This masked reveler at last year's Bio Taiwan Exhibition was enjoying two kinds of fluorescent protein: one on her lips, and one in her drink. At last, synthetic biology that isn't designed to improve the human condition, cure disease, or revolutionize anything. Nope, it's just there to look cool. Want to see an even cooler — and more expensive — form of facial adornment from the Bio Taiwan Exhibition?

This is a gold face mask. It really has no purpose other than costing $105 and looking like something you'd get done on Raisa the pleasure planet from Star Trek. AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying.