zoo via Getty Images)

“I was born in the United States in 1985. As early as I can remember I’ve been a “doodler”. From even the early days I’ve always loved strange, offbeat, beautiful, and slightly melancholy things. Something about the mixed grabbed me. My love for sketching carried on throughout my high school days. Which is when I took a small class on watercolor. Watercolor is what birthed my passion for mixing colors and how a color can tell a story. In year 2009 I discovered digital painting and my new found passion for the medium. It’s been the favored medium for the past years since. I’ve used online tutorials and videos to help me learn along the way and then in late 2011 I took a workshop called Becoming a Better Artist. The beginning of 2013 I won a class from The Art Department which will start this spring.”

“Cassowaries are large, flightless birds related to emus and (more distantly) to ostriches, rheas, and kiwis”, writes Olivia Judson in the September issue of National Geographic magazine. How large? People-size: Adult males stand well over five foot five and top 110 pounds. Females are even taller, and can weigh more than 160 pounds. Dangerous when roused, they’re shy and peaceable when left alone. But even birds this big and tough are prey to habitat loss. The dense New Guinea and Australia rain forests where they live have dwindled. Today cassowaries might number 1,500 to 2,000. And because they help shape those same forests – by moving seeds from one place to another – “if they vanish”, Judson writes, “the structure of the forest would gradually change” too. (Photo by Christian Ziegler/National Geographic)