2021-02-12
Muskox with newborn in the central Arctic coastal plain of Alaska (© Steven Kazlowski/Danita Delimont)
【新年快乐】 （ © Kilito Chan ）
Today marks the start of Chinese New Year festivities, which continue through February 26. Because the holiday goes by the lunar calendar, the date of Chinese New Year on our solar/Gregorian calendar changes each year. The Chinese New Year also comes with a turn of the zodiac, which is divided into 12 parts, with each part represented by a different animal. The zodiac system assigns a single animal and its attributes to represent each year, and 2021 is the Year of the Ox. The others are Rat, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.
Muskox with newborn in the central Arctic coastal plain of Alaska (© Steven Kazlowski/Danita Delimont)
【新年快乐】 （ © Kilito Chan ）
Today marks the start of Chinese New Year festivities, which continue through February 26. Because the holiday goes by the lunar calendar, the date of Chinese New Year on our solar/Gregorian calendar changes each year. The Chinese New Year also comes with a turn of the zodiac, which is divided into 12 parts, with each part represented by a different animal. The zodiac system assigns a single animal and its attributes to represent each year, and 2021 is the Year of the Ox. The others are Rat, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.
2021-02-13
Eastern bluebirds in Charlotte, North Carolina (© Elizabeth W. Kearley/Getty Images)
四只东蓝鸲，北卡罗莱纳州夏洛特 (© Elizabeth W. Kearley/Getty Images)
This chunky foursome caught in a North Carolina snowstorm is a group of eastern bluebirds, the most widespread of the three types of bluebird. (The other two are the western and mountain.) The eastern bluebird range covers a wide area—east of the Rocky Mountains from southern Canada down to Central America, then over to the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. You can spot them in grasslands, forest clearings, meadows, and the like.
Eastern bluebirds in Charlotte, North Carolina (© Elizabeth W. Kearley/Getty Images)
四只东蓝鸲，北卡罗莱纳州夏洛特 (© Elizabeth W. Kearley/Getty Images)
This chunky foursome caught in a North Carolina snowstorm is a group of eastern bluebirds, the most widespread of the three types of bluebird. (The other two are the western and mountain.) The eastern bluebird range covers a wide area—east of the Rocky Mountains from southern Canada down to Central America, then over to the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. You can spot them in grasslands, forest clearings, meadows, and the like.
2021-02-14
Ocean waves crashing over a heart-shaped rock island off the coast of Sydney, Australia (© Kristian Bell/Getty Images)
海浪冲击着悉尼海岸的一个心形岩石岛，澳大利亚 (© Kristian Bell/Getty Images)
Just off the coast of Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia, the surf crashes over this cluster of rocks, sending an oceanic Valentine's Day card to a lucky bird—or photographer—flying overhead. We'll take nature's love letters wherever and whenever we can find them. But what makes February 14 the day we celebrate love? Some claim Valentine's Day has its roots in an ancient Roman fertility festival called Lupercalia that included goat sacrifices and a lottery that paired off eligible men and women. Others argue that the holiday began with Christians celebrating a martyr named Valentine. Chaucer romanticized the day with a poem about two birds mating for life. No matter its pagan or Christian origins, in the modern world, Valentine's Day is celebrated most everywhere as a day devoted to love.
Ocean waves crashing over a heart-shaped rock island off the coast of Sydney, Australia (© Kristian Bell/Getty Images)
海浪冲击着悉尼海岸的一个心形岩石岛，澳大利亚 (© Kristian Bell/Getty Images)
Just off the coast of Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia, the surf crashes over this cluster of rocks, sending an oceanic Valentine's Day card to a lucky bird—or photographer—flying overhead. We'll take nature's love letters wherever and whenever we can find them. But what makes February 14 the day we celebrate love? Some claim Valentine's Day has its roots in an ancient Roman fertility festival called Lupercalia that included goat sacrifices and a lottery that paired off eligible men and women. Others argue that the holiday began with Christians celebrating a martyr named Valentine. Chaucer romanticized the day with a poem about two birds mating for life. No matter its pagan or Christian origins, in the modern world, Valentine's Day is celebrated most everywhere as a day devoted to love.