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May 16, 2021A magnificent monolith

Towering more than 650 feet, El Peñón de Guatapé (The Rock of Guatapé) is an inselberg, which is geologist-speak for a stone monolith that stands alone amid relatively flat surroundings. This huge rock is found in northwest Colombia, a region once inhabited by the Indigenous Tahamí people, who are said to have worshipped El Peñón, as many locals now call it. Probably because it"s so smooth, no one is known to have climbed the rock until 1954, when a small group of friends scaled it by wedging a series of boards into a vertical crack. It took them five days to reach the top.Desktop Version

Feb 5, 2020Frozen beauty

Located on the North Saskatchewan River, Abraham Lake is an artificial lake and Alberta"s largest reservoir. Even though it"s man-made, it takes on the blue color of other glacial lakes in the Rocky Mountains. In winter, the lake draws nature photographers interested not just in the wildlife and spectacular landscape, but also the lake"s odd appearance when it freezes over. Bacteria on the lake bottom feed on dead organic matter and release the methane bubbles you see here. When the surface water freezes, the bubbles get trapped, creating a photographer"s dream. They may be beautiful, but these frozen bubbles can be dangerous because they"re highly flammable. If you happen to be lighting a match nearby, you"ll want to watch out or the released methane could explode. The bubbles aren"t so friendly to the environment, either; methane in the atmosphere is a major part of global greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to climate change.Desktop Version

Mar 2, 2018Satellite image of sand and seaweed in the Bahamas

We have NASA’s Landsat program to thank for this rare view of the Atlantic Ocean in the Bahamas, as captured by satellite. The patterns you see are sand and seaweed beds that have been sculpted by ocean currents. That dark spot? It’s called the Tongue of the Ocean. The tongue is a deep, dark trench that separates the islands of Andros and New Providence in the Bahamas and connects to a larger geological feature known as the Great Bahama Canyon.Desktop Version

Aug 13, 2018Look to the north sky tonight for the Perseids

We can’t all gather on the southern Black Sea coast of Bulgaria to watch the Perseids meteor shower tonight, but perhaps this amazing photo from that location will inspire you to head outside for a look at your own skies. Every August, Earth passes through the trail of debris left by Comet Swift-Tuttle. When Swift-Tuttle’s ‘dirty snowballs’ of dust, ice, rock, and other material hit Earth’s atmosphere, they burn up as the ‘shooting stars’ of the Perseids. If you can, get away from city lights any time between now and Aug 24, find a safe spot outside, and let your eyes adjust to the dark for about 30 minutes. Look to the northern portion of the sky, or find the Perseus constellation, and you’ll start seeing streaks of light tumbling through the sky.Desktop Version

Feb 10, 2018Bonifacio on the island of Corsica, France

South of mainland France and west of Italy in the Mediterranean Sea is the French island of Corsica, famous for food, wine, and scenic coastlines. Visitors here can visit the birthplace of Napoléon Bonaparte, whose family lived in the town of Ajaccio. In the commune of Bonifacio, shown here, the limestone cliffs hosted the 2012 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, where brave competitors from around the world jumped from cliffside platforms up to 92 feet above the water’s surface.Desktop Version

Dec 25, 2018Happy holidays!

The practice of decorating a home with pine boughs predates the more modern idea of the Christmas tree by centuries. By the 1600s, the Protestant population of Germany embraced the idea of bringing a tree into the home and decorating it, setting in motion the development of a grand Western tradition that has spread beyond Europe and North America, and fuels an entire industry of tree farms and the manufacture of artificial trees. If you’re celebrating Christmas today, we wish you a merry one.Desktop Version

Feb 17, 2019Flock online for the Great Backyard Bird Count

Both amateur and professional birders alike are invited to participate in the 22nd annual Great Backyard Bird Count, an online citizen science project that helps scientists monitor bird populations around the world. Participating is easy–just venture outside for as little as 15 minutes and record any bird sightings. Perhaps you’ll spot a black-crested titmouse, like this one photographed in Texas Hill Country. Last year’s event saw nearly 200,000 participants who recorded a combined 6,310 species.Desktop Version

Jan 10, 2019‘You should see the one that got away!’

Don’t be fooled by the modest size of these ice-fishing shanties near the village of L"Anse-Saint-Jean, Quebec. Modern day ice huts are often tricked out with big-screen TVs, underwater cameras, sonar fish-finders, and even bathrooms with hot showers. Some fishermen and women spend entire weekends out on the lake, warm and dry. Here in the Saguenay region of Quebec, they may be fishing for walleye, redfish, cod, or black turbot, which are reeled in after drilling a hole in the ice and casting a line in the frigid waters. Brrrr!Desktop Version

Jan 11, 2019Life in a North African town

The nearly hidden valley town called Tafraout (sometimes spelled Tafraoute) and smaller settlement, Aguerd Oudad, are surrounded by the red hills of the Anti-Atlas Mountains, far from the larger cities in Morocco. The area is frequently visited by climbers who come to scale the nearby peaks, like this one, called Napoleon’s Hat (it’s thought to resemble the bicorne hat that Napoleon Bonaparte memorably wore sideways). The town is remote enough that tourists must make an effort to get there, but as many travel writers note, it’s well worth it. The villagers here lead a quieter, slower-paced life than those in Morocco’s bustling urban centers such as Marrakesh.Desktop Version

Jan 29, 2021So, how long till springtime?

Winter often brings cold and snow to the uplands of England"s Peak District National Park, as this wee European robin surely knows. Here we see it puffing up its plumage to insulate its body against the wintry weather. Unrelated to the American robin, the European robin is commonly known in the British Isles as the robin redbreast. But it"s more orange than red, you say? That"s because when British people first named it the redbreast, probably in the 1400s, the word "orange" had not yet been introduced as a color name in the English language. Animals and other things were often named "red" even when orange or tawny: the red deer, Red Planet, and robin redbreast are all examples. Whatever you decide to call our diminutive friend, we appreciate its bright splash of color on an otherwise bleak wintry day.Desktop Version

Feb 5, 2018Iceberg off the coast of Antarctica

There’s more than meets the eye in this image of an iceberg floating off the coast of Antarctica. That’s because about 90 percent of every iceberg exists beneath the surface of the water—and it can be hard to gauge its shape from the surface. The largest recorded iceberg, known as B-15, had a surface area larger than the island of Jamaica (just imagine what that baby looked like under water!). On the other end of the spectrum, hunks of ice smaller than 16 feet across are known as ‘bergy bits’ and ‘growlers.’Desktop Version

Feb 24, 2018A red fox on the Swiss side of the Jura Mountain range

Red foxes are a common sight in this subalpine range that forms a natural border between Switzerland and France. Our photo of a red fox prowling on a snowy winter night was taken with a "camera trap," a remotely activated camera equipped with a motion sensor and a light flash. Images taken with this method reveal the local wildlife going about their business undisturbed by the presence of humans, and give us a glimpse into the lives of our fellow creatures.Desktop Version

Jan 27, 2019A memorial in Germany

We’re in Berlin for International Holocaust Remembrance Day today, looking at the monument called ‘Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.’ The memorial looks rigid and ordered, with 2,711 concrete slabs arranged in a grid pattern across 4.7 acres. But architect Peter Eisenman, who designed the work, purposely skewed some of the grid, so that spaces between the slabs may shrink or grow as you walk among the gray blocks. And the gaps are intentionally so narrow that they allow only individual passage. As the visitor navigates through the grid, the subtle shifts in these spaces are meant to shatter the illusion of order and security.Desktop Version

Dec 28, 2018A species no longer at risk

This magnificent bird of prey flies over Grand Tetons National Park in Wyoming. The bald eagle is part of a conservation success story, for our national bird was once headed toward extinction. A rapid decline in bald eagle populations was one of the motivating factors in establishing the Endangered Species Act of 1973. The chemical pesticide DDT, previously thought to be safe, was causing high mortality rates for bald eagle chicks, as well as many other birds exposed to the chemical. DDT was banned, and the eagles’ numbers began to rise again.Desktop Version

Dec 24, 2018The birthplace of a classic Christmas carol

All is calm here in Salzburg, Austria, tonight–much like we imagine it was on this day 200 years ago, when the song ‘Silent Night’ made its debut in the world. This is the bicentennial of the popular carol, written by Franz Gruber and Joseph Mohr, and first performed in a chapel in the nearby town of Oberndorf. The song has since been performed by artists around the world and was given intangible cultural heritage status by UNESCO. But the most popular recording of the song belongs to Bing Crosby, whose rendition remains the third best-selling single of all time.Desktop Version

Mar 20, 2018Celebrating the first day of spring

March 20 marks the spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, meaning that for the next six months daylight hours will outlast nighttime darkness, and we’ll see plenty of beautiful blooms like the tulips shown here. They were photographed in Drenthe Province of the Netherlands, a country that’s been famous for tulips since the 17th century. That’s when the price of tulip bulbs climbed to astronomical heights and then dramatically collapsed in what’s since become known as the first economic bubble, dubbed ‘Tulip Mania.’Desktop Version

Mar 10, 2020A festival of colors

Hindus in India and around the globe are celebrating Holi today, a spring celebration also called the festival of love, or the festival of colors. Why colors? Because these colorful powders are flung in joyous revelry to welcome spring and celebrate the blossoming of love. It is a time to forget old grievances and hope for a bountiful spring harvest season.Desktop Version

Apr 24, 2019Cool water in the Quinault

The Quinault Rainforest is in one of four lushly forested valleys on western Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. Lying within both Olympic National Park and the Olympic National Forest, this temperate rainforest gets anywhere from 12 to 14 feet of rain per year. All that water means the Quinault bursts with greenery, especially in spring as mountain snow melts and the river begins to flow with gusto.Desktop Version

Feb 13, 2019Life goes on at the Beatles Ashram

In 1968, the four members of the Beatles traveled to this site on the banks of the Ganges River in Northern India to study transcendental meditation. It was a time of prolific songwriting for the group, and 18 of the songs composed here were later recorded on their self-titled album, also known as The White Album. Their time at the ashram was brief and the facility itself was abandoned in the 1990s, left to become derelict and overrun by the encroaching jungle. It nevertheless remained a popular destination for Beatles fans and in 2015, it reopened to the public. Today, visitors will see fan tributes and several murals created by visiting artists.Desktop Version

Apr 16, 2018The Bazaruto Archipelago of Mozambique

Those turquoise waters are a particularly fetching corner of the Indian Ocean, lapping at the white-sand islands of Mozambique’s Bazaruto Archipelago. The islands have been a national park since 1971, protecting the delicate ecosystem and the rare animals that live here, both on land and in the coral reefs below the surf.Desktop Version

Apr 3, 2021A light at the edge of the world

Seemingly against all odds, the Aniva Lighthouse stands atop this rocky outcrop where it once lit the way for vessels navigating the fierce currents, hidden rocks, and frequent fogs of Cape Aniva on the island of Sakhalin. Russia"s largest island, Sakhalin lies off the mainland"s Far East coast, due north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. The island was hotly contested by both Russia and Japan in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In the late 1930s, when the Aniva Lighthouse was built, Russia controlled the northern half of Sakhalin while Japan controlled this, the southern part—so it was a team from Japan that built this lighthouse.Desktop Version

Feb 18, 2019Presidents Day in America’s front yard

For Presidents Day, we’re at the National Mall, the downtown park in Washington, DC, that’s known as ‘America’s front yard’ and serves as home to some of our nation’s most iconic landmarks. On the left, we see the Lincoln Memorial, which honors Abraham Lincoln, our 16th president; the right side of the panorama shows the Washington Monument, the tall obelisk that memorializes George Washington, our first president. In fact, the two landmarks are on a direct east-west axis across from each other. The Lincoln Memorial sits at the western end of the National Mall, while the Washington Monument lies due east, across the Reflecting Pool. Presidents Day was originally established to honor Washington’s February 22 birthday, but has evolved to be a celebration of all the US presidents. How will you spend the holiday?Desktop Version

Mar 26, 2023Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California

Welcome to the largest state park in the golden state of California, Anza-Borrego. Located about 100 miles northeast of San Diego, the park is well known for its spectacular springtime wildflowers, stunning landscapes, and natural marvels. Spring and early summer are the best times to visit. That"s when you"ll find a myriad of magnificent, blooming species of flowers, including dune primrose, desert sunflowers, and desert sand verbena. These hardy wildflowers can survive in extreme heat and with little water–perfect for California"s driest state park, in which some areas get just 2 inches of rain a year.Desktop Version

Jan 25, 2018Sami lavvu structures, Finnmark, Norway

It’s not a tipi, it’s a lavvu. We’re in Sami country here in Finnmark, Norway, and these temporary dwellings were used by the indigenous Sami people as they followed their reindeer herds across northern Scandinavia. The design has made its way into other symbols of the Sami culture, including the coat of arms for the municipality of Kautokeino and the design of the Sami Parliament building in Karasjok, Norway.Desktop Version

Jun 28, 2020Keep shining

Since 1970, New York City has celebrated LGBTQIA+ pride with a parade, public speeches and rallies, and record-setting crowds—officials estimate the 2019 NYC Pride March drew in 5 million people. This photo shows the LED display casting rainbow-hued light across the upper levels of Manhattan"s iconic Empire State Building to celebrate 2014"s Pride Week.Desktop Version

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