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.
EAGERLY BITING his nails, this little squirrel is clearly nervous of looming predators as he searches for his meal .
A brave praying mantis makes an unusual friend in an Oriental garden lizard .
DIVING boffins fired harpoons into 30-foot-long whale sharks in a bid to put the sea-beasts on Google Maps .
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 six-year-old boy has been left almost blind after a one-in-a-million allergic reaction to antibiotics .
AN underground HOBBIT motel inspired by JRR Tolkien is just one of the unique places to stay at the world's most unusual hotel complex .
CREATED over 60 years ago, this weighty machine was the Photoshop of its time .
VENTURING into the ocean with self-made spears and nets, the fishermen of Zanzibar put their lives on the line when they catch food for their families .
After Leigh Hancock, 36, joined Fallon Bramall's boxing gym she owned with her husband, the pair took him under their wing .
THESE LOVE BIRDS can’t keep their beaks off each other as they share a very public display of affection .
A former obese woman has told how she lost 19st, but was so terrified of gaining weight that she ended up developing an eating disorder .