Noriaki Iwashima gestures as he lies in a coffin to try it out during an end-of-life seminar held by Japan's largest retailer Aeon Co in Tokyo October 24, 2014. Funeral arrangements are normally left to those who have been left behind but the latest trend in Japan, which literally translates to “End of life” preparations, is for the ageing to prepare their own funerals and graves before they set off on their journey to the great beyond. With a population that is expected to shrink by nearly 30 million people over the next 50 years, the market for funerals, graves and anything related to the afterlife is still very much alive. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Reuters)

Each year Nikon Small World recognizes the excellence of photography taken under the microscope. The contest showcases the beauty and complexity of life. Anyone interested in microscopy and photography can enter the contest and in its 42nd year, Nikon Small World received 2,000 entries from 70 countries. Here: 11th Place; Scales of a butterfly wing underside (Vanessa atalanta). (Photo by Francis Sneyers/Nikon's Small World 2016)

Belgian Fran Vanhoutte celebrates as she crosses the finish line at the finals of the women's 500m +D speed skating event, at the World Games 2025, in Chenghdu, China, on Thursday 14 August 2025. This year, the World Games take place from 7 to 17 August. (Photo by Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Born with a rare condition, the artist has chronicled her life in portraits – capturing everything from her tattooed prosthetics to the tentacled creature she stitched together on the shores of Naoshima. Here: Ophelia (2013). From a series of photos of imagined women exhibited at the 2013 Aichi Triennale. Here, Katayama invokes Hamlet’s tragic heroine, after the painting by British pre-Raphaelite John Everett Millais. (Photo by Mari Katayama/The Guardian)

English fashion model Daisy Lowe seen at LFW s/s 2018: Off-White x Mytheresa.com – intimate dinner at St John Bar & Restaurant during London Fashion Week September 2017 on September 17, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by MagicMoments UK)

Second placed Kalex Moto2 Tito Rabat (rear R) of Spain and third placed Kalex Moto2 Alex Rins of Spain spray with champagne during the award ceremony for the Czech Grand Prix in Brno, Czech Republic, August 16, 2015. (Photo by David W. Cerny/Reuters)

Founded in 1989, the Icehotel in Swedish Lapland is built from the snow up each year, using ice from the local river. The rooms are designed by international artists and this year feature spacemen and an ice queen. The hotel has 35 suites, featuring ice carvings designed by 36 different artists from 17 countries. (Photo by Asaf Kliger/IceHotel/The Guardian)

A snowflake rests on black velvet after a snowfall in Knoxville on Tuesday, January 28, 2014. (Photo by Adam Lau/News Sentinel)