分类必应美图下的文章

迪斯科湾，格陵兰岛伊卢利萨特 Disko Bay, Ilulissat, Greenland (© Kertu/Shutterstock)

Going with the floe

Welcome to Disko Bay near the town of Ilulissat, Greenland, where summer's midnight sun will dip just below the horizon for only about an hour and a half tonight. In fact, for several weeks in the period around the summer solstice, the sun doesn't set at all on Disko Bay. Technically, the 'midnight sun' occurs in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle when the sun remains visible at the local midnight. This natural phenomenon lasts from April to August in the northern regions of Greenland. (The opposite effect, polar night, occurs during winter months when the sun does not rise above the horizon.)

So much light during the summer months means that the massive icebergs in nearby Ilulissat Icefjord are easily visible from this west-coast town, which is home to about 4,500 people, most of them indigenous Inuit. Ilulissat is also home to almost as many Greenland dogs, which are sturdy sled dogs with thick fur that prevents frostbite. They're bred for long-distance travel in cold climates, and those physical attributes come in handy, because even in the height of summer, average daily temperatures here barely top 50 degrees, despite all that sun.

Wooden doors and a stone path at the base of Fort Lovrijenac in Kolorina Bay, Dubrovnik (© Barbara Vallance/Getty Images)

At the foot of 'Dubrovnik's Gibraltar'

The stairs in today's photo lead to Fort Lovrijenac, an 11th century fortress jutting out into the Adriatic Sea just outside the walled city of Dubrovnik. 'Game of Thrones' fans will recognize these doors as an entrance to dwellings in the fictional city of King's Landing. Legend claims that when the fort was built on this rocky coastal outpost in the early 11th century, it took just three months to construct. The locals, of what was then Ragusa, knew they had limited time before their rivals, the Venetians, would arrive to build their own outpost and rule over them. According to 'The Chronicles of Ragusa,' the plan worked–the fort was completed just as the surprised Venetians arrived in ships heavy with supplies.

As the centuries marched on, Fort Lovrijenac was reinforced and added to until an earthquake in 1667 nearly destroyed it together with the rest of the town. What would eventually become Dubrovnik was rebuilt, as was the fort, complete with an inscription above the gate that translates to 'Freedom is not to be sold for all the treasure in the world.' Today the walled city is a UNESCO World Heritage site, safeguarding much of the city's Baroque architecture as well as one of the oldest arboretums in the world.

巨人堤道，英国北爱尔兰布什米尔斯 (© Chiara Salvadori/Getty Images)

日落时分正在迁徙的斑纹角马群，肯尼亚马赛马拉野生动物保护区 Blue wildebeest herd migrating at sunset, Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya (© Denis-Huot/Minden Pictures)

Wildebeest on the move

Each year, as many as 1.5 million blue wildebeest move through the Serengeti region of eastern Africa, traveling in a roughly 800-mile loop through Tanzania and Kenya as they chase lush, green grass and fresh water. When resources are depleted in one area, the animals move to another. Late summer often finds them Kenya's Maasai Mara nature reserve, shown on today's homepage. The speedy wildebeest (the species can run up to 50 mph!) is not alone in its journey; hundreds of thousands of zebras, gazelles, and elands accompany the herd. The great number of animals makes this phenomenon one of the largest land migrations on Earth, often called the World Cup of Wildlife.

迪南镇和默兹河，比利时纳穆尔 The town of Dinant and the River Meuse in Namur, Belgium (© Kadagan/Shutterstock)

Belgium celebrates its independence

On July 21, Belgium celebrates its independence from the Netherlands and the anniversary of the establishment of the Kingdom of Belgium in 1831. The holiday brings us to the banks of the River Meuse across from the Collegiate Church of Notre Dame de Dinant, the best-known landmark in the Belgian town of Dinant in Namur province. For such a small city (population about 14,000), Dinant has a rich history. It's the birthplace of Adolphe Sax, inventor of the saxophone, and has a museum dedicated to his life and instruments. The Charles de Gaulle Bridge, which crosses the Meuse, is lined with 28 saxophone sculptures, each one representing a different country in the European Union. Namur province is also the birthplace of Leffe beer, which was brewed by monks in the abbey of Leffe starting in 1240.

Of course, you can celebrate Belgium today with classics like Belgian waffles, fries, or chocolates. But if you're in Dinant, you might also crack open a Leffe and listen to your favorite saxophone player.

穿过月球上史密斯海的“地出” Earthrise across Mare Smythii on the moon (© Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center)

Earthrise on Moon Day

Only two dozen people have ever personally witnessed the Earth rising over the lunar surface: the crews of Apollo 8 through 17. Those 24 astronauts are also the only humans to leave low-Earth orbit and see the 'dark' side of the moon—and only 12 of them walked on its surface. We celebrate July 20th as Moon Day, the anniversary of Apollo 11's Eagle lander touching down on the moon and the momentous first steps taken there by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Today's picture of our big blue marble hanging above Mare Smythii was taken by the one of crew of that mission 51 years ago today, but neither Armstrong, Aldrin, nor Command Module Pilot Michael Collins could recall which of them snapped the iconic shot.

大运河和安康圣母圣殿，意大利威尼斯 The Grand Canal and Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute in Venice, Italy (© Jim Richardson/Offset by Shutterstock)

Venice by night

In Venice, Italy, the third Sunday in July is known as 'Festa del Redentore' (The Redeemer's Feast), which commemorates the city's salvation from the plague in the 16th century. As Italy still reels from being hard hit by the new coronavirus, the holiday is particularly poignant this year. It traditionally features a fireworks display, a regatta, and a temporary bridge that connects the Zattere promenade to the Church of the Redeemer on the Island of Giudecca. While this year's celebration will look different due to COVID-19, it will still be an important and festive day for Venetians.

Let's face it: It's World Emoji Day

Most versions of the calendar emoji () always give the date as July 17—ever wondered why? Well, for the real nerds among you, it's because July 17, 2000, is the date Apple first rolled out its iCal app (the icon for which inspired the iPhone calendar emoji). But if your reaction to that trivia is , just think of it as a good reminder—like the smiling interior of the hot air balloon in today's photo— that today is World Emoji Day.

If you still type :-D instead of to express joy, you're certainly old-school, but maybe less so than your (grand)kids think. Even Harvey Ball—who designed the iconic yellow-pated smiley (a prototype for ) way back in 1963—was late to the emoji party: A clay pot discovered in Turkey bears the oldest known cartoon of a smiling face, which dates back about 4,000 years. These days, emoji are a virtual second language for the whole under the Unicode Standard for text encoding, which ensures that text characters from A to Z to Æ to ‽ to display similarly across communication platforms and languages. The underlying code is overseen by the Unicode Consortium, a humble Bay Area nonprofit despite its vaguely dystopian name. Actually, it's quite the democracy: Anyone anywhere can make a case to create an emoji, so if you've got an idea for a new one, get over to unicode.org and fill out a proposal.

Summertime in Alaska

Humpback whales are famous for breaching—leaping out of the water in a spectacular display of size and power. Even though they can weigh more than a house and stretch to 50 feet in length, they still manage aquatic acrobatics that are amazing to behold, as the picture on our homepage captures so beautifully. Scientists don't know why some whales breach but speculate it's a form of communication or a mating display. Or maybe they're just having fun.

Our homepage image comes from Frederick Sound in Southeast Alaska, one of the best places to see humpbacks in July. The whales return to the area in summer to dine on krill, herring, and other delicacies in the cool waters. But as fall approaches, they'll start their long journey south to spend the winter in tropical environs, as would any sensible mammal with the means to travel.

Who left the tub running?

'Sound II,' this sculpture by Antony Gormley, has stood here in the oft-flooded crypt of Winchester Cathedral in the south of England since 1986—not trying to get a plumber on the horn, but quietly standing guard and studying the water in its cupped hands. Elsewhere in the cathedral you'll find another notable statue: The likeness of William 'Diver Bill' Walker, a local hero who—for six years starting in 1906—worked alone in a heavy diving suit to shore up the increasingly flooded structure as it threatened to sink into the boggy soil beneath. Nowadays it's stable, but the lowest level still sees its share of standing water during rainy periods.

We're here on the feast day of Swithin (sometimes spelled Swithun), the 9th-century bishop who's now venerated as patron saint of the cathedral. But St. Swithin is most commonly name-dropped in an old weather proverb that begins, 'St. Swithin's day if thou dost rain, for 40 days it will remain.'

The good news: 'St. Swithin's day if thou be fair, for 40 days 'twill rain nae mare.' But if this all just sounds like hooey to you, try today's quiz and see if you think any other weather folklore holds water.

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