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Fall comes to Pando
Fall comes to Pando
All is not as it appears to be here at Pando, in Utah"s Fishlake National Forest. At first glance, visitors likely see a massive grove of quaking aspen trees, their leaves dancing in the wind. But Pando is not many trees; instead, it"s a single organism. Like many aspen groves, the 40,000 trees in Pando are genetically identical cloned stems that sprouted from the same root system. First discovered in 1968, Pando made waves in the scientific world. It"s become recognized as one of the heaviest known organisms—weighing 6,000 metric tons—and one of the oldest known living organisms. Scientists estimate its root system is upwards of 80,000 years old, having endured the last ice age and countless forest fires. It got to be so old partly because most of the organism is protected underground. So, while an individual stem can die, the organism as a whole survives.Desktop Version
Aurora borealis
Aurora borealis
You don"t have to go all the way to Alaska to see the northern lights (they"ve been spotted as far south as Hawaii). But based on this stunner of a photo, we recommend it. And the farther north the better: Auroras are more frequent and intense the closer you are to the North Pole.Desktop Version
National Park Week: Wind Cave National Park
National Park Week: Wind Cave National Park
Hidden below the prairie at Wind Cave National Park, you’ll find something unexpected: one of the longest caves on the planet. This site includes 140 miles of explored passageways. What’s above ground is equally special, as the prairie supports one of the most genetically pure herds of bison in the country.Desktop Version
Total solar eclipse
Total solar eclipse
Put on your solar glasses and turn your eyes skyward. Today, you can witness a rare celestial event—a total solar eclipse! As the moon perfectly aligns between the Earth and the sun, daylight will shift eerily to twilight. The total solar eclipse will be visible across North America, from Mazatlán, Mexico, to eastern Canada"s Newfoundland Island, for up to four and a half minutes between 10:57 AM PST and 4:47 PM ADT. It will be the first total solar eclipse visible in the continental United States since August 21, 2017, although one occurs somewhere on Earth approximately every 18 months. Astronomers study the sun"s corona, which is the outermost part of its atmosphere, its magnetic fields, and the behavior of Earth"s atmosphere during the eclipse. Keep an eye on the time today and find a good spot to put on eclipse-safe solar glasses and see the golden ring emerge.Desktop Version
Wander the ancient medina
Wander the ancient medina
This colorful alleyway is in the medina—the ancient part—of the Moroccan city of Tétouan. From above, the medina appears to be a maze of traditional white plaster buildings surrounded by rampart walls and seven magnificent gates. But inside the maze, some alleyways like this one display a burst of color, an embellishment created by mixing pigments into the buildings" plaster. The passageways here are tall and skinny, large enough for a donkey and its handler to pass by, but too small for vehicles, so they invite peaceful strolls through the colorful shade.Desktop Version
Pasadena Chalk Festival supports local arts education
Pasadena Chalk Festival supports local arts education
Since 1993, the Pasadena-based nonprofit Light Bringer Project has supported arts education in the Los Angeles area by helping produce the annual Pasadena Chalk Festival. Hundreds of artists spend the weekend creating unique chalk artworks on the sidewalks of historic downtown Pasadena for this free event. Funds are raised through donations from festival attendees and proceeds from sales of artwork and a silent auction.Desktop Version
A step toward freedom
A step toward freedom
This inscription marks the spot on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, where civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. stood while delivering his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. It was August 28, 1963, and King was addressing a quarter-million people spread across the National Mall during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. King referred to written notes for most of the speech, but as he neared the end of his prepared remarks, he heard gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, who was standing nearby, shout out, "Tell them about the dream, Martin!" King responded by partly improvising the rest of his message in a soaring, sermon-like delivery, punctuating his ideas repeatedly with that single phrase, "I have a dream." King"s dream for racial justice, so eloquently shared that day, would resonate through the crowd and across the nation, bringing passionate new energy to the civil rights movement. It still resonates today.Desktop Version
Incense making, Vietnam
Incense making, Vietnam
Tomorrow marks the start of the Lunar New Year, known as Tết here in Vietnam. With celebrations fast approaching, these craftspeople in the "incense village" of Quang Phu Cau have been busy. Incense is used both in places of worship and on altars in family homes during Tết. The bright orange, pink, and crimson incense sticks are made from bamboo shavings hand-dipped in spiced and dyed paste. They"re then dried before bundling for sale all over the country.Desktop Version
Who s there? The largest owl in the world
Who s there? The largest owl in the world
To get us in the Halloween mood, we"re offering a seldom-seen sight—the Blakiston"s fish owl. Considered the largest of all living owls—about the size of a fire hydrant with a 6-foot wingspan—it"s among the rarest of owls, too. Experts estimate only a few thousand of these elusive birds remain, scattered in pockets of dense old-growth forests in northern Japan, the Russian Far East, northeastern China, and potentially North Korea.Desktop Version
A monastery in the mountain
A monastery in the mountain
Built into the side of a mountain in the Azat Valley of Armenia, the monastery of Geghard is one of the most-visited tourist destinations in the country. The location of the monastery has been inhabited for millennia and venerated by locals since the pre-Christian era due to the spring which emanates from one of the caves in the mountainside. The monastery was originally founded in the 4th century by Saint Gregory the Illuminator—the patron saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church—though none of the original buildings survive.Desktop Version
A lunar lantern celebration
A lunar lantern celebration
The Mid-Autumn Festival, or Moon Festival, is a celebration of the autumn harvest observed by the Chinese and other Asian peoples. It falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, the full moon closest to the fall equinox. Originally a plea to the gods for rains to ensure a good harvest next year, Mid-Autumn Festival has become a more secular bit of autumn fun, with children and adults gathering to give thanks, eat sweet mooncakes, and light lanterns like the hand-painted ones we"re looking at here from a previous celebration in Singapore. This year, the Mid-Autumn Festival coincidentally lands on another holiday, China"s National Day.Desktop Version
It’s World Migratory Bird Day
It’s World Migratory Bird Day
Every traveler needs a place to rest from time to time. In the case of the snow goose, that place needs to be very large. Snow geese travel in flocks of hundreds, sometimes thousands, as they travel north to their springtime breeding grounds in the Arctic tundra. They stop along the way to rest and forage, relying on places like Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge in New York, where our homepage image was photographed. World Migratory Bird Day, recognized on May 12, highlights the need to protect habitat for winged travelers like these.Desktop Version
Go with the rainbow flow
Go with the rainbow flow
Today"s photo brings us to the banks of Caño Cristales, the "liquid rainbow" that cuts a prismatic path through the heart of Colombia. From June through November, when the clear water is low, the abundant underwater plants that cover the riverbed show off their red, yellow, green, and blue hues. The star of the show—especially in this photo—is Macarenia clavigera, a riverweed that ranges from bright red to deep crimson or purple depending on its intake of sun rays. In August and September, when the florid flora is at its peak, the river"s a coveted nature excursion: Because the ecosystem is so fragile, visits are limited to guided tours.Desktop Version
The Millennium at 20
The Millennium at 20
The view you"re seeing was first made possible exactly 20 years ago, but a photo from the same spot on June 10, 2000, might"ve come out a tad blurry. That"s because when the London Millennium Bridge opened to flocks of pedestrians on that date, it wobbled so much it was closed after just two days. But the bridge reopened with improvements in 2002, and today it"s stable in terms of not only lateral g-force but also photo-op popularity.Desktop Version
A tree of many memories
A tree of many memories
As autumn takes hold in China, a blanket of fan-shaped golden leaves—like this one at Xuanwu Lake Park in Nanjing—becomes a familiar sight. And it"s been that way for longer than anyone can remember, thanks to a native tree with a lineage going back eons, the ginkgo.Desktop Version
Storm rolls over the grasslands
Storm rolls over the grasslands
Today"s image of a thunderstorm moving over grasslands in Theodore Roosevelt National Park shows the power of nature and the power of conservation. In 1883, Teddy Roosevelt, then a New York State assemblyman, traveled to the North Dakota Badlands to hunt bison. During this trip, Roosevelt fell in love with the cowboy lifestyle and the freedom he experienced. Before heading back east, he became part owner of the Maltese Cross Ranch. A year later he was back in North Dakota and had built Elkhorn Ranch. Life in the West inspired Roosevelt, who began writing books and articles about it. He would go on to establish six national parks and 18 national monuments, greatly increasing the size of the National Park System.Desktop Version
National Mushroom Month
National Mushroom Month
The humble mushroom may grow in some dark, hidden places, but this is its time in the spotlight. National Mushroom Month is celebrated each year in the month of September in the United States. That’s when the Mushroom Council, a group of commercial mushroom producers, takes advantage of the opportunity to educate people on all that fabulous fungi have to offer—especially the nutritional benefits. Mushrooms have long been associated with good health. In fact, early Romans referred to mushrooms as "food of the gods" and hieroglyphics suggest that ancient Egyptians linked the mushroom to immortality. In modern times, we"ve learned that mushrooms are a powerful source of vitamins and antioxidants. Which type of mushroom is your favorite?Desktop Version
It’s oh so quiet
It’s oh so quiet
How will you celebrate International Literacy Day today? We’re highlighting this important observance with a photo of the Long Room of the Trinity College Library in Dublin, Ireland. Originally the Long Room was just one story tall, but in 1860, a second level was added to accommodate the growing collection. Literacy is considered one of the key pillars of success in the modern world. Programs to help those who want to learn how to read, or become better readers, are available in many cities—if there’s one near you, have you thought about volunteering there?Desktop Version
A silent witness to history
A silent witness to history
About 25 miles southwest of Rouen, on the way to Paris, the ruins of Château Gaillard still stand over the Seine River. King Richard I commissioned the castle in 1196, when England occupied portions of modern-day France. The English and French fought for control of the castle for roughly 400 years—a span including the Hundred Years War—before Henry IV of France ordered it demolished. Today, the outer walls—called baileys—are open to the public year-round, while the inner baileys are open during summer months.Desktop Version
Hollywood s big night
Hollywood s big night
It"s Oscars night in Tinseltown, and we"re offering you a moment"s escape from the paparazzi to gaze over the glittering megalopolis of Los Angeles—and to get an unfamiliar view of a familiar landmark. The Hollywood Sign originally read "Hollywoodland" when it was erected in 1923 and festooned with light bulbs to advertise a real estate development. But within a few years, as the silent-film era gave way to "talkies," the sign evolved into a popular tourist attraction. Falling into disrepair in ensuing decades—at the peak of its decay, the sign was missing its third "O" altogether—the original was demolished and a sturdier version built in 1978.Desktop Version
The island fox’s incredible comeback
The island fox’s incredible comeback
Meet the island fox, a petite resident of California’s Channel Islands National Park and a true comeback kid. The house-cat-sized creature is endemic to the islands, meaning it’s found nowhere else on Earth. In the 1990s, scientists observed the island fox population on Santa Cruz Island had dropped to fewer than 100 animals. The decline was attributed largely to golden eagles, who moved into new territory after bald eagle populations declined and found the island foxes to be easy prey. (Golden eagles are more prodigious hunters than bald eagles.) Environmental groups launched an effort to bring back the island fox, in part by relocating golden eagles, and by 2015, the population on Santa Cruz Island had rebounded to about 1,750. That’s good news for the fox–and for the entire island ecosystem. As the eagle situation demonstrated, most things in nature are interconnected.Desktop Version
Beethoven s 250th
Beethoven s 250th
German composer Ludwig van Beethoven created melodies and harmonies we instantly recognize, even in this entertainment-saturated 21st century. Overcoming childhood abuse, hearing loss, romantic rejection, and bouts of depression and alcoholism, Beethoven channeled his stormy emotions into music that compelled audiences to viscerally feel what he felt. In the process, he helped end the regimented Classical era and usher in the Romantic period, when even the most flawed artists were sovereign.Desktop Version
Ruins of Inca temples and terraces on Huayna Picchu, Peru
Ruins of Inca temples and terraces on Huayna Picchu, Peru
Today is International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, an observance created by the United Nations to draw attention to the distinct cultures of indigenous peoples and to support measures that protect their rights. This year’s theme is indigenous peoples’ migration and movement, highlighting questions of indigenous identity and rights, particularly as people migrate within and between countries.Desktop Version
Brain coral
Brain coral
By using a long exposure and rotating the camera, a photographer highlights the spherical shape and grooved surface of a brain coral. You needn"t be a genius to guess how brain coral got its name. But you could just as easily call it "maze coral" after its labyrinthine surface. Either way, this sea organism is an apt mascot for today"s cerebral celebration: Puzzle Day!Desktop Version
Let’s celebrate
Let’s celebrate
The citizens of Morton, Minnesota, are probably doing a repeat performance of this pyrotechnic display today as they join the rest of the US in a celebration of Independence Day. If you want to blow the minds of your family and friends at the barbecue, steer the conversation toward fireworks and casually drop this truth bomb: Gunpowder, the fuel that makes the fireworks explode, was invented in ancient China by Taoist alchemists who hoped to create an immortality elixir. That’s some dramatic irony, at least in hindsight. Be safe!Desktop Version