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.
Forget One Direction and Cheryl Cole, a new calendar is celebrating Britain's real heroes - the nation's most inspiring mums .
WELCOME to the real Frankenstein's lab where carefully pickled creatures are left to stew in jars .
These adorable pictures show the moment two cuddly red panda cubs take their first look at the outside world and are weighed for the very first time .
A former soldier who bravely took on penny-pinching NHS bosses in his fight against terminal cancer has died, aged 37 .
If you tune into primetime coverage of the 2012 Olympic Games, you’re most likely going to see London’s new Aquatic Center from many angles as athletes from all around the globe compete for the top spot on the podium .
A BAMBI was dramatically caught in mid-air by a greedy Nile crocodile in a once-in-a-million flying pincer move .
A teenage girl nicknamed 'spotty dog' by school bullies has embraced the hundreds of birthmarks that cover her entire face and body .
A psychology student from California looks so much like Game of Thrones' Jon Snow that he is mobbed by fans of the fantasy show .
A Kermit the Frog toy made famous by travelling the world is still globehopping, having racked up an incredible 420,000 kilometres to some of the world's furthest flung places .
A reformed boozer, who spent nine months partying in Magaluf, has shed over 6 stone after ditching her ladette lifestyle to become a fitness fanatic .
This frozen lighthouse in Michigan could easily be mistaken for a still from the snow swept disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow .
A striped marlin means business as it spots lunch and spears a small fish .