Baraa Melhem plays on her sisters bike at her mothers house on February 2, 2012 in Qalandia, near Ramallah, West Bank. Baraa Melhem was held in captivity in a bathroom by her father for over nine years, and was finally rescued by Palestinian security forces after a family member notified police. (Photo by Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images)

Iconaster longimanus, the icon star or double star, is a species of starfish in the family Goniasteridae. It is found in the west and central Indo-Pacific Ocean. The genus name comes from the Greek eikon, meaning portrait or image and possibly referring to the way the marginal plates frame the disc, and aster, meaning star. The specific name comes from the Latin longus manus and refers to the long, slender arms.

In an extraordinary act of devotion to his art, sculptural artist Spencer Byles spent a year creating beautiful sculptures out of natural and found materials throughout the unmanaged forests of La Colle Sur Loup (where he lived with his family), Villeneuve Loubet and Mougins. He worked together with elements of his natural surroundings to create artwork that blends seamlessly with the environment.

African women in their grandmothers' clothes: Joana Choumali’s portraits show modern African women swapping jeans for kente cloth – and diving into the dazzling cultural heritage of their families. (Photo by Joana Choumali/The Guardian)

Is it strange to party in a cemetery, do you think? Thousands, many elaborately dressed and made up, thronged the Hollywood Forever cemetery on October 30th to celebrate the Day of the Dead with music, dancing, food and artistic renditions of family altars, all among the graves of Rudolph Valentino, Marion Davies, Tyrone Power, Douglas Fairbanks and Johnny Ramone.

Window washers from the American National Skyline company (from left to right in the image below: Jordan Emerson, Steve Oszaniec and Danny Oszaniec) suit up as Marvel Comics superheroes to pleasantly surprise the children (who are patients) and their families inside as the dressed up crew cleans the outside of the windows at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis

At the end of rice harvesting season, the folks of the Kagawa and Niigata Prefectures in Japan hold a straw festival to celebrate the abundance of the harvest. Dried straws cover wooden frames to form larger-than-life sculptures from animals like sharks and gorillas to vessels such as ships and tanks. The family-friendly event invites visitors of all ages to engage, interact, and play on the enormous structures.