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Feb 22, 2020It s not always sunny in Abu Simbel…

…but when it is, it"s pretty spectacular. This tiny lakeside settlement"s Great Temple of Ramesses II was positioned on the orders of that powerful pharaoh so the inner sanctum (in this picture, that"s the small room at the very back) is lit by the sun only twice a year. On February 22 and October 22 (thought to be Ramesses" coronation and birth dates, respectively), the first light of dawn illuminates the sanctuary and three statues within: one of Ramesses, one of the sun god Ra, and one of the chief god Amun. A fourth statue depicting the underworld figure Ptah is permanently shrouded in shadow.Desktop Version

Feb 23, 2020An icy extravaganza

We’re just outside Brainerd, Minnesota, for the Ice Fishing Extravaganza on Gull Lake. Each year in late January, more than 10,000 people will come out to catch as many fish as they can—mostly walleye and northern pike, but all fish species are eligible. The contest is organized and run by volunteers exclusively, and 100 percent of the proceeds—around $150,000—goes to local charities.Desktop Version

Feb 24, 2020Wind horses carry wishes for a new year

For the first day of Losar, or the Tibetan New Year, we"re paying a visit to these Buddhist pilgrims at the Ganden Monastery in Lhasa, Tibet. Losar is celebrated for 15 days, but most events occur in the first three days. They include wishing family members a prosperous year, praying at monasteries or temples, exchanging gifts, burning incense, chanting, wrestling, horse racing, and more. Celebrations for the new year end with Chotrul Duchen, or the Butter Lamp Festival. The pilgrims in today"s image are releasing prayer flags called "wind horses" or lungtas, a ritual they perform for Losar and during the rest of the year as well. Upon releasing the prayer flags, the pilgrims ask the mountain deity to "increase their fortune like the galloping of a horse and expand their prosperity like the boiling over of milk."Desktop Version

Feb 25, 2020Jazzed for Mardi Gras

To celebrate the Big Easy"s enduring legacy of music, we"re in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans for Fat Tuesday. As Carnival season culminates today with Mardi Gras celebrations throughout the city, this historically black neighborhood adjacent to the French Quarter will come alive with the music of jazz bands like the one depicted here. The sculptural profile of a traditional marching brass band marks one entrance to Louis Armstrong Park, a community space honoring New Orleans" musical roots with a 12-foot statue of its jazz legend namesake, as well as other art pieces depicting iconic NOLA musicians.Desktop Version

Feb 26, 2020 The Crown Jewel of the North Atlantic

Welcome to Acadia National Park on Maine"s rocky, scenic coast. The 49,075-acre park covers about half of Mount Desert Island, smaller nearby islands, and a section on the mainland. The oldest national park east of the Mississippi River and the only one in Maine, Acadia packs a lot of geographical variety into its relatively small size. You"ll find miles of craggy coastline like the shore in our homepage image, woodlands, wetlands, and mountains. The park"s Cadillac Mountain is the highest point along the North Atlantic seaboard and a great spot to take in the sunrise.Desktop Version

Feb 27, 2020Three cheers for polar bears!

February 27 is International Polar Bear Day, an observance created to bring attention to the important role these alpha predators play in the Arctic ecosystem. Though polar bears aren"t endangered—their current conservation status is "vulnerable"—these magnificent beasts have become a sort of mascot for the race to slow the melting of Arctic sea ice. The Arctic ice is crucial to the bears" survival, as they hunt the ringed seals that bob up through holes in the ice. As Arctic ice decreases, the polar bears" hunting ground does too.Desktop Version

Feb 28, 2020Looking down on the Otter

Otter Creek is the longest river entirely contained within the borders of Vermont and has been an important waterway since people settled in the area around 10,000 years ago. Originally an important trade route for the indigenous Abenaki, Algonquin, and Iroquois nations, it remained a vital part of the economy of the early European settlers and up through the 19th century. It winds through some of the Green Mountain State"s most scenic towns, from Brandon to Middlebury to Vergennes, and empties into Lake Champlain. It is also the water source for more than one of Vermont"s many microbreweries, including Otter Creek Brewery. With at least 60 breweries serving just over 600,000 people in the state, Vermonters lead the nation in beer brands per capita. Cheers!Desktop Version

Feb 29, 2020It s leap day!

For leap day (the extra day added to February every four years), we"re looking at a Wallace"s flying frog. Also known as parachute frogs, these critters live in the tropical jungles of Malaysia and Borneo. They spend most of their time in trees, gliding down to the ground to mate and lay eggs. They "fly" by leaping and using their webbed fingers and toes to glide as far as 50 feet.Desktop Version

Mar 1, 2020Casting a vote for women s history

This historical photo commemorates a group of women who came to Washington, DC, to march alongside thousands in the Woman Suffrage Procession on March 3, 1913. Organizers scheduled the protest on the day before President Woodrow Wilson"s inauguration to draw maximum publicity to their cause—voting rights for women. But it would be another eight years before American women would finally be guaranteed the vote. That came on August 18, 1920, with the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, after a century of protest and activism.Desktop Version

Mar 2, 2020And to think that I saw it in Cappadocia

The fantastical "fairy chimneys" found in central Turkey"s historical Cappadocia region were formed by a collision of the natural and the man-made—and they form a scene that seems straight out of a Dr. Seuss illustration. The landforms were created when volcanoes deposited mounds of soft, porous rock called tuff, which was later covered with hard basalt. In the 10th century (though possibly starting up to 5,000 years ago) humans excavated the tuff to create caves and catacombs that could fit thousands of dwellers. Through not only the astonishing ruins but the many "cave hotels" hewn into rock in the city of Göreme, the memory of those ingenious city planners lives on.Desktop Version

Mar 3, 2020All eyes on sustainability

We don"t need an excuse to highlight and celebrate wildlife, but as it turns out, today is the UN"s World Wildlife Day. This year"s theme is "Sustaining all life on Earth," focusing on biodiversity. The UN and its partners are producing a series of programs and social media activities, including an event at UN Headquarters in New York, a film festival, and an international youth art competition.Desktop Version

Mar 4, 2020A different kind of dive

Our homepage divers are descending the clear turquoise waters of a cenote on Mexico"s Yucatán Peninsula. A cenote is a sinkhole that"s created when limestone bedrock collapses and exposes the groundwater underneath, creating pools of fresh water that delight swimmers, and even cave divers like those on our homepage. They"re diving in "El Pit" cenote, part of a flooded cave system near Tulum. It"s one of thousands of cenotes documented on the Yucatán, and a popular spot for divers who come to swim through the brilliant sunbeams.Desktop Version

Mar 5, 2020The desert blooms

It"s getting to be wildflower season in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona. That means it won"t be long before we see blooms from the big daddy of the cactus world—the saguaro. Our homepage pic shows just a glimpse of this amazing succulent. The saguaro is the largest of them all, with some of the oldest specimens reaching more than 50 feet tall. It can hold huge amounts of water—after plentiful rains when it"s fully hydrated, a saguaro can weigh between 3,200 and 4,800 pounds. In the right conditions, it will live more than 100 years, growing arms as it ages, creating that classic cactus profile that"s associated with the desert and Old West.Desktop Version

Mar 6, 2020Hello, harbinger of spring

Welcome back, little mountain bluebird. Although this bright fellow may be enduring the last of this year"s snow in Yellowstone National Park, his presence means winter will soon be ending. The bluebird is a symbol of happiness and a welcome sign of spring in many cultures. Soon other migratory birds will arrive in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem—an 18-million-acre tract that includes Grand Teton National Park and surrounding national forests. It"s the world"s largest intact ecosystem in the northern temperate zone. What exactly does that mean? Since wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone 25 years ago, all the animal species that were first documented by European explorers can still be found here.Desktop Version

Mar 6, 2020Hello, harbinger of spring

Welcome back, little mountain bluebird. Although this bright fellow may be enduring the last of this year"s snow in Yellowstone National Park, his presence means winter will soon be ending. The bluebird is a symbol of happiness and a welcome sign of spring in many cultures. Soon other migratory birds will arrive in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem—an 18-million-acre tract that includes Grand Teton National Park and surrounding national forests. It"s the world"s largest intact ecosystem in the northern temperate zone. What exactly does that mean? Since wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone 25 years ago, all the animal species that were first documented by European explorers can still be found here.Desktop Version

Mar 7, 2020Summer winds down in the Southern Hemisphere

As we in the Northern Hemisphere prepare to greet spring, many in Australia are probably looking forward to the end of a punishing summer. Relatively temperate autumn weather must come as a relief to our friends Down Under. Some are likely greeting the change in seasons with a trip to the pool, like the swimmers in today"s image of the Bronte Baths, an ocean pool located in a Sydney suburb. While seaside swimming pools aren"t unique to Australia, this island country is known for its many oceanside pools, which provide sheltered spots for swimming in places where rocky shorelines and occasional shark attacks can make ocean swimming difficult or dangerous.Desktop Version

Mar 7, 2020Summer winds down in the Southern Hemisphere

As we in the Northern Hemisphere prepare to greet spring, many in Australia are probably looking forward to the end of a punishing summer. Relatively temperate autumn weather must come as a relief to our friends Down Under. Some are likely greeting the change in seasons with a trip to the pool, like the swimmers in today"s image of the Bronte Baths, an ocean pool located in a Sydney suburb. While seaside swimming pools aren"t unique to Australia, this island country is known for its many oceanside pools, which provide sheltered spots for swimming in places where rocky shorelines and occasional shark attacks can make ocean swimming difficult or dangerous.Desktop Version

Mar 8, 2020Joan charges Riverside Park

Joan of Arc leads the charge through New York"s Riverside Park for our celebration of International Women"s Day. This year’s Women"s Day observance is particularly meaningful in the United States because 2020 marks 100 years since American women won the right to vote nationwide. That victory was the result of a long, difficult struggle by suffragists—women who faced ridicule, slander, imprisonment, and outright brutality for their efforts to claim the right to vote. These women often drew inspiration from Joan of Arc, who became a feminist symbol of the female warrior for universal rights. In their marches and demonstrations in the early 1900s, suffragists often dressed as Joan and invoked her heroism in defiance of a male-dominated culture.Desktop Version

Mar 9, 2020This grizzly has Napping Day down

Like the napping grizzly cub in today"s image, we"re guessing you might feel tired after losing an hour of sleep to the start of daylight saving time. So, we"re giving you a great reason to get your nap on—it"s National Napping Day. This sleep-inducing day was created by Boston University professor William Anthony in 1999 and always occurs the Monday after "springing forward." The idea is that losing even just an hour of sleep renders most of us in need of some extra shut-eye. If that describes you, then maybe it"s time to give napping a try.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

Mar 11, 2020Anybody out there?

This is the time of year that polar bears emerge from their winter dens. In today"s photo, these adorable cubs are peeking out for the first time in their young lives. Polar bears don"t technically hibernate, but in fall, a pregnant female polar bear will dig a maternity den in the snow (although in some areas it"ll be under the peat soil). While in her small den, the bear enters a dormant state, sleeping nearly all the time, until she gives birth, usually between November and February. Then in spring she"ll dig herself out and emerge with her recently arrived cubs. Polar bear cubs stay with their mother for about two years as they learn to survive in the Arctic.Desktop Version

Mar 12, 2020Fiesta at Siesta

Here we are in mid-March already, the time of year when college-age revelers invade the world"s beaches, like this one on Florida"s Siesta Key. Located in Sarasota County off the state"s western shore, the island beach is a fixture on lists of America"s top beaches, a standout even in a state where soft, welcoming sands compose over half the 1,200-mile coastline.Desktop Version

Mar 13, 2020Jerte Valley in bloom

As winter turns to spring in the Jerte Valley, all eyes are on the cherry blossoms. This tiny region in the province of Cáceres, Spain, has the perfect microclimate for cherry trees, and there are more than 1.5 million of them here in 23 square miles. The cherry blossoms last just two weeks before the petals rain down, covering the entire valley. About 40 days later, the first cherries are ready to be picked. Locals make wine, beer, and various foods with them. Cherries are also used for spa and beauty treatments, since they have antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, in addition to vitamins and ellagic acid.Desktop Version

Mar 14, 2020A circular celebration

It"s Pi Day, the day we celebrate the mathematical constant π. This day was chosen because today"s date, March 14, expressed numerically, matches the number"s first digits, 3.14. Pi represents the ratio of a circle"s circumference to its diameter. It can be used to compute the area and circumference of a circle, such as the circles that make up this bridge we"re looking at here in Copenhagen. (Who said math wasn"t useful in the real world?) Many people mark the day with activities based around mathematics—and most also serve pie. We can"t think of a more delicious way to study geometry.Desktop Version

Mar 15, 2020Celebrating 200 years of statehood

We"re wandering out onto the striated coastal rocks of Maine"s Pemaquid Point at sunrise to mark 200 years since Maine joined the Union as the 23rd US state. With roughly 5,000 miles of jagged, rocky coastline, Maine is studded with dozens of lighthouses, and the light at Pemaquid Point is one of the most celebrated—and historic. First, that history: President John Quincy Adams commissioned the lighthouse in 1827, but it needed to be rebuilt in 1835 after the original began falling apart. (Note: Don"t use salt water when mixing your mortar.) Maine residents chose the Pemaquid Point Light for display on their state"s coin as part of the US 50 State Quarters Program.Desktop Version

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