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One for the books
One for the books
Today is the kickoff to the 20th Library of Congress National Book Festival, and for the first time it will be held entirely online. Nearly 120 authors, including Colson Whitehead, John Grisham, Ann Patchett, Walter Mosley, and Tomi Adeyemi, will appear on virtual stages to discuss the written word from September 25-27.Desktop Version
Gazing upon Portraits of Change
Gazing upon Portraits of Change
For the start of Women"s History Month, we"ve come to Union Station in Washington, DC, to view a mosaic of historical photographs of thousands of American women who fought to win voting rights. The ratification of the 19th Amendment, on August 18, 1920, finally secured the legal right of women to vote, but this mainly benefited white women. Despite heroic contributions to achieve suffrage, Black, Indigenous, and other women of color continued to face barriers to voting in the form of poll taxes, restrictive local laws, and hostile intimidation. This mosaic, called "Our Story: Portraits of Change," attempts to show a more complex history of the fight for American women"s right to vote.Desktop Version
Take the Stairs Day
Take the Stairs Day
It"s time to step up! Today is Take the Stairs Day, an initiative by the American Lung Association aimed at encouraging us to make small changes that can have a big impact on our well-being.Desktop Version
Up in the Highlands
Up in the Highlands
There"s a good chance the occupants of that car you can see in this photo, winding along a remote highway in the Highlands of Iceland, won"t encounter any other visitors to this desolate region. Accessible only during the summertime, roads across the Icelandic Highlands pass through mostly uninhabited volcanic desert. Frequent volcanic activity in the area creates a porous topsoil full of chemical compounds that aren"t conducive to plant growth. Besides, much of the rainfall is quickly absorbed so plant life only appears alongside glacial rivers. Despite this seemingly unwelcoming environment, adventurous travelers come to the Highlands every summer to see firsthand an ecosystem so unearthly that NASA conducted training missions here for some of its Apollo astronauts.Desktop Version
Super sandy Sweet 16
Super sandy Sweet 16
We"re in the Rockies of southern Colorado to celebrate Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve"s 16th year as a full-fledged national park—though it was a national monument from 1932, and both the dunes themselves and the surrounding valley"s history are far more ancient.Desktop Version
Cherry blossom season in Tokyo
Cherry blossom season in Tokyo
Each spring, folks across Japan observe "hanami," a treasured tradition of viewing nature"s breathtaking display of cherry blossoms. Japanese cherry trees, known as "sakura," reach full bloom in March in the south of the country. Our homepage picture shows cherry blossoms cascading over the moats which surround the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.Desktop Version
It s time for spring
It s time for spring
This 40-foot sundial stands atop the Parnidis Dune, one of the scenic highlights of the Curonian Spit, a UNESCO World Heritage Site shared by Lithuania and Russia. Built in 1995, the sundial was damaged by a hurricane a few years later and rebuilt in 2011. It accurately tells time by creating shadows on the steps, with notches for hours and half hours, as well as months, equinoxes, and solstices.Desktop Version
Cherry blossoms spring to life
Cherry blossoms spring to life
The National Cherry Blossom Festival is always a highlight of spring in our nation"s capital. It"s timed for the peak bloom date (usually the last week in March or first week of April) when most of the blossoms are open on the cherry trees that surround the Tidal Basin. The trees were originally a gift from Japan, planted in Washington in 1912. While some Cherry Blossom Festival events are virtual this year, the trees will decorate the city as usual—just as they do in this photo framing the Jefferson Memorial. This year"s festival began on March 20 and runs until April 11. It includes in-person tours and activities visitors can do on their own, as well as virtual viewings and an online Celebration Show that debuts on April 9.Desktop Version
Take a hike near Lovers Lane
Take a hike near Lovers Lane
For those of you who love getting outside, you"re in luck! Today is Take a Hike Day, an activity the American Hiking Society says will make you happier as you enjoy the great outdoors. And what better way to take a hike than a walk near Lovers" Lane in San Francisco"s Presidio? The sinuous trail we see in today"s photo is called "Wood Line" and was designed by the environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy. By using felled eucalyptus trees, Goldsworthy intended this land art to eventually biodegrade and fade back into the forest floor. It"s one of four of his works within this national park that once served as a US military outpost.Desktop Version
Cecropia leaf and lobster claw petals in Mexico
Cecropia leaf and lobster claw petals in Mexico
No doubt your eyes are drawn to the large, silver-bluish leaf in today"s photo, but there"s a little more to this colorful display. We"re on the floor of a Mexican rainforest to examine a large Cecropia leaf and some lobster claw petals. The genus called Cecropia contains some of the most recognizable neotropical trees anywhere, but the roughly 60 different species can be hard to tell apart. All Cecropias grow fast, by tree standards anyway. On average, they"ll climb about 2.5 feet per year and under perfect conditions can grow as much as 10 feet in that time, eventually reaching around 60 feet tall. When dried, Cecropia leaves shrivel into a fist-like form which displays interesting patterns and shapes. Not only are Cecropias very popular with animals like sloths, monkeys, and toucans for their fruit and leaves, many species have a symbiotic relationship with Azteca ants. Cecropias provide shelter and food for ants, and the ants in turn defend the trees from plant-eating predators.Desktop Version
The Aomori Nebuta Festival parade, Japan
The Aomori Nebuta Festival parade, Japan
From now until Aug 7, the northern Japanese city of Aomori is celebrating Aomori Nebuta, a festival (‘matsuri’) that features bright, colorful floats like the one seen in our photo. The history of how the festival began depends on who you ask and what you read. But the way to celebrate is to join or watch the parade that is the centerpiece of the observance. The floats depict mythic warriors and creatures, and they move through Aomori accompanied by musicians, often playing flutes and pounding on loud taiko drums. The goal? To ‘awaken sleepy souls.’Desktop Version
A cutting-edge art gallery opens in Paris
A cutting-edge art gallery opens in Paris
Fine art has found a new canvas here in Paris, where L’Atelier des Lumières opened in April as the city’s first digital art museum. The venue, housed in a 19th-century foundry, uses 140 digital projectors to splash paintings high onto the walls and across the floors, allowing visitors to walk through, over, and into some of the world’s most famous pieces of art. L’Atelier des Lumières opened with an exhibit featuring works by Gustav Klimt, the prominent Austrian painter best known for ‘The Kiss,’ a portrait of a couple locked in an intimate embrace. Klimt was known for incorporating silver and gold leaf into his art nouveau-style oil paintings, creating an ethereal effect.Desktop Version
May we have this dance?
May we have this dance?
Dancers have been waltzing across the mahogany floors at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom, in Lancashire, England, for more than a century. For those on this side of the pond, Blackpool is a popular seaside resort in the UK, home to the 518-foot-tall Blackpool Tower, a tourist destination built in 1894 and inspired by the Eiffel Tower. These days, when people talk about the tower, they may be referring to the building’s many associated venues–a circus, theater, and the ornate ballroom shown here.Desktop Version
Behold the blood moon
Behold the blood moon
We"ve heard the phrase "many moons," but never took it this literally. We"re looking at 28 merged photos of our one and only moon over Utah"s Monument Valley: 26 snapshots of its partial phases, plus two layered exposures of the eclipsing moon at center.Desktop Version
Piazza IX Aprile, Taormina, Sicily, Italy
Piazza IX Aprile, Taormina, Sicily, Italy
Welcome to Taormina, an historic Italian resort built into a hillside high above the Ionian Sea on the coast of Sicily. From here you can take in panoramic views of the coast of Calabria, on the Italian mainland, the city of Syracuse, and Mount Etna, roughly 20 miles away.Desktop Version
Atop the roof of Africa
Atop the roof of Africa
From their home in the Simien Mountains of Ethiopia, these rare gelada monkeys look like they"re on top of the world. Simien Mountains National Park has some of the highest elevations in all of Africa, marked by deep valleys, jagged mountains, and sheer cliffs. This harsh climate nurtures rare and endangered species, including our homepage friends. The gelada monkey lives only here in the Ethiopian Highlands, where it survives on a diet of mostly various grasses. Nicknamed the "bleeding-heart monkey," it"s recognizable by the bright red, hourglass-shaped patch on its chest. It has another claim to fame: This chatty species produces a diverse range of vocalizations so complex they"re thought to be similar to those of humans. So, what do you think they"re talking about?Desktop Version
Blue-footed booby, Galápagos Islands
Blue-footed booby, Galápagos Islands
Today we"re celebrating Darwin Day with this blue-footed booby on the shores of the Galápagos Islands, where the famous naturalist observed wildlife and collected specimens that would inform his theory of evolution.Desktop Version
A notorious advocate for women
A notorious advocate for women
Today is March 8, which means it"s International Women"s Day, the UN-sponsored celebration of women"s achievements and a push for gender equity around the globe. To honor this year"s event, we turn to New York City"s East Village, where Brooklyn-based street artist Elle painted the mural you see here as an homage to one of America"s most notorious advocates for women, the late Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, affectionately called RBG.Desktop Version
The roots of invention
The roots of invention
Living root bridges like this can be found in the tropical rainforests of Meghalaya, a state in northeast India that is among the wettest places on Earth. The gentle waterways that flow through the region’s valleys become gushing torrents during the summer monsoon season and will wash away traditional bamboo bridges. So, generations of indigenous Khasi people have devised a way of building root bridges by shaping living trees, like this one near the village of Mawsynram.Desktop Version
Staring down winter
Staring down winter
Feel a chill in the air? Not these two. The first frosty blasts of winter have little effect on Highland cattle thanks to their unusual coats. The long-haired outer layer is oily and slicks off rain and snow, keeping the fluffier undercoat dry and toasty against their skin. These two Highlanders are in a national park in Drenthe province of the Netherlands, but the breed developed by natural selection—only the fittest survived—in the wet and windy Scottish Highlands. The original Highland Cattle Herd Book, which recorded Highland cattle pedigrees, dates to 1885, making Highlanders the oldest registered cattle breed in the world.Desktop Version
A different view of sharks
A different view of sharks
They"ve long been treated as threats, portrayed as villains, and brutally hunted for their edible fins, so we think it"s only fair that sharks get their own day. Shark Awareness Day is meant to highlight the importance of the most fearsome fish in nature, from little dwarf lantern sharks to great whites to these blacktip reef sharks cruising the Tahitian coast.Desktop Version
Burrowing owls
Burrowing owls
Forget looking up in the trees to find these guys. They are burrowing owls, which means that they live on the ground or under it. In fact, they often take advantage of the hard work of tunnelers such as prairie dogs or gophers by building their nests in the burrows they dug and abandoned. Think of burrowing owls as squatters of the avian world. You"ll find these 7½- to 11-inch birds in North and South America, especially in grasslands, farming areas, or dry expanses with vegetation that is close to the ground.Desktop Version
For Hispanic Heritage Month: Out of Many, One
For Hispanic Heritage Month: Out of Many, One
This giant portrait by Jorge Rodríguez-Gerada is called "Out of Many, One." It was installed on the National Mall lawn in October 2014 and remained for one month. The title not only refers to the motto of the United States (E pluribus unum, Latin for "out of many, one") but hints at how the portrait was created.Desktop Version
A river runs through rice fields
A river runs through rice fields
We"re peering down the winding Ngo Dong River at a group of rowboats meandering through rice paddy fields. This is Ninh Bình province in Vietnam, about 60 miles south of Hanoi. On these two-hour tours by traditional Vietnamese rowboat, visitors wend their way between limestone karst peaks, through grottoes, and, if they"re lucky, by workers harvesting rice in the fields, their wide-brimmed hats shielding them from the sun. Perhaps the most spectacular time to take this river cruise is around harvest time in late May and early June when the paddy fields are awash in a golden glow with a backdrop of bright green hillsides. But don"t be surprised if the person rowing your boat moves the oars from hands to feet. It"s tradition here for rowers to give their arms a break and let their legs take over.Desktop Version
Till the cows come home
Till the cows come home
These stylish cows are decorated to celebrate their annual return from high Alpine pastures to the towns and villages where they spend the winter. Known as the Almabtrieb, the tradition is generally held in late September or early October throughout the Alpine regions of Europe. These cows are in the Tannheimer Tal, a valley of the Allgäu Alps in Austria, where more than 100,000 head of cattle make the seasonal migration.Desktop Version