2019年6月

塞尚山，法国普罗旺斯艾克斯 (© travelview/iStock)

位于大本德国家公园的格兰德河和卡门山脉，得克萨斯州 Rio Grande and Sierra del Carmen Mountains in Big Bend National Park, Texas (© Grant Ordelheide/Tandem Stills + Motion)

A big birthday for Big Bend

Seventy-five years ago today, on June 12, 1944, Big Bend officially became a US national park. The park, which covers 801,163 acres in West Texas, along the Mexico border, contains mountain, river, and desert ecosystems, including the largest protected area of the Chihuahuan Desert in the United States. But the ‘big’ doesn't stop there. Big Bend is home 1,200 species of plants, over 450 species of birds, 75 species of mammals, and 56 species of reptiles. (We're not sure how many of those are snakes, if you're wondering.) Because of its remote location, Big Bend also has among the darkest skies ever measured in the contiguous US. So tonight, the only light you'll likely see is the glow from 75 birthday candles—and a few million stars.

Cracking Art installation at Le Mans Cathedral in 2015, Le Mans, France © Michel GILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Installation art turns heads

If you ever encounter a giant, plastic snail in the city or an army of rainbow-colored meerkats holding sentry outside a historic building, it's likely an art installation from the Cracking Art collective. The group uses plastic to craft vivid representations of meerkats, elephants, snails, and other natural creatures for traveling art installations in unexpected locations. The collective's use of plastic is meant to call attention to the sometimes-blurry connection between natural and artificial reality, inviting viewers to reexamine the world around them. The meerkat exhibit on our homepage took place in 2015 at Le Mans Cathedral in Le Mans, France.

富士山与丛生福禄考花田，日本山梨县 (© Srinil/shutterstock)

阿尔加维海岸附近的Ponta da Piedade岩层，葡萄牙 Ponta da Piedade rock formations off the coast of Algarve, Portugal (© David Santiago Garcia/Offset)

Ponta da Piedade rock formations off the coast of Algarve, to celebrate the Day

Today we're featuring the Ponta da Piedade rock formations in the Algarve region as a nod to Portugal Day, a celebration of the Portuguese nation and its people. Observed throughout the Portuguese diaspora, the main festivities are military ceremonies, exhibitions, concerts, pageants, and parades on June 10, the anniversary of the death of Portuguese poet Luís de Camões. Camões was an incredibly colorful character whose poem 'Os Lusíadas' chronicled the discovery of the sea route to India by Portuguese explorers and the development of the Portuguese Empire. It is regarded as the national epic poem, much like Virgil's 'Aeneid' was to the Ancient Romans, and his influence is so great that Portuguese is often referred to as “the language of Camões.”

Shot of Advancetown lake and forest, Gold Coast, Queensland © AzmanL/E+/Getty Images

History beneath the water

Though today the Advancetown lake and Hinze dam provide much-needed water to many areas of the Gold Coast region, it also actually submerges the original settlement of Advancetown (located south east of Brisbane) and its surrounding areas. European settlement of Advancetown is said to have begun in 1881 – slowly developing timberyards, farmland and even a local school. Jump forward a hundred years, however, and once the Hinze Dam had completed construction in 1977, not only had the school closed, but farming residents had relocated and the once booming timber industry declined. With the original settlement now beneath the water, a new township has been established above the lake – which according to 2011 Census data, only consist of around 352 people.

吉利群岛上生长着珊瑚的人工珊瑚礁，印度尼西亚 (© fenkieandreas/Getty Images Plus)

诺曼底入侵后的桑树港遗址，法国诺曼底Arromanches les Bains / Remains of Mulberry Harbour from the D-Day invasion, Arromanches les Bains, Normandy, France (© Javier Gil/Alamy)

Engineering an artificial harbor in Normandy

For the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the beginning of the end of WWII, we're focusing on the remains of the Mulberry Harbours—one of the most impressive military engineering feats of the war. Knowing that the ability to land huge numbers of men, vehicles, and supplies would be crucial to the Allies' success of the invasion of Normandy, Winston Churchill challenged his forces to come up with an artificial harbor that could be towed into place and operational within days of the initial landings.

Over 40,000 men were involved in the creation of two harbors that were installed at Omaha and Gold beaches beginning on June 9, 1944, and which were completed just six days later. The harbors included breakwaters comprised of sunken decommissioned ships, pre-built concrete caissons, 33 jetties, and over 10 miles of roadways. A violent storm on June 19th destroyed the harbor at Omaha beach, but Mulberry B, at Arromanches, survived and by the time it was abandoned six months later it had landed 2.5 million men, 500,000 vehicles, and 4 million tons of supplies into northern France.

秘鲁亚马逊坦博帕塔国家保护区中的树冠 The tree canopy in the Tambopata National Reserve of the Peruvian Amazon (© Patrick Brandenburg/Tandem Stills + Motion)

Happy trees = Clean air

We're gazing up at the tree canopy in the Peruvian Amazon. The Amazon rainforest covers 60 percent of Peru's total landmass, stretching over 37,000 square miles.

Today is World Environment Day, and this year's theme is about air quality. Why show trees to talk about air? Because a healthy forest acts like a natural air filter. Plants absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide and help filter pollutants from the air. Robust forests mean clean air for all. Thanks, trees!

摩洛哥扎戈拉附近的椰枣树林 Date palm groves near Zagora, Morocco (© Frans Lemmens/Getty Images)

Breaking the fast for Eid

Under the shadow of the twin-peaks of Zagora mountain, farmers grow date palms in the Draa River Valley, where the oasis town of Zagora is the last stop before a long journey into the Sahara. Today, the Muslim population of Zagoar will join billions of Muslims around the world to celebrate Eid al-Fitr. The food-filled holiday marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

During Ramadan, Muslims fast during daylight hours, and break the fast each day at sunset with a meal called iftar. Dates are usually the first food to break this daily fast, which is one reason why we're featuring an image of date palms on our homepage today. Ramadan is also a season for Muslims to refrain from harmful habits such as smoking, and many also engage in charity work or charitable giving. The faithful are rewarded with today's observance, Eid al-Fitr, where families and friends gather to eat, socialize, and even give gifts to children and close relatives.