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Greetings from Asbury Park — The uncharacteristically warm waters of the Atlantic and a long stretch of sand bring thousands of visitors, but Asbury Park also draws waves of art, culture, and music that shine brightly in the summer months. Bruce Springsteen has played here regularly since the 1970s, performing everywhere from the Stone Pony, an iconic music venue, to a benefit show at Asbury Lanes, a bowling alley that was in dire need of sprucing up. Springsteen, who grew up near this stretch of the Jersey Shore, clearly finds Asbury Park special—the name of his 1973 album inspired our title for today’s homepage image. But the seaside resort’s rich musical history predates the Boss—a building boom in the 1920s brought sounds of jazz, gospel, and rhythm and blues to the many clubs here. Musicians Arthur Pryor, Count Basie, and many others developed strong ties to Asbury Park and helped establish its reputation as a showcase for great American music.Desktop Version

Aug 18, 2023Avatar Mountains, Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, China

These stunning stone spires, rising from the forest in China"s Hunan province, are said to have inspired the floating mountains of the movie "Avatar." There are more than 3,000 of these quartz-sandstone pillars in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, often swathed in mist, part of a spectacular landscape that has inspired generations of painters. These days, they are popularly known as the "Avatar Mountains" and one, the 3,544-foot-high Southern Sky Pillar, was officially renamed as "Avatar Hallelujah Mountain" in 2010, the year after the blockbuster movie was released.Desktop Version

Mod gear — This Lambretta scooter, decked out with extra mirrors, lights, and horns, is an iconic symbol of the mod subculture. Attendees at Purple Weekend, a mod-revival festival held every year in León, Spain, will see many Lambretta and Vespa scooters. The popular event held this weekend gathers fans of mod music, fashion, and culture. The mod movement began in England in the late 1950s, as modern jazz and rhythm & blues records imported from the US sparked the clean-cut, modernist fashion and lifestyle aesthetic that appealed to a new middle class of young people in postwar Britain. The fashion, scooters, and music choices caught on outside the UK during the 1960s and inspired future generations to embrace the style. Now, mod-revival festivals like Spain’s Purple Weekend happen in many countries around the world.Desktop Version

Winter solstice — Frost-covered birch trees add a graceful touch to this winter landscape in the German state of Bavaria. This region is home to the villages of Uffing and Schöffau, on the shores of Staffelsee lake, and is often covered in mist and snow, creating an ethereal ambience. A winter chill is to be expected today, on the shortest day of the year. Typically falling on December 21, the solstice marks the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. While we"re wrapping up warm, the Southern Hemisphere is celebrating the start of summer on their longest day of the year.Desktop Version

Palouse farmland, Washington state — The Palouse region in the Pacific Northwest is known for its picturesque landscapes, agricultural heritage, and unique geological features. Those stunning hills in our homepage image were formed over tens of thousands of years, from dust and silt blown by the wind, known as loess. The Palouse"s fertile soil and climate make it ideal for farming and it is known for its wheat, barley, lentils, and other crops. With its beautiful rolling hills covered in patchworks of green and golden fields, it is often compared to Italy"s Tuscany region or the French countryside.Desktop Version

Sandhill cranes, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge — Hey, don"t judge. Migrating takes it out of you! Yes, these sandhill cranes are sleeping on their feet in the waters of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in southern New Mexico. The birds start arriving around Halloween each year, and as many as 10,000 of them will stay to rest and feed in local fields until February. What"s on the menu? Well, sandhill cranes aren"t picky; they"ll eat whatever"s available, from plants and grains, to insects, snails, and even snakes. And they have plenty of avian company at this beautiful refuge each winter—whooping cranes, ducks, and snow geese from as far away as Alaska and Siberia also count Bosque del Apache as a favorite resting spot before heading north to their breeding grounds when the days get warmer. Thankfully, there"s plenty of room to spread their wings at the 57,000-acre refuge.Desktop Version

Haghartsin Monastery, Armenia — Hidden among the forests of northern Armenia, Haghartsin Monastery is a gem of medieval Armenian architecture. Surrounded by the lush landscapes of Dilijan National Park, the monastery complex consists of several ornate structures, including the Church of the Holy Mother of God, St. Gregory"s Church, and St. Stepanos" Church. The buildings date back to the 10th century and are adorned with intricately carved stone monuments, crossing arches, and other decorative details, showcasing the skilled craftsmanship of the era. Haghartsin, which translates to "dance of the eagles," offers a serene escape for those seeking to connect with the country"s rich history. A sense of timelessness pervades as you wander through its quiet courtyards and explore the forested surroundings.Desktop Version

World Poetry Day — "How like a winter hath my absence been / From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year! / What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen! / What old December"s bareness everywhere!"Desktop Version

Prayer flags in Phobjikha Valley, Bhutan — This kaleidoscopic column is made up of prayer flags, blowing in the breeze in the Phobjikha Valley, Bhutan. Prayer flags come in five repeating colors representing different elements in nature, blue for the sky, white for air, red for fire, green for water, and yellow for earth. The fluttering fabrics, inscribed with spiritual scripts, are usually raised during times of prosperity, such as on Bhutan"s Nyinlong, their traditional day of solstice, which takes place today. As the flags fade over time, adherents believe this signifies that the prayers have been heard and are being carried away by the wind, infusing the surrounding area with positivity and spirituality.Desktop Version

Daiichi Tadami River Bridge, Fukushima, Japan — The Tadami Line is one of the most scenic railway lines in Japan. It winds through beautiful landscapes over 84 miles from Aizu-Wakamatsu, Fukushima prefecture, to Uonuma, Niigata prefecture. As travelers cross the Daiichi Tadami River Bridge, pictured in today"s image, they are treated to gorgeous vistas of the river below and the forests that blanket the area. After a snowfall, the icy blue water of the Tadami River cuts a bold streak through the forest, providing a welcome splash of color in a blanket of white.Desktop Version

Marine Day in Japan — The striking coastline of Omijima Island has earned it the nickname the Alps of the Sea. Its sheer cliffs and dramatic angles certainly echo the skyscraping peaks in that European mountain range. But a visit to Omijima Island will take you to the other side of the world, to Kita-Nagato Kaigan Quasi-National Park, in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. Year-round scuba diving adventures reveal a world under the waves just as beautiful as the one above the surface.Desktop Version

Mediterranean red sea stars — Sea stars—often called starfish—are some of the most fascinating creatures to live in our oceans. For starters, despite their name, they aren"t fish—they belong to a group of marine invertebrates called echinoderms. Like all echinoderms, sea stars are characterized by the radial symmetry of their bodies, which usually have multiple arms extending from the central disc.Desktop Version

Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, East Java, Indonesia — Welcome to the spectacular Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, on the Indonesian island of Java, famous for stunning sunrises and its dramatic landscape. Here, a massive ancient volcano erupted thousands of years ago and inside its collapsed crater, more volcanoes formed.Desktop Version

St. Patrick s Day — Ireland has been called the land of "40 shades of green," but this green leprechaun"s-eye view comes from the feet of California"s coastal redwoods. Today we celebrate St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, who famously never traveled to California. St. Patrick is often depicted holding a shamrock, which he purportedly used to explain Christianity in Ireland by saying the leaves illustrated the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of the Holy Trinity. Never mind that Celtic druids had revered the sacred shamrock and its three leaves long before Patrick"s arrival. Coins depicting St. Patrick with a shamrock date back as far as 1675.Desktop Version

Gentoo penguins in Antarctica — For the uninitiated, the origins of the made-up holiday Festivus can be traced back to an episode of the hit "90s show, "Seinfeld." Based on the real family tradition of one of the show"s writers, Festivus has taken on a life of its own in the real world and provides fans with a fun, tongue-in-cheek way to celebrate the holiday season while ignoring its pressures and commercialism.Desktop Version

Prince Christian Sound in southern Greenland — The sheer size of Greenland is hard to put in perspective. The world"s largest island is more than 836,000 square miles—that"s more than three times the size of Texas and 170,000 square miles larger than Alaska. It is a land of deep fjords and thick ice that must have made the Norse explorers feel right at home when they landed there a thousand years ago.Desktop Version

An ice cap-puccino — No, that"s not a new frozen coffee drink from Starbucks; it"s the southern polar ice cap on Mars. Mars is the only other planet in the solar system with visible ice caps, though they differ from Earth’s because the ice caps on Mars consist of both water ice and frozen carbon dioxide. The ice cap looks smooth here, but its surface is pockmarked with swiss-cheese-like depressions caused by the seasonal freezing and melting of the Martian winters and summers. While Mars has been observed by humanity for thousands of years, it was only on August 13, 1672, that Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens observed the ice cap using the most powerful telescope of the day. The giant of science designed the 50x magnification telescope himself, and with his brother, produced the lenses as well.Desktop Version

Midnight sun — Don"t lose your sunglasses! At least not during this time of year in Svalbard, Norway, when the sun crests the horizon and never dips below it again for more than four months. From about April 19 to August 23, it"s nothing but sunshine in this island chain above the Arctic Circle, more than 500 miles north of mainland Norway. It"s not quite a day at the beach, with average summertime high temps of 39 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit (toasty compared to average wintertime temps of 5 to 9 degrees). And who knows how far it is to the nearest Ray-Ban store?Desktop Version

What s cuter than nuzzling rhinos? — Today is World Rhino Day, and to celebrate we"re in South Africa, the home of the majority of the planet"s white rhinos. In the wild, these majestic animals are grazers, with wide, square upper lips perfect for feeding on the grasses of African savannahs. The two-horned white rhino is one of five living rhino species, along with the black, greater one-horned, Sumatran, and Javan rhinos. White rhinos, like the mother and offspring you see nuzzling here, have seen their numbers dwindle due to poaching and shrinking natural habitats.Desktop Version

A tower of remembrance — Pictured here is the Tower of Voices, a 93-foot-tall monument to the passengers and crew on Flight 93. Hijackers seized the plane shortly after it left Newark, New Jersey, on September 11, 2001. As travelers onboard learned of the coordinated attacks in New York and Washington, DC, a group of passengers and flight crew attempted to wrest control of the plane. The aircraft crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing everyone on board. It was the only one of the four hijacked planes that didn’t hit its intended target.Desktop Version

Seville, Spain — The first recorded expedition to successfully circumnavigate the Earth returned here to Seville, Spain, 500 years ago today. This was the remnants of the Spanish fleet that had set sail under the command of Ferdinand Magellan almost exactly three years previously with the goal of finding a western sea route to the rich Spice Islands of Indonesia. While Magellan gets the glory as leader of the expedition, he didn"t actually complete the marathon voyage—he had been killed in a skirmish in the Philippines in April 1521. In the end, his place as leader of the five-ship voyage was filled by Juan Sebastián Elcano, whose command ship, the "Vittoria," was the only one in the convoy that survived the trip. Harsh conditions, starvation, scurvy, hostile encounters, and other struggles had taken their toll: Of the roughly 270 crew members who set out, only 18 returned with the expedition.Desktop Version

National Audubon Society s Christmas Bird Count — It"s that time again! Grab your binoculars and bird guide and head outside to start counting. The National Audubon Society"s Christmas Bird Count starts on December 14 annually and runs until January 5. Originating as an actual hunt in the 19th century, on Christmas Day in 1900 someone had the bright idea to stop killing the birds and instead just observe them.Desktop Version

The Canary Islands, Spain — Welcome to Fuerteventura, one of Spain"s Canary Islands, found nearly 70 miles off the northwestern coast of Africa. For thousands of years, the volcanic islands have served as an international crossroads, attracting the interest of the Romans, Arab traders, and European navigators. Agriculture has long been important here, with bananas, tomatoes, and potatoes among the main crops. But while the first voyagers came in search of trade, today"s visitors come to explore the many beautiful national parks and relax on beaches like the Playa del Matorral on Fuerteventura, seen here during a spectacular sunset.Desktop Version

World Teachers Day — Class trip? Looks like this teacher has their youngsters in line. If only it were always this easy.... Today is World Teachers" Day, and we"re celebrating educators of all kinds. This year"s theme is "Teachers at the heart of educational renewal," and it highlights the remarkable efforts of teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine. They"ve had to balance health and safety concerns with an abrupt switch to remote learning or partial in-person classes, all while focusing on the education and well-being of their students.Desktop Version

Colle Santa Lucia, Dolomites, Italy — This tiny hamlet on the slopes of the Dolomite Mountains is so picturesque, we"d understand if you mistook it for a movie set. But Colle Santa Lucia is a real village in Italy with about 400 residents. Despite its location in Italy"s northern reaches, the village is more culturally Austrian than Italian, and is only a stone"s throw from the Austrian border state of Tyrol. And like its Austrian neighbors, Colle Santa Lucia is known for its peaks and ski resorts. It has more in common with wintry Innsbruck than sunny Venice, which is less than 100 miles away to the south.Desktop Version

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