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Apr 7, 2019
Busy building wetlands
For International Beaver Day, we take a peek at one of nature"s most prolific engineers, the beaver. This sleek swimmer is at Schwabacher’s Landing, a boat landing along the east shore of the Snake River in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park. Beavers build dams to help keep their lodges and litters safe, but the positive impacts ripple through the environment: restoring wetlands, combating climate change, and removing fertilizer runoff. If we protect their habitat, beavers will pay it forward by creating the wetlands so many threatened or endangered species rely on.
Desktop Version
Apr 6, 2019
Make way for robots
Happy Robotics Week! Every April, people across the country come together to educate and inspire students about the importance of robotics, which can now be found just about everywhere, contributing to almost every industry. Many people now have robots in their homes to help with simple housekeeping tasks, but robots are also capable of incredibly complex and delicate work. For example, robotic surgery allows doctors to make more precise movements than possible by a human hand. Reconnaissance robots are used by police to gather intel in situations that are too dangerous for humans. And robots are experts at rote tasks that we humans find boring, like repetitive assembly work.
Desktop Version
Apr 5, 2019
A day of death and rebirth
Today, places like this nature path in Longyan, China, will be full of families. A springtime walk with loved ones is often part of the Qingming Festival happening today. Qingming translates as ‘Pure Brightness,’ though it’s also called Tomb-Sweeping Day. It’s a time to honor your deceased ancestors, often by cleaning and decorating their graves, and gathering the family together to share happy memories of those relatives. The solemnity is balanced by the arrival of spring, so some Qingming observances include spending time outdoors with family.
Desktop Version
Apr 4, 2019
Taking the forest to the cloud
For Earth Month, we’re highlighting the power of trees, which help to clean our air and watersheds while providing habitat for myriad species, including our own. In urban areas, trees provide unique benefits by cooling area temperatures, producing oxygen, increasing property values, and generally improving the scenery.
Desktop Version
Apr 3, 2019
Dark skies over New Mexico
We’re celebrating International Dark-Sky Week with an image from a corner of New Mexico that’s one of the best places to stargaze in the continental United States. Dark-Sky Week is observed during the first new moon of April, when stars shine more brightly because the moon isn’t visible. The event was created to bring attention to the harmful effects of artificial light on the natural world, and to remind us of the beauty of an unadulterated night sky. Light pollution not only impacts our ability to see the stars and to sleep soundly, but also creates challenges for many nocturnal species, migrating birds, and even baby sea turtles. So, turn out those lights, look up, and be amazed at the sky that your great-great-grandparents saw.
Desktop Version
Apr 2, 2019
Books for children of all ages
The books shown on our homepage are a selection of works by the 19th-century Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. His birthday today is the inspiration for International Children’s Book Day. Since 1967, the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) has used the occasion of Andersen’s birthday to encourage readers young and old to make time for reading. Hans Christian Andersen made time for writing: By some estimates, he crafted more than 3,000 fairy tales—some based on stories he was told as a child. He also wrote poetry, novels, and even travel books. What childhood favorite inspired your love of literature?
Desktop Version
Apr 1, 2019
Unbearable cuteness
A photographer happened to catch these brown bear cubs in the act of stealing a boat. Patiently, he watched from afar, snapping photo after photo. Realizing what the cubs were doing, he knew he should document this event. Intent on getting the boat into the water, the cubs worked like they’d done this before. Lighting out onto the lake, the bears seemed to enjoy the ride.
Desktop Version
Mar 31, 2019
Celebrating a Paris landmark
Today we celebrate the 130th anniversary of the Eiffel Tower, which doesn’t look a day over 129, if you ask us. The wrought-iron latticework tower is named for French civil engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose firm designed and built the structure. Originally created for the 1889 World’s Fair, the Eiffel Tower was the world"s tallest structure for more than 40 years, until New York’s Chrysler Building edged it out in 1930.
Desktop Version
Mar 30, 2019
Here’s why landmarks are going dark
Buildings around the world will go dark for 60 minutes this evening in a voluntary event known as Earth Hour. This grassroots effort was started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, by the Australian branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature (aka World Wildlife Fund), which encouraged Sydneysiders to show their support for climate action. Since then, it’s grown into a global movement to raise awareness of our energy consumption and the effects of climate change on our planet.
Desktop Version
Mar 29, 2019
A place called ‘Peace’ in India
Today we"re visiting Auroville, India, aka "The City of Dawn." In 1968, French-born guru and yogi Mirra Alfassa founded this spiritual community in southern India as a place where people of all races, religions, and nationalities could live together peacefully. Although conceived as a utopia for 50,000, only about 2,800 people from over 50 countries live here today. The golden metallic orb, the Matrimandir, is considered the soul of the city, standing in the center of the 2,000-acre township in an area called "Peace." Silence is maintained inside the sphere. A spiraling ramp leads up to a white-marble, air-conditioned inner chamber designed for one to find one"s consciousness. Reservations required—at least for tourists.
Desktop Version
Mar 28, 2019
Let us introduce you…
Say hello to the rufous-tailed hummingbird. This female is sitting in her tiny nest. Males look similar—lots of green, just like the females, but they have a bit more glitter on the throat and breast. Both sexes have a reddish-brown (rufous) forked tail—hence the name. Rufous-tailed hummingbirds are found in forests, gardens, and coffee plantations from southern Mexico down into South America, and they play an important role in pollination. Not to be confused with the smaller rufous hummingbird, which migrates through North America, the rufous-tailed is medium-sized and, like most hummingbirds, is very territorial when it comes to protecting its favorite feeding spots.
Desktop Version
Mar 27, 2019
Sweet! It’s maple syrup season
That sweetness in the air is not just the arrival of springtime—maple syrup season has arrived in Quebec. Taps drilled into the maple trees collect oozing sap in buckets like these. The sap is then heated to evaporate excess water, leaving the concentrated sugary syrup—yum. And Canada takes its maple syrup very seriously. Producing about 70 percent of the world’s maple syrup, Quebec even has its own ‘maple syrup cartel,’ which works to keep prices stable and maintains the Global Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve. Now, that’s sticky business.
Desktop Version
Mar 26, 2019
The forecast calls for blooms
Cherry blossom season in Japan is a beloved tradition that involves family gatherings, festivals, and spending time outdoors. Admiring the ‘sakura’—or cherry blossoms—has been a national pastime for centuries. The custom of enjoying the cherry blossoms is known as ‘hanami,’ and it’s commonly done by picnicking under the flowering branches. For late-night picnics, participants hang paper lanterns in the trees to illuminate the blooms. This image comes from the Meguro River, a popular place for viewing the sakura in Tokyo. Are there cherry trees blooming where you live?
Desktop Version
Mar 25, 2019
Greece celebrates its independence
For Greek Independence Day, we’ve got a sprawling view of Athens, one of the oldest cities in the world and considered the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, and the Olympic Games, among other foundational achievements. While Athens has been inhabited for thousands of years, it became the capital of Greece after the country gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in the Greek War of Independence, which started in 1821 and lasted until 1829. Back then, the city was home to about 4,000 people. Today, more than 600,000 people live in Athens, with nearly 4 million in the metro area. Independence Day celebrations in the city start on March 24 with the annual students" parade and continue the following day with a grand parade that features marching bands and a procession of military vehicles.
Desktop Version
Mar 24, 2019
30 years after Exxon Valdez
Thirty years ago today, the largest oil tanker spill in US history occurred here in Alaska’s Prince William Sound. Nearly 11 million gallons of oil flowed into the once-pristine waters when the Exxon Valdez oil tanker struck Bligh Reef. The area is so remote that cleanup efforts were delayed, allowing 1,300 miles of shoreline to be contaminated. The US Fish & Wildlife Service estimates that among other casualties, more than 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, and 22 orcas were lost. The spill, while devastating, has provided a living laboratory as scientists study how the ecosystem recovers—and doesn’t. Some species and their habitat are still impacted by the spill. There is at least one highlight: Government agencies say the sea otter population here has fully recovered; however, the local subspecies as a whole remains endangered.
Desktop Version
Mar 23, 2019
What happened to these clouds?
Today is World Meteorology Day, so we’re high up in the atmosphere, above the clouds, for a satellite view of fallstreak holes. These gaps in the clouds are sometimes called hole-punch clouds. The holes form when supercooled water droplets suddenly freeze—often when a plane flies through the cloud—and then fall, leaving an opening in the formation. Scientists are still gaining new insights on how fallstreak holes form and behave.
Desktop Version
Mar 22, 2019
Fresh water on the Silk Road
No, these aren’t the ruins of an ancient amusement park in Western China. These two water wheels on the Tashkurgan River are part of the irrigation system that helps keep the 13,000 or so residents of Tashkurgan supplied with fresh water even though the region receives less than 3 inches of precipitation each year. That reliable access to fresh water is one of the reasons this area has been inhabited for thousands of years and made it an important stop on the ancient Silk Road trade route. Highlighting the importance of fresh water is the goal of World Water Day, which falls on March 22 every year. This year’s theme is "Leaving no one behind." With over 2.1 billion people living without safe water at home, it’s one of the most ambitious of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Desktop Version
Mar 21, 2019
The power of the forest
For International Day of Forests today, we’re looking at a baobab grove in Senegal. The indigenous cultures of sub-Saharan Africa, where baobabs grow wild, have long relied on the trees for a variety of uses. The fruit, seeds, and leaves are all edible, and in Tanzania, the wood pulp is a fermentation ingredient in local beers. Forests of all kinds provide many natural resources that humans use, and sometimes overuse. This year’s theme for International Day of Forests is ‘forests and education’; it’s an effort to get us all thinking about the more abstract benefits of healthy forests. A dense forest can clean both the air and water by pulling carbon compounds and other pollutants out of the ecosystem, and forests greatly reduce erosion.
Desktop Version
Mar 20, 2019
Hello, spring!
Today’s the first day of spring, otherwise known as the spring equinox. But what is an equinox, exactly? The answer lies in the tilt of the Earth’s axis. When it’s winter in the Northern Hemisphere, those of us above the equator are tilted away from the sun, giving us shorter days and longer nights. In summer, we’re tilted toward the sun, so we can enjoy longer days and shorter nights. But the equinox is right in between. It"s the moment during Earth"s annual revolution around the sun when its axis is neither tilting away nor tilting toward the sun, giving everyone on the planet an equal split of day and night. This phenomenon happens twice a year—in March and again in September. For folks in the Northern Hemisphere, today signals a shift toward the long days of summer. But in the Southern Hemisphere, everything"s flipped. It"s the autumnal equinox today—and, yes, winter is coming.
Desktop Version
Mar 19, 2019
The smoke before the bonfire
Today marks the fifth, final, fantastic day of this noisy, fire-and-smoke-filled holiday in Valencia, Spain. It"s called Las Fallas (or ‘Las Falles’ in the Valencian spelling), which means ‘torches’ in colloquial translation. While the origins of the festival aren’t entirely clear, the current customs borrow elements of pre-Christian spring festivals, Carnival, and the feast of St. Joseph—which is Father’s Day in this region. Each day of the festival follows a schedule of marching bands in the mornings and fireworks in the afternoon, which is what’s happening in our photo. There are dancers in traditional costumes as well, but the real spectacle comes tonight, as the parade of large, often bawdy wood and papier-mâché figures called ninots are marched through the streets and then added to a huge bonfire to welcome spring.
Desktop Version
Mar 18, 2019
Next stop, Tofino
Gray whales migrate between their feeding grounds and breeding grounds each year. North Pacific gray whales wisely spend the winter at their breeding grounds in the warm waters off the Baja California Peninsula. Then, by mid-March, as the whales return north, they pass by the west coast of Vancouver Island, near Tofino, en route to their summer feeding grounds in the Bering Sea. Tofino, an outdoorsy retreat on Clayoquot Sound, provides a breathtaking backdrop for whale watchers this time of year. After the whales have passed through, the area continues to attract outdoor enthusiasts who are drawn to legendary surfing, hiking, and storm watching along the dramatic coastline.
Desktop Version
Mar 17, 2019
St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland
For centuries, St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland was not a loud, celebratory holiday, but more of a quiet observance of the feast day on March 17. It didn’t become an official public holiday in Ireland until 1903. Then in 1996, the capital city of Dublin started embracing the way St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in the US and other places outside Ireland with large Irish populations: It began hosting a festival that’s become so popular, even government agencies housed in Dublin’s Government Buildings—seen in our photo today—get in on the fun by bathing their building’s façade in green light. A big parade and performances celebrating Irish culture are the order of the day here and at St. Patrick’s festivals throughout the country.
Desktop Version
Mar 16, 2019
Quilts as high art
The high-contrast quilts you see here are just a few of the 651 works that were included in a 2011 exhibit of red and white quilts spanning three centuries at the American Folk Art Museum in NYC. Ever since the Whitney Museum of American Art held a quilt-focused art exhibit back in 1971, quilts have often hung in galleries and museums as artworks rather than folk crafts. For centuries, though, quilts had a much more utilitarian use—warmth. (Of course, their decorative designs added to the pleasure they gave.) Quilting has a long tradition in the United States, going back to colonial times. Quilts were created not only for bedding but also to commemorate special occasions, like a wedding or a new baby. Quilting bees brought out the whole community—including many men—to share the work.
Desktop Version
Mar 15, 2019
A plot was afoot
We"re at the Roman Forum for the ides of March, a day made famous by the assassination of Julius Caesar. While Shakespeare"s Caesar was warned to "beware the ides of March," historians have never attributed the phrase to those who tipped off the actual Caesar about a plot against him. But we do know that before March 15, 44 BCE was over, Caesar was assassinated. Afterward, Rome descended into war, ending the Roman Republic and leading to the rise of the Roman Empire.
Desktop Version
Mar 14, 2019
Rocky mountain pi
It’s Pi Day, the day we celebrate the mathematical constant π. This day was chosen since today’s date expressed numerically (in US format) matches the number’s first digits, 3.14. Pi represents the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. It can be used to compute the area and circumference of a circle, such as the crop patterns we"re looking at here in Colorado. (Who said math wasn"t useful in the real world?) Many towns, schools, and museums mark the day with festivities based around mathematics and, of course, serving pie. We can’t think of a more delicious way to study geometry.
Desktop Version
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