A mahout (elephant driver) walks a baby elephant across the city streets at night September 27, 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand. (Photo Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

Waves crash over lava as it flows into the ocean near Volcanoes National Park in Kalapana, Hawaii on November 27, 2012. A volcano on Hawaii's largest island is spilling lava into the ocean, creating a rare and spectacular fusion of steam and waves that officials said on Tuesday could attract thrill seeking visitors if it continues. (Photo by Hugh Gentry/Reuters)

William Gibson is not one of the authors that spits out novels like a machine – in his long and fruitful career he has only published 11 novels andof short stories and articles in the tens each. Still his impact on modern literature was huge – the “noir prophet” of the cyberpunk subgenre (that he was one of the pioneers of) has predicted the rise of reality television, virtual reality, video games and the internet. He is a Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction writer, with a special eye for what the future might bring.

Tourists and journalists stand next to a newly displayed statue of pharaoh Amenhotep III and his wife Tiye (Down) in Egypt's temple city of Luxor on March 23, 2014. Two colossal statues of pharaoh Amenhotep III were unveiled by archaeologists today in their original sites in the funerary temple of the king, on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor, adding to the existing two famous ancient Memnon colossi. (Photo by Khaled Desouki/AFP Photo)

A Scots soldier has won a top award for his photos vividly depicting Army life in Afghanistan. Corporal Jamie Peters took the overall first prize for his portfolio in the annual Army Photographic Competition. Photo: Jamie's overall winning image entitled “Celtic Warrior” and shows Private Ross Cunningham from 1 Scots cleaning his personal weapon. (Photo by Jamie Peters/PA Wire)

A great tit eats food from the top of a photographer's hat as the press wait for politicians on Downing Street on December 16, 2019 in London, England. The UK's Prime Minister is set to hold a mini Cabinet reshuffle to replace outgoing ministers following last week's general election victory. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

A woman in a face mask dances inside the club on the opening of the summer season for “Villa delle Rose”, one of the most famous clubs on the Adriatic Coast on June 20, 2020 in Rimini, Italy. The Villa delle Rose is among the first dance clubs to reopen in the Adriatic Riviera after the Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo by Max Cavallari/Getty Images)

People participate in the first day of Thingyan Water Festival in Naypyitaw, Myanmar on April 13, 2018. The annual water festival, known as Thingyan, features large groups of people congregating to celebrate the by splashing water and throwing powder at each other's faces as a symbol of cleansing and washing away the sins from the old year. It marks the start of the traditional New Year and is similarly celebrated in countries such as Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. (Photo by Hein Htet/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)