Kokeshi dolls these traditional wooden figurines were said to have been originally made as souvenirs to sell to people visiting the local hot springs in Northern Japan. Although there are about 10 different styles, each doll is made with an enlarged head and cylindrical body with no arms or legs.

English-Albanian singer and songwriter Dua Lipa cut a strikingly different look as she stripped to stockings and suspenders while wearing a blonde wig in the second decade of May 2024. The New Rules hitmaker pulled on a suspender belt and white stockings for another cheeky look. (Photo by Instagram)

An artist has gone to incredible lengths to paint several iconic album covers on her own face. London-based artist Natalie Sharp wanted to celebrate Record Store Day in a unique way, and asked her Facebook friends for suggestions about which album covers to paint. She was overwhelmed with responses, and as a result painted 40 different album covers on her face, including Nirvana's “Nevermind”, King Crimson's “The Court of the Crimson King”, and “Melt” by Peter Gabriel. Here: King Crimson album. “In fact, I barely used by brushes for King Crimson; I would just keep smudging it with my fingers”. (Photo by Natalie Sharp/Caters News)

From Britain to China to Mali, new maps showing travel times to the nearest urban centre reveal huge differences between countries. Using Open Street Map and Google, a University of Oxford team have created a visual breakdown that suggests major inequalities when it comes to commuting. Here: China. The dataset used for China was unique as it relied solely on Open Street Map, due to restrictions on accessing Google data. The population is densely concentrated in the east and accessibility is increased, whereas rural provinces in the west remain remote. (Photo by Daniel Weiss/Jennifer Rozier/Malaria Atlas Project/University of Oxford)

A Thai veterinarian takes a picture of a 2-year-old orangutan during a health examination at Kao Pratubchang Conservation Centre in Ratchaburi, Thailand, August 27, 2015. Thai veterinarians from the Department of National Park Wildlife, and Plant Conservation conducted a health check of 14 orangutans for preparation for the repatriation to their country of origin, Indonesia. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all weapons were created by Sonia Rentsch rather than by gunsmiths? In the series Harm Less, Sonia had constructed a number of firearms using various plants. Of course people might say that it’s not the guns that kill people; it’s the people that kill people. However, this statement is completely false. Can you imagine some equivalent of school shooting if the guns were not available? Yes, some crazy kid would still be able to bring a weapon to class, but most likely it would be a club or a penknife, making him easily tamable. (Photo by Sonia Rentsch)

Yes this is not a real dragon’s skull but it is still pretty creepy. This weird little plant is called a Snapdragon or Dragon flower or, if you want to sound even smarter, The Antirrhinum. Once the flower has died, the seed pod begins to look like the skulls you see here. Apart from being creepy as hell and alleged protectors of the garden, if you wore this about your body you would appear to be more “fascinating and gracious”. Though I imagine if anyone actually did find this on you, fascinating and gracious are not the only things they will think about you.

Dressers make last minute adjustments to the costumes of dancers performing as horses during a press preview of American artist Nick Cave's first major work shown in Australia, entitled HEARD.SYD in Sydney, November 8, 2016. Over several days the live art performance will feature 30 “horses” dancing to live percussion beats in suits made from coloured raffia plant fibres. (Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters)