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.
FIFTEEEN years after it was closed pictures by a British teacher show the calamity Hong Kong airport that was closed for being too dangerous .
Some parents would gasp at the thought of their children playing with a toy gun, but these Russian children are actually encouraged to take up real arms .
From vivid greens to glowing pinks, the colours of the aurora borealis fill the night sky above a snow covered Lapland .
A woman has told how her addiction to eating bath bubbles during her pregnancy was better than SEX .
THE CRAZE for mimicking the video game Streetfighter has spread to the streets of London .
INSIDE Britain's last Naval hospital where scurvy was cured looks like an NHS time capsule .
A lazy tree frog, tired of hopping along a branch, chooses the slowest form of transport when it jumps on top of an unsuspecting snail .
With the full moon looming behind him, this polar bear nestles down for the night .
An adorable baby girl was born with a heart-shaped birthmark on her forehead - after being conceived on Valentine's Day .
A former chocolate addict, who used to gobble more than a THOUSAND bars a year, has shed an astonishing 10st after giving up her favourite treats .
WELCOME to the pretty 122-inch-tall red dwelling that lays claim to the title of the UK's smallest house .
LIFTING their heads high and bumping beaks, these aggressive pelicans clash over fish .