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 SPECTRUM of colours fills the sky during this spectacular and natural display of light .
Sophie Carr, 23, from Swindon, was just six when her older brother Alex, then 12, abused her during a game of mummies and daddies .
HOPPING onto the scales, these adorable baby Humboldt penguins are ready for their first weigh-in .
A BROWN bear wades through waters in Alaska and waits for his lunch .
SOARING at 112 miles per hour through the air, this petite blonde certainly lives up to her title as the fastest flying woman in the world .
IN a galaxy not so far away lies a magical display of lights that could be the latest image from NASA .
Giancarlo pictured at home during his recovery, wearing his compression garments - A mother-of-three has revealed how her 10-month-old son was severely burnt at nursery .
Primed and ready for action, this collection of striking images from the battlefield could be mistaken for authentic photos taking during World War II .
A middle-aged couple from Somerset have developed a rather unusual hobby to occupy their time: writing to killers on death row .
STARING eagerly into the camera, this little toad is full of curiosity .
A PENSIONER was left with a fractured jaw after being beaten and robbed outside his home in Birmingham last weekend .
A woman with an irrational fear of toilets goes POTTY on the loo and runs away when she flushes, terrified it will swallow her up .