Brendan Smialowski / AFP - Getty Images
Customers try on Darth Vader and nun costumes at Backstage in Washington, D.C., Oct. 25, 2012. The store, which largely caters to theater productions, is usually busy in October as people rent and buy costumes for Halloween.
Ramon Espinosa / AP
A young student stretches out on her first day back to school at the Angela Landa elementary school in Old Havana, Cuba, Sept. 3, 2012. Some 2 million Cuban students began classes for the new school year.
Ramon Espinosa / AP
Michael Aladro, 10, grimaces as his mother Marilys sprays cologne for his first day back to school in Old Havana, Cuba, Sept. 3.
Franklin Reyes / AP
Liz de la Caridad Guedez checks out her new backpack prior to leaving home for her first day back to school in Havana, Cuba, Sept. 3.
Ramon Espinosa / AP
Young students stand at attention as they listen to the Cuban national anthem on their first day back to school at the Angela Landa elementary school in Old Havana, Cuba, Sept. 3.
Ramon Espinosa / AP
Michael Aladro's school uniform hangs on a window at his home during his first day back to school in Old Havana, Cuba, Sept. 3.
Reuters
Chinese geisha trainee Rinka, born as Zhang Xue in Shenyang, China, puts on makeup at a geisha school in the port town of Shimoda, Japan on Aug. 3, 2012.
Reuters - It takes Rinka at least two hours to apply her thick white makeup and get dressed in an elaborate kimono on formal occasions, as is typical of most trainee geisha.
But 29-year-old Rinka is different. She is a Chinese national hoping to take her place among the ranks of Japan's ancient but fading profession of female entertainers known for their beauty, skill at traditional arts and witty conversation.
Born in Shenyang, China, she grew up as Zhang Xue before moving to Japan at the age of 14, one of only a handful of foreigners to try to join the geisha ranks. Read More
Reuters
Chinese geisha trainee Rinka affixes a wig as her 72-year-old geisha matron Kanoya assists her in the port town of Shimoda, Japan on Aug. 3.
Reuters
Chinese geisha trainee Rinka lights candles before a summer festival near her geisha school building in the port town of Shimoda, Japan on Aug. 3.
Julio Cortez / AP
A full moon rises behind the New York City skyline seen from Eagle Rock Reservation in West Orange, N.J., Friday, April 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Space.com reports: Traditionally, the April full moon is known as "the Pink Moon," supposedly as a tribute to the grass pink or wild ground phlox, considered one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other monikers include the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon and, among coastal Native American tribes, the Full Fish Moon, for when the shad came upstream to spawn.
(Traditional names for the full moons of the year are found in some publications, such as the Farmers' Almanac. We also published the complete list of full moon names here on Space.com. The origins of these names have been traced back to Native America, though they may also have evolved from old England or, as Guy Ottewell, editor of the annual publication Astronomical Calendar, suggests, "writer's fancy.")
Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters
A child writes with a chalk to celebrate the Shreepanchami festival at the Saraswati temple in Kathmandu on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012.
Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters
Boys climb the wall of the Saraswati temple to write with chalk while celebrating the Shreepanchami festival in Kathmandu.
Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters
A child writes with a chalk on the wall of the Saraswati temple.
Wikipedia: Shreepanchami festival is a Hindu festival celebrating Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, music and art. It is celebrated every year on the first day of spring. Traditionally during this festival children are taught to write their first words and most educational institutions organize special prayer for Saraswati.
The color yellow also plays an important role in this festival, in that people usually wear yellow garments, Saraswati is worshipped dressed in yellow, and yellow sweets are consumed within the families.
Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters
Boys write with chalk to celebrate the Shreepanchami festival at the Saraswati temple in Kathmandu.
Sergey Dolzhenko / EPA
A model shows a new hair style during an annual hairdressers contest in Kiev, Ukraine, Feb. 9.
Sergey Dolzhenko / EPA
A model shows a new hair style during an annual hairdressers contest in Kiev, Ukraine, Feb. 9.
Sergey Dolzhenko / EPA
A model gets make-up done backstage prior an annual hairdressers contest in Kiev, Ukraine, Feb. 9. The international festival of hairdresser's art, perfume and decorative cosmetics 'InterCHARM-Ukraine 2011' takes place in Kiev, Feb. 9-12.
Efrem Lukatsky / AP
A stylist prepares a hair creation during the International Festival of Hairdresser Art in Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2011.
The makeup is almost as fun as the hair-dos.
AP moved these three photographs from Havana today by photographer, Javier Galeano.
Nike's 'Just Do It' slogan came to mind when I saw them.
Javier Galeano / AP
A teenager lifts weights in an improvised gym in Havana, Cuba, Thursday Jan.13, 2011
Javier Galeano / AP
Two teenagers exercise in an improvised gym in Havana, Cuba, Thursday Jan.13, 2011.
Javier Galeano / AP
A teenager exercises in an improvised gym in Havana, Cuba, Thursday Jan.13, 2011.
NASA
On the day of the winter solstice, we share this iconic image of Earth's city lights at night. From now until the summer solstice, the days will get longer and longer.
For those of us who feel as if there's never enough daylight to get all the stuff done that we need to get done leading up to the holidays, here's a ray of hope: Winter officially begins today in the Northern Hemisphere. That means each day from tomorrow on will get a little bit longer.
The longest night of the year is a good time to marvel at how we light up the night. This iconic image, called "Earth at Night," was stitched together from data gathered by a swarm of Defense Department satellites. The "cloudless" view maps the locations of permanent lights on the Earth's surface. It serves as a handy guide for where we live and the state of development around the world.
The lights, overlaid on a map for reference, make clear our preference to settle along coastlines and transportation networks. The interstate system in the U.S., for example, appears as a lattice connecting brighter dots. In northern Africa, the Nile River looks like a bright thread through a sea of darkness.
The brightest areas correspond with the most urbanized areas, but not necessarily the most populated. Note the difference, for instance, between Western Europe and China. More than 100 years since the invention of electric light, some regions of the planet remain thinly populated and unlit. Antarctica looks completely dark, as do vast swaths of jungle in Africa and South America.
For more views of Earth from space, check out these past offerings from the Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar. We've also included links to other online Advent calendars that have been serving up space images daily since the beginning of the month:
Connect with the Cosmic Log community by hitting the "like" button on the Cosmic Log Facebook page or following msnbc.com's science editor, Alan Boyle, on Twitter (@b0yle).
Valerie Macon / AFP - Getty Images
Preview of Suprasensorial on Dec. 10, 2010, Experiments in Light, Color, and Space exhibition which will open December 12 at the MOCA, downtown Los Angeles, California. The exhibition aims to illuminate the field by expanding the dialogue surrounding Light and Space practises in contemporary visual art.
Valerie Macon / AFP - Getty Images
Preview of Suprasensorial on Dec. 10, 2010, Experiments in Light, Color, and Space exhibition.
Valerie Macon / AFP - Getty Images
Preview of Suprasensorial on Dec. 10, 2010, Experiments in Light, Color, and Space exhibition.
What a cool exhibition, I’d love to see it. For more information about this exhibit go here.
Nacho Doce / Reuters
Artist Lucy McRae of Australia poses after she glued safety pins on part of her body during the 'Rojo Nova work in progress' at the Museum of Image and Sound in Sao Paulo, Brazil on July 27.
This engaging portrait was eliminated from this week's The Week in Pictures during the final round of editing. While the content was certainly unique, the editors felt the image didn't quite stand up to those that we did include in the final slideshow - a polar bear pawing a cruise ship, a Baptism photographed underwater, an iris-enlarging night scene and more.
Click to see the full slideshow for the week of July 22 - 29 and cast your vote. Tell us below, which image do you like best this week, and why?
To see more about how we edit The Week in Pictures each Thursday, check out this Behind the Scenes video.
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