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Busy building wetlands
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
Tracking ships on the Day of the Seafarer
Tracking ships on the Day of the Seafarer
June 25 is the Day of the Seafarer, a global event highlighting how much we rely on the maritime industry. Turns out, it’s a whole lot, as ships transport more than 80 percent of global trade. In honor of this occasion, we’re showing a NASA satellite view of ship tracks over the Pacific. And what are ship tracks, you ask? They’re clouds that form around particles in ship exhaust when it hits the damp ocean air. These clouds often stretch in narrow paths as in this image, reflecting ships’ courses. To the seafarers out there (1.5 million, according to the International Maritime Organization), we wish you smooth sailing and a good day at sea.Desktop Version
I see one!
I see one!
Today"s the first day of the 121st annual Christmas Bird Count, said to be the largest and longest-running citizen science project in the world. For the next 23 days, through January 5, thousands of volunteers around the US, Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Islands will join members of the National Audubon Society for this important endeavor in the study and protection of birds. Together, they"ll scour the woods, fields, and lakes of their respective regions (or just watch their bird feeders), to take a census of the individual birds and species they find.Desktop Version
Inhale and exhale, it’s Yoga Day
Inhale and exhale, it’s Yoga Day
You may not be able to join a massive yoga session at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, but you can celebrate both the summer solstice today, and Yoga Day, by trying a sun salutation or two on your own. Yoga not your thing? No problem. It’s still solstice, and in most of the Northern Hemisphere, that’s considered the first official day of summer, and that’s reason enough to celebrate. As for the yoga aficionados reading this, please step to the front of your mat...Desktop Version
Avatars of the Wolf Moon
Avatars of the Wolf Moon
The Arctic wolf, or white wolf, is unique among wolves in its light coloring. Supremely adapted to the tundra where it lives, its coloration helps it blend into the landscape as it hunts the caribou, moose, muskox, and Arctic hare that make up its diet. A subspecies of the gray wolf, the Arctic wolf lives in the extreme north of Canada"s Queen Elizabeth Islands. It"s extremely cold there, but an advantage of this habitat is that the remoteness has kept the Arctic wolf population from being hunted extensively. It is currently the only wolf species not endangered or threatened. We"re featuring this handsome trio because tonight will be the Wolf Moon, traditionally the first full moon of the year. The name comes to us by way of the Algonquin people to denote the time of year that hungry wolves could be heard howling outside their settlements.Desktop Version
What, no escalator?
What, no escalator?
On Take the Stairs Day, take some inspiration from this mountain path in the Ninh Bình province of Vietnam. Or just be glad you don’t have to climb it. The stone path next to the entrance of the Mua Caves zigzags up 486 steps that were designed in the style of the Great Wall of China. At the top, you’ll find a small pagoda and panoramic views of the countryside. Plus, a feeling of achievement.Desktop Version
Drop in on International Surfing Day
Drop in on International Surfing Day
For International Surfing Day we’re in Tenerife, in Spain’s Canary Islands, to catch some waves. Look on the left side of our photo and you’ll see a surfer jockeying for the right spot on that wave. If you can’t get out and celebrate this day by riding a swell, perhaps it’s time for a surf movie or some surf music? There’s a whole culture around the sport that doesn’t even require your getting wet.Desktop Version
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, DC
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, DC
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. frequently spoke of the immeasurable value of service to various endeavors that strive to make the world a better place. On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, millions honor King’s legacy by volunteering for charities and other organizations. And any of us can make that effort—to give the gift of our time so that we might move from words to action. Your work may be a small part of a greater goal, but the march forward only happens when we are brave enough to take that first step. And once we do, we often find that we are not walking alone.Desktop Version
Take the Stairs Day
Take the Stairs Day
In honor of Take the Stairs Day, we"re here in China"s Guizhou province peering over at Mount Fanjing. Visitors will need to climb almost 9,000 steps to reach the summit of the mountain, the highest peak of the Wuling Mountains. Look closely at the image and you can see how the stairs wind up, up, up around stone outcroppings and through a gorge.Desktop Version
Santo Antão Island in the Republic of Cabo Verde
Santo Antão Island in the Republic of Cabo Verde
The village of Fontainhas is perched on the hillside here on Santo Antão Island, one of the most mountainous islands in the Republic of Cabo Verde. The country consists of a series of volcanic islands located about 350 miles off the western coast of Africa. Portuguese explorers colonized the islands in the 15th century and Portugal remained in control until 1975, when the country gained independence. These days, it’s known as one of the most stable democracies in Africa.Desktop Version
Dreaming of the Tyrrhenian Sea
Dreaming of the Tyrrhenian Sea
Perhaps you’ve been to Rome and Venice and are looking for a new destination to explore in Italy? (Hey, we can dream too.) Consider then the village of Cefalù on the northern coast of the island of Sicily, about 40 miles from Palermo. Over the centuries, the town has been under Greek, Roman, Arab, and Norman rule, all of which have influenced the architecture and culture. Our photo looks across the waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea toward the village, with the sun’s rays reflecting off Cefalù Cathedral, the massive church-cum-fortress that dominates the skyline.Desktop Version
Here, fishy!
Here, fishy!
Are you celebrating Go Fishing Day with us? This fly fisher is in Colorado’s San Miguel River, which flows from the alpine hills of the Uncompahgre Plateau to the desert flats in the southwestern part of the state. The best part about Go Fishing Day? If you don’t bring home dinner, you get to make up a story about the size of the one that got away.Desktop Version
Purple flowers and Golden Week
Purple flowers and Golden Week
The wisteria blossoms are at their peak right now in Kawachi Fuji Gardens. For those who journey to Kitakyushu, Japan, the reward is walking under an enormous canopy of purple, pink, and white wisteria flowers. The wisteria blooms often overlap with Golden Week—the span from April 29 to May 5, when four major holidays in Japan occur. The week begins with Shōwa Day, a celebration for Emperor Hirohito, and ends with Children’s Day. Many workers take the week off and travel while enjoying the spring weather. If you miss out on the wisteria hubbub, come to Kawachi Fuji Gardens in autumn, when the leaves turn and the park hosts a maple-leaf festival.Desktop Version
A predator at risk
A predator at risk
Shake off those late winter doldrums and join us in observing International Polar Bear Day. These large bears of the Arctic region aren’t endangered but are considered a vulnerable species. As Arctic sea ice coverage continues to shrink due to warming ocean temperatures, the polar bear population faces a rapidly shrinking habitat. Polar bears have large hunting ranges, and rely on the Arctic ice to get around. Their role as an alpha predator in the Arctic is a crucial part of the natural balance in their unique ecosystem. If our sea ice disappears, the bears may soon follow.Desktop Version
Lençóis Maranhenses National Park in Brazil
Lençóis Maranhenses National Park in Brazil
White sand dunes dotted with brilliant blue lagoons stretch as far as you can see here at Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, not far from the Amazon Basin in northeast Brazil. During the rainy season, valleys between these dunes fill with water, creating a temporary water world. The lagoons are occupied by resilient species like the wolf fish, which goes dormant in the mud when the water dries up.Desktop Version
Getting to the bottom of the underwater waterfall
Getting to the bottom of the underwater waterfall
From this vantage point high over the Indian Ocean, we have a spectacular view of the "underwater waterfall" formed off the coast of Mauritius. Not a true waterfall, this is an optical illusion—it"s really the trails of sand and silt deposits on the seafloor being washed by currents over the edge of an ocean shelf. But we"re probably not alone in thinking at first glance that the ocean is pouring into some massive unseen drainpipe.Desktop Version
An Alpine fairy-tale castle
An Alpine fairy-tale castle
During a walking tour in the spring of 1829, Crown Prince (and future King) Maximilian II of Bavaria fell in love with these forested mountains and Alpine lakes, so three years later he bought the dilapidated remains of a 12th-century castle overlooking the village of Hohenschwangau. The yellow neo-Gothic castle that Maximilian built to replace the earlier ruins became the summer home and hunting retreat for the king, his wife, Marie of Prussia, and their two sons, Ludwig and Otto. Hohenschwangau Castle became a kind of fantasy palace, particularly for the two young princes, who spent their time traipsing through the forest, reciting poetry, and staging scenes from the Romantic operas of Richard Wagner.Desktop Version
A new tradition in London
A new tradition in London
The large-scale New Year’s Eve fireworks display in London didn’t begin until 1999, but the extravaganza has been going strong ever since. Our photo today shows the celebration in 2017, as fireworks over the London Eye (the large Ferris wheel on the South Bank of the Thames) explode with color. And even though Big Ben’s chime has been silenced until maintenance on the tower is completed in 2021, the bell will ring for the New Year. Whether you’re out on the streets of a major urban area, or quietly celebrating at home, we hope you have a fun New Year’s Eve.Desktop Version
A timeless view of the night sky
A timeless view of the night sky
The bright sweep of the Milky Way is especially vivid amid the mesas, canyons, and prehistoric towers of Hovenweep National Monument. Straddling the southern Colorado-Utah border, Hovenweep is so remote that almost no artificial light disturbs the view of star-filled skies. The dazzling nightscapes are little different from those seen by the Ancestral Puebloans who built these towers. They were a farming culture who first settled in the area roughly 1,100 years ago. By the late 1200s they numbered around 2,500 people and had built these and other structures in six different villages. Archaeologists offer several theories to explain the use of the buildings. Some may have been defensive fortifications, storage areas, homes, or any combination of these. But researchers suggest that the tower called Hovenweep Castle, seen here, was almost certainly used as a celestial observatory.Desktop Version
Mackerel forming a bait ball to avoid predators
Mackerel forming a bait ball to avoid predators
This school of Atlantic horse mackerel is forming a bait ball. When surrounded by predators, such as the barracuda and bluefish seen here, the school will gather close together to expose the least number of individual fish. In the open ocean, without hiding places among kelp, coral, or coastal rocks, the bait ball will protect most of the smaller fish. Is this where the idea of ‘safety in numbers’ originates?Desktop Version
Ready, set, read
Ready, set, read
In honor of National Library Week, we’re visiting Seattle Public Library’s Central Library. With its innovative glass and steel design, you could say we’ve come a long way from the world’s first libraries that housed archives of clay tablets and papyrus scrolls. Downtown Seattle’s 11-story flagship public library has lots of open spaces like this one that allow patrons to meet, study, search the web, or read in comfortable, light-filled rooms. It can house more than 1.5 million books, many of which are stored in an innovative "Books Spiral," which displays the volumes in a continuous helix of bookshelves over 3.5 stories without breaking the Dewey Decimal System onto different floors or sections. The library, designed by architect Rem Koolhaas, moves all those books around by using a sorting system that resembles an airport’s luggage conveyor belt. How’s that for high-tech?Desktop Version
‘Think equal, build smart, innovate for change’
‘Think equal, build smart, innovate for change’
Our headline quotes the 2019 theme of International Women’s Day, a UN-sponsored event that champions women’s achievements and calls for more gender parity around the globe. The policewomen on our homepage—from Nepal, Madagascar, and Colombia—were photographed in 2016 at an International Women’s Day celebration in Haiti, where they served as part of a UN peacekeeping mission to help stabilize the government. By having women involved in the mission, organizers were already in the spirit of Women"s Day, as studies show that more diversity leads to better results.Desktop Version
Quilts as high art
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
Bird’s-eye view of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California
Bird’s-eye view of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California
This aerial view of the Golden Gate Bridge would have been familiar to many of the brave men who helped construct the landmark in the late 1930s. Bridge construction took just over four years and strong wind gusts sometimes created perilous conditions. To safeguard the workers, a safety net was installed. It saved the lives of some 19 men who fell from the bridge and became known as members of the ‘Half Way to Hell Club.’Desktop Version
Bioluminescence at Trwyn Du Lighthouse in Wales
Bioluminescence at Trwyn Du Lighthouse in Wales
Bad weather and unpredictable tides can make the Irish Sea off the northwest coast of Wales a dicey passage. Many seafaring people had urged the leaders of Anglesey Island to build a lighthouse here, but it took a deadly shipwreck in 1831 to prompt the construction of Trwyn Du Lighthouse.Desktop Version