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Jun 22, 2021Land of the midnight sun

Here we are in the land of the midnight sun, just after the summer solstice. These days of seemingly endless sunlight are especially dramatic here at the Seljalandsfoss waterfall on the south coast of Iceland. The famous waterfall is less than a two-hour drive from Reykjavik, Iceland"s capital city. Intrepid explorers, hopefully kitted out in good traction shoes and raincoats, can explore the walkways behind and surrounding the raging walls of water.Desktop Version

Jul 4, 2021Happy Independence Day!

All across the United States on July 4, we come together as a nation to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. In it, the Second Continental Congress put Great Britain on notice that the 13 American colonies were no longer subject to its laws and instead had formed a new country, the United States of America. Declaration signers, recognizing the importance of the moment and the message, anticipated that generations later we would remember and celebrate "from one end of this continent to the other." The celebration we"re looking at here is in San Francisco, where crowds traditionally gather at various spots along the waterfront area to take in the annual fireworks display over the bay.Desktop Version

Oct 17, 2021A walk among the giants

On New Zealand"s North Island, Whakarewarewa Forest is home to a diverse range of native plants and animals. There"s also a series of lakes as well as hot springs, bubbling mud pools, and even active geysers. But Whakarewarewa Forest features something that no other forest in New Zealand can claim: a stand of majestic redwood trees called the Redwood Memorial Grove. The redwoods were introduced from their native California at the beginning of the 20th century.Desktop Version

Apr 6, 2018It’s National Walk to Work Day

Every year approximately 4,000 pairs of emperor penguins trudge across the frozen landscape to reach Snow Hill Island, turning this snowcapped island off the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula into a crowded breeding colony. While there, the male penguin’s job is to carefully guard the egg his mate has laid, and make sure it stays warm enough so the chick inside can hatch. If your job doesn’t take you to a snow-covered Antarctic island, then why not celebrate by observing National Walk to Work Day today?Desktop Version

Mar 9, 2021Spring comes to the Diablo foothills

Spring rains carpet the rolling foothills of Northern California"s Diablo Range in emerald green this time of year. Just past the sprawling suburbs of the East Bay region, the Diablo foothills become a sylvan playground for horseback riding, hiking, bicycling, and simply escaping into nature. Grasslands and oak savannahs cover the low ridges that gradually rise into the higher peaks of the range, and at the crests of the foothills, a visitor is granted panoramic views of the ridgeline to the east. Aside from the green grasses, springtime brings a profusion of wildflowers to the area, including poppies, daffodils, and lupines. It"s also nesting season for the many birds of the region, like the peregrine falcons that build nests high in the vertical rock formations here known as Castle Rock.Desktop Version

Apr 24, 2018National Park Week: Everglades National Park

You’re looking at a satellite view of Florida’s Everglades, the largest subtropical wilderness in the US. It’s not a static wetland, but rather a ‘river of grass,’ a slow-moving river 60 miles wide and 100 miles long. Keep zooming in and you’ll likely see sawgrass marshes, mangrove trees, tropical birds, and a gator or two. Among the myriad interesting things about this unique and fragile ecosystem—it’s the only place in the world where American alligators and American crocodiles co-exist. How do you tell the difference between the two? Well, you see one later and the other after a while. (See what we did there?)Desktop Version

Jan 30, 2020The Pearl of Siberia

Russia"s Lake Baikal is a record-holding wonder: It"s the world"s oldest (25 million years), deepest (over 5,000 feet in some parts), and largest freshwater lake (more than 20 percent of the Earth"s fresh surface water by volume). Baikal lies in the deepest continental rift on Earth, and because the rift is geologically active, the tectonic plates continue to move farther apart.Desktop Version

Dec 17, 2018We have liftoff!

The Wright brothers documented the first sustained flight in a powered, controlled aircraft on this day in 1903. That historic achievement was the result of single-minded perseverance, study, and experimentation. The brothers had spent more than a dozen years designing, engineering, constructing, and tweaking various test craft, including groundbreaking work done on the glider shown here. Orville Wright snapped this photo of the plane as it’s piloted by his brother Wilbur, gliding down the slope of Big Kill Devil Hill in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in October 1902.Desktop Version

Jun 28, 2019Montreux, Switzerland, and all that jazz

We’re looking at Montreux, Switzerland, where the Montreux Jazz Festival begins today. Despite its name, the festival isn"t just about jazz. It highlights different styles of music across multiple venues over two weeks. This year"s lineup includes three farewell-tour stops (Elton John, Anita Baker, Joan Baez) and big names in jazz (Chick Corea, Bobby McFerrin), as well as young artists representing a variety of genres. The festival began in 1967 at the original Montreux Casino, which famously burned down during a December 1971 Frank Zappa performance. The fire was memorialized by Deep Purple in their hit "Smoke on the Water." A monument commemorating the band and their song can be found next to the rebuilt casino.Desktop Version

Nov 6, 2020Life in the slow lane

In observance of Manatee Awareness Month, we"re swimming through clear, aquifer-fed spring waters in Florida with two friendly "sea cows." Generally solitary animals, manatees are also known to be curious and will approach boats. That"s why Florida enforces special speed zones for watercraft, particularly as the manatees are on the move to warmer areas to spend the winter. While manatees have no known natural predators, they remain a vulnerable species due to loss of habitat and collisions with boats. These two have arrived in Three Sisters Springs, a natural freshwater spring system in the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge on the west coast of the Florida Peninsula. The refuge protects critical habitat for the hundreds of manatees that migrate here each winter.Desktop Version

Feb 1, 2021Reflecting on Black History Month

Join the Smithsonian as we celebrate Black History Month with the help of our National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). This stunning image of the museum looks out through its intricate, bronze-colored façade to the National Mall. The museum’s breathtaking exterior, a corona rising in three dramatic tiers, evokes the crowns found in the Yoruba art of West Africa, and its ornate design echoes the decorative ironwork found in the American South, often forged by African American slaves and freed Black Americans. The façade allows natural light to filter into the museum while also protecting artifacts on display from direct sunlight and glare.Desktop Version

Dec 17, 2020Pining for spring

Next time you"re out walking amid the verdant majesty of a conifer forest, take a moment to consider the small but mighty pine cone. It plays a crucial role in the trees" lifecycle but has also served as a potent symbol for a variety of human cultures. In many traditions, it"s been associated with fertility and enlightenment, appearing in art from the Mayans, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. That association comes from its main job—making baby trees. The ornate, woody pine cones shown here are females, and they"re designed to create and protect seeds. Male cones, which are usually smaller, produce pollen. The female cones open and close their scales to allow for pollination and eventually release their seeds onto the forest floor. But pine cones also open and close in response to changes in the weather, making them a natural barometer.Desktop Version

Nov 30, 2020A water loch-ed castle

Located on a small island where three sea lochs meet in northwestern Scotland, the current Eilean Donan Castle is just the latest incarnation of several monastic cells and Scottish clan strongholds that have occupied the tidal islet since the 7th century. The first fortified castle was built in the 13th century to defend against invading Vikings who occupied much of Scotland at the time. An iconic symbol of Scotland, from the 14th to 18th centuries the castle was mostly held by the Mackenzies and defended by the MacRaes, both storied clans of the Scottish Highlands. The castle was destroyed in 1719 by the invading British Royal Navy during the Jacobite Uprising, but was rebuilt along its earlier design in the early 20th century by Lt. Colonel John MacRae-Gilstrap.Desktop Version

Apr 7, 2018The confluence of the Arve and Rhône Rivers

That’s the Arve river on the right, flowing into the Rhône. This point where the two rivers meet is just west of the city center in Geneva, Switzerland. The Arve’s much lighter color is due to the silt it picks up as it flows out of the Alps. From here, the Rhône will continue on—in a mostly southerly direction—through southeastern France toward its mouth on the Mediterranean Sea.Desktop Version

Dec 12, 2018The story of the poinsettia

The winter holidays are the poinsettia’s time to shine. Today, National Poinsettia Day marks the anniversary of the death of Joel Roberts Poinsett, the physician and botanist who first introduced the colorful plant to the United States in 1828. He discovered the plant while he was serving as the first US ambassador to Mexico, the plant’s native country, where Aztecs once used it to produce red dye. According to legend, the poinsettia’s association with Christmas began in 16th-century Mexico, where a little girl—too poor to buy a gift—gathered weeds from the roadside and placed them in front of a church altar. They eventually produced lovely red leaves alongside the green ones, and the poinsettia plant was on its way to becoming a Christmas tradition.Desktop Version

May 3, 2019A night of art and culture

The arts festival known as Blaue Nacht, or Blue Night, was originally conceived as a one-time event in 2000 to mark the 950th anniversary of the founding of Nuremberg, Bavaria. That inaugural festival was popular enough that it became an annual event soon after, and attendance has grown each year since. More than 100,000 people attend this celebration of the city"s diverse arts and culture each May. The two-night artfest includes light shows projected on the outside of Old Town buildings, music performances, temporary art installations—like "Waldplastik" in today"s image—and access to Nuremberg’s cultural sites.Desktop Version

Dec 1, 2019Southern lights for Antarctica Day

In honor of Antarctica Day, you"re seeing the southern lights dazzle above Halley VI, the latest version of the six-decade-old Halley Research Station in the British Antarctic Territory. The modular building stands on hydraulic legs and is movable via retractable skis. The five previous facilities, Halley I–V, were each compromised by Antarctica"s harsh climate and decommissioned. Since 2017, when scientists discovered dangerous cracks in the surrounding Brunt Ice Shelf, Halley has been unmanned during the dark Antarctic winter months—but the research team equipped it with an autonomous micro-turbine that keeps its atmospheric instruments ticking as the snowdrifts pile up.Desktop Version

May 26, 2019Racing toward history

Considered by many to be one of the most beautiful marathons anywhere, the Marathon de la Baie du Mont Saint-Michel has attracted runners from around the globe to this UNESCO World Heritage Site. The point-to-point route for the marathon was designed so runners can see the finish line at the base of the Mont Saint-Michel Abbey from the starting line on the western side of the bay, and from points along the way. But you don"t need to be a runner to enjoy this historic location. Every year more than two million people travel to the tidal island, making it one of the top tourist destinations in France.Desktop Version

Nov 14, 2018Monet still makes an impression

Was there frost in your neighborhood this morning? More than 100 years ago, impressionist painter Claude Monet painted this wintry scene, called ‘The Frost,’ in the French commune of Vétheuil, where he lived from 1878 to 1881. We’re showing it today in honor of his birthday. Monet is considered a father of impressionism, the artistic movement characterized by thin brushstrokes and depicting the visual impression of the moment–especially in terms of light and color. The term impressionism derives from a review of Monet’s painting ‘Impression, Sunrise,’ which he exhibited in 1874. Happy birthday, Claude!Desktop Version

May 24, 2018East River crossing

Imagine if you still had to take a boat to get from Brooklyn to Manhattan. Until the Brooklyn Bridge opened on this day in 1883, the only way to get across the East River was to board a watercraft. At the time of its construction, the Brooklyn Bridge was the world’s longest suspension bridge. It was originally called both the East River Bridge and the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, but the name ‘Brooklyn Bridge’ is the one that stuck.Desktop Version

Sep 10, 2020Hidden beauty in Thailand

One of Thailand"s best-kept secrets, Huay Mae Khamin waterfall can be found in the forests of Khuean Srinagarindra National Park. The waterfall is especially picturesque this time of year, when the changing leaves provide a backdrop for the bright green water. Its flow originating in the mountains to the east of the national park, the waterfall stretches more than a mile, spilling over seven different levels before joining the Khwae Yai River below. It generally has water all year round, but in 2017, during the dry season, the river feeding the falls dried out completely for the first time, and the park was closed to visitors until the rainy season. Though the journey to this peaceful retreat might be long, it"s found a place on our ever-growing list of future travel destinations.Desktop Version

Apr 9, 2020Hooray, hooray, it s Unicorn Day!

Today is Unicorn Day—or what celebrants call "the sparkliest holiday of the year." To honor the mythical horned beast, we bring you the next best thing: a pod of narwhals brandishing their tusks in the Arctic Ocean. Narwhals develop only two teeth, but—in males especially—the left canine can grow into a 9-foot-long spiraled tusk. The tusk juts right through the narwhal"s upper lip, lending the whale the nickname "unicorn of the sea."Desktop Version

Jan 13, 2020Welcome to California

These are the peaks of Mount Diablo, part of the Diablo Range in the eastern part of the San Francisco Bay Area. On a clear day, you can see all the way to the Sierras from here. In fact, this is one of the best viewsheds in the Bay Area, which is a feat, since the peaks are comparatively low for the region. While Mount Diablo may tempt you to take in the scenery or hike in the surrounding state park, the area offers compelling stories from American history as well.Desktop Version

Oct 25, 2020A most sincere pumpkin patch

Ah, the perennial pumpkin patch. You might think the round orange gourds in today"s photo are vegetables, but botanists say pumpkins are actually the fruit of pumpkin vines. They"re considered fruit because pumpkins contain seeds and grow from the same part of the plant that produces flowers. And now, as Halloween nears, pumpkins are ripe for picking and carving into spooky jack-o"-lanterns.Desktop Version

Aug 3, 2019Cetacean Saturday

The US National Marine Sanctuaries system is a collection of 15 (and counting) protected marine environments, similar to our national parks. From August 2 through 4, the Marine Sanctuaries are hosting a "get into your sanctuary" campaign, to highlight the work they do. We"re joining them by showing this humpback whale breaching the waters off the coast of Maui. The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary is where many of these school-bus-sized whales gather in winter months to breed. But we"ll fly instead of swim there.Desktop Version

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