Randy Scott Slavin's photography is surrealism based in reality. His work portrays land and cityscapes in a 360 degree view, a perspective closer to that of the human eye than a 2D photograph, he says. Slavin's "Alternate Perspectives" is a series of photographs of a single location or landmark pieced together to create a 360 degree perspective in a flat image. The results are whimsical, and occasionally eerie, scenes that reflect the portion and scale of Slavin's surroundings when he took the photo.

Photographer Howard Schatz had an idea: place actors in a series of roles and dramatic situations to reveal the essence of their characters. Such was the premise behind his book, In Character: Actors Acting, which captures some of Hollywood’s most emotive stars in the act of, well, making faces. Luckily for us, he continued the tradition for Vanity Fair. Here are some of the best.

Keep your eyes peeled: A Chinese teenager slipped and stabbed himself in the face with a 7cm knife while peeling an apple. Ren Hanzhi's father recalled: “He was walking to the sofa while peeling the apple. Suddenly he slipped down and his face hit onto the sharp knife. I dared not pull out the knife as my son was screaming”. The nearest hospital referred the 13-year-old to a larger unit. Chief surgeon Peng Liwei, who operated to remove the knife, commented: “It's shocking. The knife, which is more than 20cm long, penetrated 7cm into his face. The surgery was successful and the patient could recover fully in around a month”. (Photo by Rex Features)

The President tree is the name of a giant sequoia located in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park in the United States, east of Visalia, California. The tree is believed to be at least 3,200 years old.
The tree was named after President Warren G. Harding in 1923. Nearby trees include Chief Sequoyah, the 27th largest giant sequoia in the world, and the Congress Group, two dense stands of medium sized sequoias that represent the "House" and "Senate".

A wild monkey has stunned animal lovers after it adopted an abandoned kitten and cared for it as his own. The young long-tailed macaque monkey was spotted in a forest protectively nuzzling and grooming the ginger kitten, making sure no harm came to it.

Skoda caused a huge stir with its car made out of cake. The advert features an army of bakers creating a Fabia out of an array of tasty baked treats, while Julie Andrews sings about her favourite things in the background. The chassis is built from huge slabs of sponge cake. Its paintwork is marzipan. Golden Syrup lubricates the engine. And the roof is finished with sugar.

Google has built its first self-driving car prototypes and hopes to test hundreds more models this summer. If all goes well, the company is planning a pilot program in California over the next few years.