An undercover police officer, who had been marching with anti-police demonstrators, aims his gun at protesters after some in the crowd attacked him and his partner in Oakland, California December 10, 2014. Police said more than 100 demonstrators marched in Berkeley, California, which has a history of social activism. Under cloudy skies, turnout was smaller than earlier in the week, when demonstrators in the area threw rocks at police and shut down a major freeway. (Photo by Noah Berger/Reuters)

While communism, collectivism, worms, dry rot and casual looting failed to destroy the majestic wooden churches of Russia, it may be ordinary neglect that finally does them in. Dwindled now to several hundred remaining examples, these glories of vernacular architecture lie scattered amid the vastness of the world’s largest country. Just over a decade ago, Richard Davies, a British architectural photographer, struck out on a mission to record the fragile and poetic structures. Austerely beautiful and haunting, “Wooden Churches: Traveling in the Russian North” (White Sea Publishing; $132) is the result. Covering thousands of miles, Mr. Davies described how he and the writer Matilda Moreton tracked down the survivors from among the thousands of onion-domed structures built after Prince Vladimir converted to Christianity in 988.

NASA says it could be another 20 years before humans touch down on Mars, but in a sense, the Mars Society has been exploring the red planet for more than a decade – in Utah. Photo: Csilla Orgel, a geologist of Crew 125 EuroMoonMars B mission, makes her way back to the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in the Utah desert March 3, 2013. The MDRS aims to investigate the feasibility of a human exploration of Mars and uses the Utah desert's Mars-like terrain to simulate working conditions on the red planet. Scientists, students and enthusiasts work together developing field tactics and studying the terrain. All outdoor exploration is done wearing simulated spacesuits and carrying air supply packs and crews live together in a small communication base with limited amounts of electricity, food, oxygen and water. Everything needed to survive must be produced, fixed and replaced on site. (Photo by Jim Urquhart/Reuters)

“eLEGS is a wearable, artificially intelligent, bionic device that enables people with paralysis to stand up and walk again. The exoskeleton is battery-powered and rechargeable, fitting comfortably and securely over clothing. Initially, eLEGS will be used under medical supervision for rehabilitation and training”. – BerkeleyBionics.com

Photo: Paralysis victim Stephanie Sablan (L) is helped by physical therapist Shonna Moran as she walks using eLEGS robotic legs at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center on May 25, 2011 in San Jose, California. Sablan, 24, was paralyzed from the waist down earlier this year when she was in a car accident and has begun using the newly developed eLEGS made by Berkeley Bionics. The robot-like battery powered eLEGS fit over clothing and enables people with paralysis to stand up and walk again. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Chinese woman Zhang Jing, known as the “Ugly Girl” smiles after doctors removed the stitches from her fourth session of cosmetic surgery at a hospital on March 23, 2005 in Shanghai, China. Zhang Jing, 26 years old, from Tianjin Municipality, was forced to leave school because her classmates sneered at her appearance during her teenage years. After leaving junior high school, Zhang found herself still unacceptable by society, she struggled to look for a job, but was turned down by one thousand job applications in ten years. Zhang's story was widely reported by the media in 2003, this helped her find a job and get three chances of free plastic surgery. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

“A cuddle party or cuddle puddle is an event designed with the intention of allowing people to experience non-sexual group physical intimacy through cuddling. Cuddle parties are described by organizers as “workshop/social-events” that gives adults an opportunity to “give and receive welcomed affectionate touch in a no-expectation, friendly setting, according to your needs, desires, interests, and boundaries”. Cuddle parties are described as non-sexual events but kissing may occur at some parties”. – Wikipedia

Photo: People cuddle during an a “Cuddle Party” October 16, 2004 in New York City. Started by Reid Mihalko and Marcia Baczynski, cuddle parties are events for adults to get together and explore affectionate touch and communication without it becoming sexualized. At the parties, strangers spend time introducing themselves and setting boundaries before lying down to cuddle. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

A parrot stuck on a roof for three days greeted firefighters sent to its aid on August 13, 2018 with a four-letter tirade. Jessie, the multi-lingual Macaw, flipped the bird after escaping from her owner's home in Edmonton, north London, UK. When she could not be lured down from a neighbour's roof, firefighters were called out and told to tell the bird “I love you” – to which Jessie replied “I love you back”. But she then ruffled her would-be rescuers' feathers by telling them to “f**k off” before flying off to another nearby rooftop. The foul-mouthed pet also speaks Turkish and Greek according to its owner, but had its own choice words in English for the rescue team. As Jessie wasn't injured, the firefighters, who had been called in by the RSPCA, left her on her perch. The parrot was later reunited with its owner. (Photo by Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Stray dogs run at dog sanctuary Territorio de Zaguates or “Land of the Strays” in Carrizal de Alajuela, Costa Rica, April 20, 2016. In a lush, sprawling corner of Costa Rica, hundreds of dogs roam freely on a hillside – among the luckiest strays on earth. Fed, groomed and cared for by vets, more than 750 dogs rescued from the streets of Costa Rica inhabit Territorio de Zaguates or “Land of the Strays”, a pooch paradise. (Photo by Juan Carlos Ulate/Reuters)