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Yarn bombing in the village of Gurnard, England
Yarn bombing in the village of Gurnard, England
Yarn bombing–also called guerilla knitting, yarnstorming, or kniffiti–brings a warm and fuzzy bent to modern street art. Artists use knitted materials to cover outdoor fixtures such as lamp posts, park benches, and manhole covers–often anonymously. This knitted ‘fungus’ is on a tree in Gurnard, a village on the Isle of Wight.Desktop Version
Quebec City for Winter Carnival
Quebec City for Winter Carnival
Among all the pre-Lenten celebrations that take place around the world in February, the most famous are associated with warm-weather cities like Rio and New Orleans, where revelers party in elaborate costumes during the run-up to Ash Wednesday. It"s a different affair in Quebec City, Canada, pictured here, where participants in the Quebec Winter Carnival enjoy all things winter, from snow sculptures to sleigh races. This former frontier outpost, and little sister to Montreal, is known for its spirited embrace of the coldest, darkest season. So, it"s no surprise that its winter festival is the biggest in the Western Hemisphere. Our homepage image shows the grandiose Château Frontenac hotel, which opened in 1893, towering over the city"s historic Old Quebec neighborhood, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.Desktop Version
Desert rose of Qatar
Desert rose of Qatar
International Museum Day brings us to Qatar, a small but wealthy nation on the Arabian Peninsula, surrounded by the waters of the Persian Gulf and bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south. In the capital city of Doha you"ll find its national museum, shown here, which opened in March 2019. This elaborate building was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel, who sourced his inspiration from the desert rose crystal. Look closely and amid the futuristic interlocking disks of the new museum you"ll see the early 20th-century Old Amiri Palace, once home of the Emir of Qatar, surrounded by a courtyard of palm trees.Desktop Version
The moai you know
The moai you know
Roam around tiny, remote Easter Island and you"ll find almost 900 of the stern stone faces called moai. They seem ancient as the pyramids, even a little alien, but they were actually sculpted between 500 and 800 years ago from compacted volcanic ash that"s as terrestrial as it comes. You"re seeing six of the 15 moai that stand on Ahu Tongariki, the largest ahu (stone platform) on the island. These statues were toppled in the 18th or 19th century along with other moai island-wide for reasons not fully known to scholars, though earthquakes or possible tribal infighting are postulated. The statues were later buried by a tidal wave and lay in ruins until the 1990s, when they were excavated and placed back on the ahu.Desktop Version
Fiesta at Siesta
Fiesta 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
A bite of ancient history
A bite of ancient history
Apples can be traced back to the mountains of Central Asia. In late 4th century BCE, Alexander the Great was busy conquering that region, and while in what is modern-day Kazakhstan he came across wild apples. Alexander’s military machine brought some of the plants back to Europe, and over the centuries, cuttings and seed splices began to produce the fruit as we know it now. The apples ready for harvest in this photo are on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia, Canada—a long way from Central Asia.Desktop Version
Enter the magical world of Livraria Lello
Enter the magical world of Livraria Lello
How will you celebrate International Literacy Day today? We"re highlighting this important observance with a photo of a very special bookstore, Livraria Lello in Porto, Portugal. With its art nouveau façade, neo-Gothic interior, stained-glass ceiling, swooping catwalks, and the dramatic, curvaceous staircase with crimson steps, the Lello is considered one of the most beautiful—and among the oldest—bookstores in the world. The Lello bookstore opened in 1906 and has been serving up the magic of books ever since.Desktop Version
Basking in the glow
Basking in the glow
Norway may not be top of mind for most sun seekers, but around the middle of May until late July, head north to the part of the country inside the Arctic Circle and you can experience a natural phenomenon known as the midnight sun. During these few months the sun is visible at midnight local time, like you see in today"s image of Norway"s North Cape. Of course, as nature strives to maintain a balance, during winter this region experiences polar night, when the sun never rises above the horizon.Desktop Version
Tokyo welcomes a futuristic new art museum
Tokyo welcomes a futuristic new art museum
You’re looking at ‘Forest of Resonating Lamps,’ an art exhibit in the newly opened Mori Building Digital Art Museum in Tokyo’s Odaiba area, a manmade island in Tokyo Bay. The futuristic facility is making headlines this summer for its unique format. The venue features exclusively digital art–some 50 exhibits that are displayed throughout the 10,000-square-foot space to create an immersive, borderless experience. More than 500 computers and 470 projectors are used to create an ethereal effect. In "Forest of Resonating Lamps," hundreds of lamps dangle from the ceiling and light up in response to movement in the room.Desktop Version
A center of antiquity on the Mediterranean
A center of antiquity on the Mediterranean
This bird"s-eye view lets us take in the charms of Ortygia, a small island just offshore from Syracuse, on Sicily"s east coast. Ortygia is considered Syracuse"s "old town" and the historical heart of the city. Two bridges cross the narrow channel that separates Ortygia from Syracuse. Ancient Greeks first colonized this island in the 8th century BCE, and the town is brimming with 2,700 years of history. Walk Ortygia"s web of narrow streets and you"ll see Greek and Roman ruins, medieval Norman buildings, and examples of Baroque architecture as well.Desktop Version
The stylish Spanish shawl
The stylish Spanish shawl
Today we"re meeting one of a motley group of sea slugs called the nudibranchs (rhymes with "thanks"), known for their unique, often complex shapes and neon-bright colors that help discourage predators. The Spanish shawl"s fire-orange mane is made up of tendrils called cerata that mainly act as gills. But that mane also retains venom from the slug"s prey—sea anemones—treating any would-be devourers to a painful sting. Should a ravenous sea star disregard these defenses and get too close for comfort, the Spanish shawl has a Plan B: By flapping its whole 2- to 3-inch body like a gelatinous wing, the nudibranch can flutter into open water for a quick escape.Desktop Version
Floating temples in the Land of Smiles
Floating temples in the Land of Smiles
Greetings from northern Thailand, near the city of Lampang, where the mountain peaks have been majestically transformed with the addition of these golden and white "floating" stupas and pagodas. Their construction was a monumental effort, with materials hauled up in pieces by around 50 workers under the direction of a Lampang monk over the course of two years. The resulting temple complex of Wat Chaloem Phra Kiat Phrachomklao Rachanusorn is off the beaten path and requires a half-mile stair climb in what can be punishing heat.Desktop Version
The ‘Night of Nights’
The ‘Night of Nights’
This is the cypress tunnel at Point Reyes National Seashore, a nature preserve on the California coast north of San Francisco. The tunnel leads to KPH, a ship-to-shore radio station that once broadcast messages to marine craft in the Pacific. KPH stopped operations in 1997, as more sophisticated radio equipment and satellite communications made radio stations like it obsolete. Now it’s one of the unusual features of Point Reyes, open to visitors interested in a glimpse of the past.Desktop Version
Fall color sweeps across the West
Fall color sweeps across the West
The leaves are changing across the West, and few views are more striking than this one of the fall foliage in the Uncompahgre National Forest in the shadow of Chimney Rock. The spire and its neighbor Courthouse Mountain dominate the landscape here year-round, but the changing colors make this area—and drives along the nearby Million Dollar Highway—even more scenic in the fall.Desktop Version
Baddest of the badlands
Baddest of the badlands
Heading west on Interstate 90, peek out the driver"s side when you"re about three-quarters of the way across South Dakota. It"s the first clue you"ve entered the Wild West: the expansive, layered landscape of Badlands National Park. It"s enjoyed government protection since 1939, first as a national monument and more completely after it was upgraded to national park status on this day in 1978. The park protects 244,000 acres of dramatically eroded bedrock replete with fossil beds—as well as the nation"s largest mixed-grass prairie, hosting bison, prairie dogs, and endangered black-footed ferrets.Desktop Version
Maloja, Switzerland
Maloja, Switzerland
The word "picturesque" is an understatement when taking in today"s image of Maloja, Switzerland. This Alpine village in the canton of Grisons is surely the envy and inspiration of snow globes the world over! Located just a few miles from the Italian border, the impossibly perfect winter scenes found here have inspired painters and artists for centuries. Majola is near Lake Sils, which makes this area a recreational destination in both summer and winter. At the center of our image is the crown jewel of Maloja, the Chiesa Bianca, a church built in the 1880s by a Belgian count. Today, the once solemn space is used to stage exhibitions and concerts.Desktop Version
Tiny fliers head south
Tiny fliers head south
The ruby-throated hummingbird in today"s homepage image is snacking on some yellow bells in the Texas Hill Country, preparing for its long journey south for the winter. This time of year, the hummingbirds leave the northern latitudes of the eastern US and Canada, migrating to the warmer climes of Mexico and Central America. Along their route, many will cross the Gulf of Mexico in a single 500-mile flight, which can take 18-22 hours of nonstop flying at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour. Tiny but fierce, the ruby-throated hummingbird weighs less than a nickel. It beats its wings about 53 times a second on average, but during courtship the wingbeat rate increases to 200 times per second, the fastest of any bird.Desktop Version
US Coast Guard: Protecting us for 105 years
US Coast Guard: Protecting us for 105 years
In recognition of the modern US Coast Guard, formed on this day in 1915, we"re featuring the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, one of many lighthouses managed by the USCG. How did Cape Disappointment get its name? A British fur trader in 1788 mistook the mouth of the Columbia River for a bay and was disappointed because his ship couldn"t pass due to the river"s shallow bar. Many ships would eventually sink in these dangerous waters, but this lighthouse has warned off countless others since it was lit in 1856, making it the first lighthouse in the Pacific Northwest. Most of the lighthouses in the US have been built and maintained by the US Coast Guard and its predecessors.Desktop Version
Mysterious prairie mounds abound
Mysterious prairie mounds abound
Collections of these dome-like hills are common in landscapes throughout the United States. Depending on your region, you might know them as Mima mounds, hogwallow mounds, or even pimple mounds–and their origin isn’t always clear. Theories range from seismic activity to gophers—and even just an accumulation of sediment. The prairie mounds on our homepage today are part of Oregon’s Zumwalt Prairie, a protected grassland area in northeast Oregon. Encompassing some 330,000 acres, it’s of one of the largest remaining tracts of bunchgrass prairie in North America. Once part of an extensive grassland in the region, this portion has remained preserved due to its high elevation, which made farming difficult.Desktop Version
Swimming into the season
Swimming into the season
This aquatic candy cane is called a banded pipefish. You won"t find it at the North Pole or on your Christmas tree, but in the tropical seas of the Indo-Pacific region, from Australia and Japan to the Philippines and South Africa. It"s in the same family as the seahorse, and like its cousin, the pipefish has plates of bony armor covering its body. This gives it protection, but a rigid body (like a candy cane!), so it swims by rapidly fanning its fins. Also like the seahorse, it"s the male pipefish—not the female—who carries the eggs. After an elaborate courtship dance, the female deposits her eggs in the male"s brood pouch, where they develop until the male gives birth. We"re not making this stuff up, but we can"t vouch for the theory that the red-and-white banded pipefish has a minty taste.Desktop Version
A star blows a bubble
A star blows a bubble
This giant space bubble is being blown by a massive star visible at the 10 o"clock position inside it. Already over 7 light-years across and expanding at a rate of over 4 million mph, the "bubble" is actually the shock wave created when expanding hot gas (or stellar wind) hits the cold, interstellar gas that surrounds it. The Bubble Nebula was discovered in 1787 by William Herschel. The star inside is living fast and will die young (for a star)—it will likely detonate as a supernova in only 10 to 20 million years. This image was taken in 2016 by the Hubble Space Telescope to mark the 26th anniversary of Hubble"s launch into Earth orbit by the STS-31 space shuttle crew. We"re showing it to mark the last day of World Space Week, an annual "international celebration of science and technology, and their contribution to the betterment of the human condition."Desktop Version
Fashion models of the avian world
Fashion models of the avian world
Striking plumage, dramatic tail feathers, long down-curved bills, that indefinable certain something… You can see why bee-eaters are considered among the most beautiful of birds—and highly prized by photographers. There are about 25 species of bee-eaters that live throughout tropical and subtropical parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. They"re medium-sized and both males and females sport similar jewel-toned plumage. This group perching in Mkomazi National Park in Tanzania is mostly made up of the northern carmine variety—with blue-green heads and mostly red bodies—plus a few European bee-eaters seemingly for accent color.Desktop Version
National Park Week: Olympic National Park, Washington
National Park Week: Olympic National Park, Washington
The final day of National Park Week brings us to Ruby Beach, a coastal destination named for its sparkly sand, at Washington’s Olympic National Park. Here on the Olympic Peninsula you’ll find rugged beaches, glacier-topped mountains, and temperate rainforests that receive upwards of 12 feet of rainfall per year. All that rain feeds the mosses, lichens, and ferns that lend the forests a unique, jungle-like quality. Thanks for exploring national parks with us for the past week–it’s been fun!Desktop Version
Wyoming celebrates its statehood
Wyoming celebrates its statehood
On this day in 1890 Wyoming became the 44th state in the US, which is good news for wilderness fanatics. Wyoming is home to iconic outdoor spaces such as the Tetons, Devils Tower, the Black Hills, and Yellowstone. Shown here is Bridger Wilderness, part of Bridger-Teton National Forest, named for the famous frontiersman Jim Bridger. Bridger was a trapper, explorer, and wilderness guide who is often called the ‘Daniel Boone’ of the Rockies. He’s credited with discovering Wyoming’s Bridger Pass as well as being the first European American to see the Great Salt Lake. And it’s not just the state’s spectacular landscape that sets it apart—Wyoming Territory granted women the right to vote in 1869, earlier than anywhere else in the country. And in 1924, the people of Wyoming elected the nation’s first female governor. Here’s to you, Equality State!Desktop Version
Reflecting on one of the world s strangest rivers
Reflecting on one of the world s strangest rivers
If you like your landscapes on the surreal side, then this weird and wonderful river in the Andalusia region of southwestern Spain should be to your liking. The Rio Tinto (Red River) gets its name from the reddish hue of its water, caused by high levels of iron and sulfur, which make it very acidic. This unusual chemical makeup may or may not be a result of the area"s long history of mining, which dates back at least 5,000 years. Ancient residents like the Tartessians and Romans dug here for copper, silver, and gold, as well as the mineral pyrite, commonly referred to as "fool"s gold." Legend has it that the Rio Tinto was the site of the fabled mines of King Solomon.Desktop Version