These are the fascinating pictures of miniature table sculptures molded around bonsai trees that take up to a painstaking 18 months to create. Japanese illustrator Takanori Aiba, 58, has built the intriguing scale models of windmills, lighthouses and even the Michelin Man.He delicately uses craft paper, plaster, acrylic resin, paint and plastic to create the host of sprawling miniature communities that wrap around the tiny trees.Following his work as an illustrator for Japanese fashion magazine POPYE he has spent the last nine years producing the detailed mini worlds.The creations take at least three months to construct with his Ice Cream Package Tower taking an astonishing 18 months work. Since 2003, he has made eight models, with 10 more planned over the next few years.
A BEAUTIFUL sight for the eyes and the imagination, these liquid sculptures take shape in many different colours and formations .
THIS RING of fire in the sky is the annular solar eclipse that wowed our cousins down-under .
A group of shelter dogs showcase their loveable personalities in a series of passport-style photographs - in the hope of finding their forever homes .
A diver looks like a minnow as she swims alongside a gigantic whale shark, the largest species of fish on the planet .
While often referred to as the kings of the jungle, gorillas - for all their might - are notorious hydrophobes .
A six-year-old boy has been left almost blind after a one-in-a-million allergic reaction to antibiotics .
A group of otters put on a show of aqua aerobics, as they raise their flippers perfectly in sync .
WELCOME to all that remains of Britain's once state-of-the-art military hospital where plastic surgery was pioneered for injured WW1 troops who survived the SOMME .
An artist has NAILED IT by creating beautiful and perfectly precise artwork using a hammer and 30,000 nails .
A diabetic who was addicted to energy drinks has lost 8st after doctors warned her habit was blinding her .
Recovering from a rare form of breast cancer, Deborah Barnett, 43, of Stoke-on-Trent, thought she'd made it through the worst, but she was betrayed by former colleague Sandra Ramsay, of Mow Cop Road, Mow Cop, Stoke-on-Trent .