A pro-democracy protester wearing a Guy Fawkes mask holds a yellow umbrella and a banner in the part of Hong Kong's financial central district protesters are occupying November 2, 2014. The former British colony of Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997, has witnessed a month of protests calling on the Beijing-backed government to keep its promise of introducing universal suffrage. The protests have for the most part been peaceful, with occasional clashes between the student-led protesters and Beijing supporters seeking to move them from the streets. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

This picture taken on November 1, 2014 shows Japanese body-painting artist Hikaru Cho (L) adding the finishing touches to a body painting of fingers sticking out from prison cell bars on the head of Ryonosuke Tanaka during “Tokyo Designers Week” in Tokyo. Cho, 21, was born to Chinese parents in Japan and burst onto Tokyo's art scene when she entered the city's Musashino Art University in 2012. Cho's ultimate ambition is to paint an entire – and naked – body. (Photo by Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP Photo)

Jassen Todorov, 40, from San Francisco is a professor of music at San Francisco State University, but he took to helicoptering in his spare time. While he was content to keep the panoramic views he witnessed to himself, Todorov has now paired his passion for flying with photography to capture some of the United States’ undiscovered vistas. Here: Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone, Wyoming. (Photo by Jassen Todorov/Caters News)

A Palestinian young woman from the Birzeit University looks on during clashes with Israeli security forces in Beit El, on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Ramallah, on October 7, 2015. New violence rocked Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including a stabbing in annexed east Jerusalem, even as Israel and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas took steps to ease tensions. (Photo by Abbas Momani/AFP Photo)

Electric cars sit charging in a parking garage at the University of California, Irvine January 26, 2015. “The Irvine Smart Grid Demonstration”, a $79 million project funded half by federal stimulus money and half by Edison and partners like UC Irvine, was launched in 2010. The $12 billion utility's research team Southern California Edison is testing everything from charging electronic vehicles via cell phone to devices that smooth out the power created by rooftop solar panels. Those are some of the roughly 60 projects in the works at Edison's Advanced Technology division. It has a small $19 million annual budget, but its influence far exceeds that. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

Ali Carter of England looks on during the match against Stuart Bingham of England during the 2011 China Open at Beijing University Students Gymnasium on March 30, 2011 in Beijing, China.

A model showcases designs on the catwalk during Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology and Taiwan Shin Chien University Graduates Collection show of China Fashion Week A/W 2011 on March 25, 2011 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)

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)