The eighth annual Nipponbashi Street Festa stamped Osaka March 20, 2012 (Nipponbashi is Osaka’s geek district – much like Akihabara is for Tokyo). Cosplayers turned up in colourful outfits, dressing as characters from their favourite manga, anime, and video games. The street was closed to cars, and otaku flooded the streets, snapping pics, cosplaying, and hanging out.

On July 7, Chinese archaeologists from the Academy of Social Sciences announced that they have reconstituted a 5,300-year-old Mongolion pottery statue found at a relic site in North China, according to Xinhua news agency.

Gardener Peter Glazebrook poses for photographers with his world record breaking onion at The Harrogate Autumn Flower Show on September 16, 2011 in Harrogate, England. Peter Glazebrook from Newark, Nottinghamshire claimed a Guinness World Record with his giant onion weighing 8.150 kg. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Activists protest against the upcoming visit of Pope Benedict XVI on the eve of his arrival on September 21,2011 in Berlin, Germany. A variety of groups, including the poltically left-wing as well as gay and lesbian rights advocates, partook in the demonstration. The Pope is scheduled to visit Germany from September 22–25. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

High winds blow sand across the highway near the original north shore of Owens Lake, now miles from the nearest pool of water, on May 5, 2007 near Lone Pine, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

A red deer stag watches from the cover of a bracken thicket during the autumn rutting season at Richmond Park on October 10, 2011 in London, England. Autumn sees the start of the “Rutting” season where the stags and bucks bellow in an attempt to attract female does and hinds. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)