分类必应美图下的文章

一个气球在特奥蒂瓦坎日出时飞越太阳金字塔，墨西哥气球在特奥蒂瓦坎日出时飞越太阳金字塔 A balloon flies over the Pyramid of the Sun at sunrise in Teotihuacan, Mexico (© Marco Ugarte/AP Photo)

Ringing in the New Year at Teotihuacan

If the Aztecs had hot air balloons, they may well have greeted the new year like this—floating above the massive Sun Pyramid at sunrise today, the first day of the year according to the Aztec calendar. Also known as Yancuic Xihuitl, the Aztec New Year is still celebrated by some Indigenous Nahua communities here in central Mexico with songs, dances, and the flames of 'ocote' (pitch-pine) candles. Dancers wear colorful traditional costumes topped by quetzal feather headdresses, and celebrants greet the New Year by making loud noises with seashells, just as Aztecs did centuries ago. It's one of the many expressions of pre-Columbian tradition that managed to survive the Spanish conquest and modern erosion of Indigenous customs.

The Sun Pyramid is the largest structure in the ancient city that Aztecs called Teotihuacan (which means, roughly, 'birthplace of the gods'). The 8-square-mile site also contains other important pyramids, plazas, temples, palaces, and a complex network of underground tunnels. As grand a city as it once was, when the Aztecs arrived here in the 1400s, Teotihuacan had been abandoned for centuries. Its precise origins are a mystery, but it was first built by an unknown civilization sometime around 400 BCE. By 400 CE, Teotihuacan had become a center of industry and trade, the largest and most powerful city in the Americas and probably the sixth largest in the world. But by around 550 CE, its major monuments were sacked and deliberately burned, the magnificent pyramids and temples deserted—at least until the Aztecs arrived.

在特奥提华肯新年钟声响起

如果阿兹特克人有热气球的话，他们很可能在今天日出的时候，也就是阿兹特克日历上一年的第一天，像这样漂浮在巨大的太阳金字塔上迎接新年。阿兹特克新年也被称为Yancuic Xihuitl，墨西哥中部的一些土著Nahua社区仍然用歌声、舞蹈和“ocote”（沥青松）蜡烛的火焰来庆祝。舞者们穿着色彩鲜艳的传统服装，头上戴着羽绒头饰，庆祝者用贝壳发出响亮的声音迎接新年，就像几个世纪前阿兹特克人所做的那样。这是许多前哥伦布传统的表达方式之一，这些传统在西班牙征服和现代土著习俗的侵蚀下得以幸存。

太阳金字塔是古城中最大的建筑，阿兹特克人称之为特奥提瓦坎（大致意思是“神的诞生地”）。这个8平方英里的遗址还包括其他重要的金字塔、广场、寺庙、宫殿和复杂的地下隧道网络。当阿兹特克人在14世纪来到这里时，特奥提瓦坎曾经是一座宏伟的城市，但它已经被遗弃了几个世纪。它的确切起源是个谜，但它最初是由公元前400年左右的一个未知文明建造的。到公元400年，特奥蒂瓦坎已经成为一个工业和贸易中心，美洲最大和最强大的城市，可能是世界第六大城市。但到公元前550年左右，它的主要纪念碑被洗劫一空，并被蓄意烧毁，宏伟的金字塔和寺庙被遗弃，至少直到阿兹特克人到来。

倒映在艾布湖上的楚格峰，德国巴伐利亚 (© Martin Siepmann/Westend61/Offset by Shutterstock)

俄勒冈海岸佩蓓角的雷神之井 Thor's Well at Cape Perpetua on the Oregon coast (© Cavan Images/Offset by Shutterstock)

Welcome to the 'drainpipe of the Pacific'

We are standing here on the craggy Oregon coast looking out to Thor's Well with the help of a photographer's telephoto lens. Only the most daring of visitors would stand this close to the gaping sinkhole at high tide. One misstep combined with a forceful surge from the raging Pacific Ocean, and into the plunging well we'd go.

Thor's Well is one of several defining features of Oregon's magical coastline. Dubbed a 'gaping sinkhole,' the 'drainpipe of the Pacific,' and even a 'gate to hell,' it's accessible by foot at low tide, when you can peer in to see its mechanisms at work. Geologists believe it was once a sea cave formed in the basalt rock by ocean waves. The 'well' was formed when the cave's roof collapsed, creating openings at the top and bottom through which the ocean surges and sprays like a geyser, only to recede, creating the waterfalls we see here.

欢迎来到“太平洋排水管”

我们站在俄勒冈州崎岖的海岸上，借助摄影师的长焦镜头向外眺望托尔的水井。只有最勇敢的游客才会在涨潮时站在这么近的大坑里。一次失误，加上汹涌的太平洋汹涌而来的巨浪，我们就进入了我们要去的深井。

托尔水井是俄勒冈州神奇海岸线的几个决定性特征之一。它被称为“张开的深坑”、“太平洋的排水管”，甚至是“地狱之门”，在低潮时你可以步行进入，这时你可以窥视它的运行机制。地质学家认为，这曾经是一个由海浪在玄武岩岩石中形成的海洞。这个“井”是在洞穴的顶部坍塌时形成的，在顶部和底部形成了一个开口，海洋像间歇泉一样涌动和喷涌，最后退去，形成了我们在这里看到的瀑布。

被阿尔卑斯山环抱的辛特湖，德国贝希特斯加登 Lake Hintersee surrounded by alpine mountains, Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, Germany (© Offset by Shutterstock)

A walk by the lake

Surrounded by gigantic peaks and located in Ramsau at the foot of the Reiter-Alm, Hintersee Lake has fascinated many landscape artists and poets.

The most beautiful footpath to the lake leads from Ramsau through the Zauberwald (Enchanted Forest), and along a wild mountain stream. Take a walk on the theme trail leading around the lake and presenting information on the romantic-period painters of the 19th century. The lake has provided the setting for many an Alpine movie.

在湖边散步

位于雷特阿尔姆山脚下的拉姆索，因特塞湖被巨大的山峰环绕，吸引了许多风景艺术家和诗人。

通往湖边最美丽的小径是从拉姆索穿过扎乌伯瓦尔德（魔法森林），沿着一条荒野的山涧。在主题小径上漫步，沿湖漫步，介绍19世纪浪漫主义时期画家的信息。这个湖为许多阿尔卑斯山电影提供了背景。

圣何塞附近的代阿布洛岭山麓，加利福尼亚 Foothills of the Diablo Range near San Jose, California (© Jeff Lewis/Tandem Stills + Motion)

Spring 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 lupine. 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.

春天来到迪亚布洛山脚下

每年的这个时候，春雨把北加州暗黑山脉的起伏山脚下铺上绿宝石。刚刚经过东湾地区广阔的郊区，Diablo山脚下变成了骑马、徒步旅行、骑自行车和逃入大自然的西尔万游乐场。草原和橡树大草原覆盖了逐渐上升到山脉较高山峰的低山脊，在山脚下的山峰上，游客可以欣赏到东边山脊线的全景。除了绿草，春天还给该地区带来了大量的野花，包括罂粟、水仙花和卢平。这里也是该地区许多鸟类筑巢的季节，就像在被称为城堡岩的垂直岩层中筑巢的猎鹰一样。

鸟瞰高耸入云的洛根山，加拿大克鲁瓦尼国家公园 Aerial image of Mount Logan rising above the clouds in Kluane National Park, Yukon, Canada (© plainpicture/Design Pics/Robert Postma)

Walking in the clouds

Mount Logan is the highest mountain in Canada, and the second-highest peak in North America after Denali. The mountain was named after Sir William Edmond Logan, a Canadian geologist and founder of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC). Logan is believed to have the largest base circumference of any non-volcanic mountain on Earth. Due to active tectonic uplifting, Mount Logan is still rising in height.

云中漫步

洛根山是加拿大的最高峰，也是北美仅次于德纳利的第二高峰。这座山是以加拿大地质学家、加拿大地质调查局（GSC）创始人威廉·埃德蒙德·洛根爵士的名字命名的。洛根被认为是地球上所有非火山山脉中基围最大的。由于活跃的构造抬升，洛根山仍在上升。

弗洛勒斯岛上的纳闽巴霍，印度尼西亚科莫多国家公园 Komodo National Park, Labuan Bajo, Flores, Indonesia (© Thrithot/Adobe Stock)

Here there be dragons

Welcome to Komodo National Park, founded in 1980 to protect the Komodo dragon—a monitor lizard that evolved in this insular environment to be much larger-'scale' than its fellows. Found only on the islands we see here—Komodo and Padar—and a handful of others nearby, it's the biggest lizard walking the Earth today. Not only walking but sprinting: Since adult Komodo dragons often prey on swift Timor deer, you'll sometimes see a dragon in a dead sprint after its would-be dinner, reaching up to 13 miles an hour.

这里有龙

欢迎来到科莫多国家公园，该公园成立于1980年，旨在保护科莫多巨蜥——一种在这个岛屿环境中进化的巨蜥，其“规模”要比同类大得多。只在我们看到的科莫多岛和帕达尔岛以及附近的其他一些岛屿上发现，它是今天地球上行走的最大的蜥蜴。不仅是步行，而且是短跑：由于成年科莫多龙经常捕食速度很快的帝汶鹿，你有时会看到一条龙在吃过晚餐后，以每小时13英里的速度在死气沉沉地短跑。

力拓河中含矿物质的水，西班牙里奥廷托矿区 Mineral-laden water in the Rio Tinto in Minas de Rio Tinto mining area, Huelva province, Andalusia, Spain (© David Santiago Garcia/Getty Images)

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, which contains high levels of iron and sulfur, making 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 for copper, silver, gold, as well as the mineral pyrite, commonly referred to as 'fool's gold.' Legend has it that Rio Tinto was the site of the fabled mines of King Solomon.

Because of its extreme acidity, the river and surrounding areas are not only colorful, but also quite different than any other in Spain, with a scarcity of normal plant life in and along the riverbeds. Only a thriving community of unusual microorganisms—classified as extremophiles—can survive the water's acidic mix, by feeding on the minerals alone. The strangeness of Rio Tinto's ecology has even attracted the attention of NASA, which studied the bacteria that have adapted to this highly acidic environment because the conditions resemble those on the surface of Mars.

回想世界上最奇怪的河流之一

如果你喜欢超现实主义的风景，那么这条位于西班牙西南部安达卢西亚地区的奇怪而奇妙的河流应该是你喜欢的。力拓（Rio Tinto，红河）因其水呈微红色而得名，水中含有大量的铁和硫，使其呈酸性。这种不寻常的化学成分可能是也可能不是该地区悠久的采矿历史的结果，至少可以追溯到5000年前。像鞑靼人和罗马人这样的古代居民挖掘铜、银、金，以及通常被称为“傻瓜金”的黄铁矿。传说力拓是传说中所罗门王的矿山所在地。

由于其极端的酸度，这条河及其周围地区不仅色彩丰富，而且与西班牙的任何其他地区都有很大的不同，河床内和沿岸缺乏正常的植物生活。只有被归类为极端微生物的不寻常微生物群落才能在水的酸性混合物中存活下来，仅以矿物质为食。力拓公司生态的奇特甚至引起了美国宇航局的注意，该局研究了适应这种高酸性环境的细菌，因为这种环境与火星表面的环境相似。

The most wonderful day of the year. Period.

Er, comma—at least it seems like that's what we're seeing. And just like a comma breaks up a sentence, this structure called a breakwater interrupts the Pacific Ocean, punctuating waves with a crash before they can disturb this Bali beach. Whether its resemblance to a comma (or is that an apostrophe?) was intentional or not, it's a fine visual for today's syntactical celebration. That's correct: It's Grammar Day! (Note to hardline grammarians: We know punctuation—like a comma—isn't exactly grammar, but we're loosening the linguistical reins a bit in the generous spirit of Grammar Day. So put that red pen down, smartypants.)

If you're not inclined to decline verbs or dying to diagram a sentence, don't quit reading just yet. You might just think of grammar as the dos and don'ts taught in English textbooks—but a mere stuffy set of rules it ain't. Grammar is the ingredients of a language. Whenever we speak or even think, whether with prim-and-proper diction or in the most teacher-defying slang, our brains are using grammatical rules to translate firing neurons into words and phrases. Just how this happens is still a hot debate for linguists: Are these rules based on hardwired neural pathways or are they learned from a young age?

Well, however the brain works, we hope you brought yours today. Our quiz covers those wonderful, nitpicky grammar rules from school you doubtless remember so well. Sharpen your pencils!

一年中最美好的一天。句号。

呃，至少我们看到的是逗号。就像一个逗号打断了一个句子，这个被称为防波堤的结构打断了太平洋，在海浪冲击巴厘岛海滩之前，它以撞击声打断了海浪。它是否像逗号（或是撇号？）不管是有意还是无意，这都是今天句法庆祝的一个很好的视觉效果。没错，今天是语法日！（强硬派语法学家注意：我们知道像逗号这样的标点符号并不完全是语法，但我们在语法日的慷慨精神下稍微放松了对语言的控制。所以把那支红笔放下，聪明人。）

如果你不想拒绝动词，也不想画一个句子，那就暂时不要放弃阅读。你可能只是认为语法是英语课本上教的应该做的事和不应该做的事，但它不是一套乏味的规则。语法是语言的组成部分。每当我们说话或思考的时候，无论是用朴素得体的措辞，还是用最蔑视老师的俚语，我们的大脑都在利用语法规则将兴奋的神经元翻译成单词和短语。这究竟是如何发生的，对语言学家来说仍然是一个热门的争论：这些规则是基于硬连线的神经通路，还是从小就学会的？

好吧，不管大脑是怎么工作的，我们希望你今天能带上你的。我们的测验涵盖了学校里那些美妙的、挑剔的语法规则，你肯定记得很清楚。把你的铅笔削尖！

亚伊马火山与前景中的智利南洋杉，智利孔吉利奥国家公园 Volcano Llaima with Araucaria trees in the foreground, Conguillío National Park, Chile (© Fotografías Jorge León Cabello/Getty Images)

Fall for Chile

Autumn in Chile varies widely as one travels from the Atacama Desert in the north more than 2,600 miles south to the tip of Tierra del Fuego. Around halfway between these two extremes you can find Conguillío National Park and the volcano Llaima at Chile's center. In March, at the start of the Southern Hemisphere's autumn, the leaves of the deciduous forest begin to turn color and fall, and the native Chilean pine trees (Araucarias) stand out even more strikingly.

Because of their distinctive appearance and the fact that they thrive in a wide range of climates, the trees became a favorite of botanists in the 19th century, who transported and cultivated them in many temperate climates around the world. The 'monkey puzzle' trees got their common English name in the 1850s when English barrister Charles Austin observed that 'It would be a puzzle for a monkey to climb that.' Even more amazing is that these trees can live over a thousand years and are themselves living fossils, descended from a lineage stretching back 260 million years to the time of the dinosaurs.

爱上智利

智利的秋天变化很大，人们从北部的阿塔卡马沙漠向南行驶2600多英里，到达火地岛的顶端。在这两个极端的中间，你可以看到智利国家公园和智利中心的拉伊马火山。今年3月，南半球秋季伊始，落叶林的树叶开始变色、飘落，智利本土的松树（Araucarias）更加引人注目。

由于其独特的外观和在各种气候条件下茁壮成长的事实，这些树在19世纪成为植物学家的最爱，他们在世界各地的许多温带气候条件下运输和栽培它们。19世纪50年代，英国大律师查尔斯·奥斯汀（Charles Austin）指出，猴子爬上那棵树将是一个谜，于是“猴子拼图”树就有了共同的英文名称。更令人惊奇的是，这些树能活上一千多年，而且本身就是活化石，其世系可追溯到公元前2.6亿年恐龙。

星空迷