分类必应美图下的文章

凤凰城天港国际机场鸟瞰图，亚利桑那 Aerial view of Sky Harbor International in Phoenix, Arizona (© Nearmap/Getty Images)

Have you turned off your electric device?

If you're already in the air looking down at this bird's eye view of Sky Harbor International in Phoenix (or some other airport), well then, congrats. You've made it through the terminal on one of the busiest travel days of the year. Wait for a second, isn't the day before Thanksgiving the absolute busiest day to travel? Well, according to travel industry experts, traffic is actually heaviest on Fridays during the lazy, hazy days of summer. That's when crowds of people clog the highways and skyways to get out of their respective towns and go on vacation. You, on the other hand, can relax. Unless your plans are to host a table full of hungry guests on Thanksgiving. In which case, may we suggest yoga and meditation tonight? (And turn off this electronic device before the flight attendant comes by again.)

阿查法拉亚盆地中的一棵柏树，路易斯安那州 A cypress in the Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana (© Chris Moore/Tandem Still + Motion)

Autumn in the cypress swamp

Autumn still brings a splash of color to this hardwood forest of bald cypress in Louisiana. But make no mistake, a stroll through these wetlands is not a cozy New England leaf-peeping journey. The swamp forest floor is often covered by the waters of Atchafalaya River delta as it drains into the Gulf of Mexico, so the autumn colors here are best viewed from the seat of a canoe or a pirogue, as the local Cajuns use. The water-resistant bald cypress thriving in the Atchafalaya Basin constitutes the largest tract of contiguous cypress forest in the United States. The ecosystem here is so unlike any other in the US, the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area organization calls it ‘America’s foreign country.’

The Cutty Sark in Greenwich, London, England for her 150th anniversary (© Grant Rooney Premium/Alamy)

The Cutty Sark turns 150

We're featuring the Cutty Sark in today's image to mark the 150th anniversary her launch on November 22, 1869. Built for speed, this extreme clipper ship began its abbreviated career as a tea clipper racing across oceans 'at a clip' (hence the designation 'clipper ship') to deliver the season's first tea harvest to England. While at times the Cutty Sark was considered one of the fastest ships in the world, its practical use as a cargo ship was ending almost as soon as it was launched. That's because steamships using the much shorter route through the newly opened Suez Canal were able to deliver the highly anticipated tea harvest faster and cheaper. In 1883, the Cutty Sark began hauling wool from Australia, but within 10 years steamships also disrupted this business.

By 1922, she was the last clipper ship still in use when she was sold to Wilfred Dowman, who had her restored and turned into a cadet training ship. In 1954, the Cutty Sark was docked at Greenwich, restored again, and opened to the public. After a devastating fire in 2006 she was closed again for the Cutty Sark Conservation Project which was completed in 2012. Today, visitors to the Royal Museums Greenwich can explore all facets of this onetime pinnacle of sailing technology, which is part of Maritime Greenwich, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Chon湖上空的低空云，苏格兰特罗萨克斯 (© Alistair Dick/Alamy)

Lantignie的景色，法国博若莱 Lantignié in the Beaujolais region of France (© Jon Arnold/Danita Delimont)

Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé!

'Bring us some fresh wine! The freshest you've got—this year! No more of this old stuff.' Steve Martin was joking when his character in 'The Jerk' asked for fresh wine—or perhaps he was talking about Beaujolais nouveau. The red wine, produced in the Beaujolais region of France, is fermented for just a few weeks and requires no barrel aging before it's sold starting on the third Thursday of November. Beaujolais nouveau is a light-bodied red wine, with relatively high amounts of acidity. Located south of Burgundy, the Beaujolais region has a relatively warm climate, so Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, and other famous French grapes don't grow well there. But the fruity Gamay grows vigorously in Beaujolais and is used to make Beaujolais nouveau.

Beaujolais nouveau hit a peak of global popularity in the 1980s when it was heavily marketed. But as more producers tried to capitalize on it, a backlash occurred in the '90s and early 2000s. In 2001, more than a million cases of French wine—most of it Beaujolais nouveau—were destroyed or distilled into hard spirits due to overproduction, shoddy winemaking, and poor sales. (It couldn't have been stockpiled to be sold later—the wine doesn't age well due to lack of tannins and should usually be consumed within six months.) More recently, supply and demand have evened out and its release is celebrated with parties and festivals.

锡安国家公园的秋色，犹他州 Fall colors in Zion National Park, Utah (© pabradyphoto/Getty Images)

Zion National Park Turns 100

It's been exactly 100 years since President Woodrow Wilson signed an act to convert Mukuntuweap National Monument into Zion National Park. Fewer than 2,000 people visited back in 1919 due to poor road conditions and lack of trails. These days, the park has the opposite problem—with more than 4 million people coming each year, crowds create long lines for shuttles and clog popular areas such as the Narrows. Part of Zion Canyon, the Narrows can be seen from a paved path. But many people like to experience it up close, hiking in the Virgin River, and it can get crowded at peak times since it's—as the name implies—narrow.

In recent years, Zion has even moved ahead of Yellowstone and Yosemite to become the fourth-most-visited US national park (Great Smoky Mountains, the Grand Canyon, and Rocky Mountain parks are the top three respectively). Also contributing to Zion's popularity is its proximity to other attractions. It's part of the Grand Circle, a region that includes parts of five states and is the most concentrated area of national parks and monuments in the country.

伏尔塔瓦河上的查理大桥和老城桥塔，捷克布拉格 For the 30th anniversary of Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution, bridges over the Vltava River, including the Charles Bridge and Old Town Bridge Tower, Prague, Czech Republic (© Markus Lange/Offset)

Remembering the Velvet Revolution

Today we're visiting Prague for the 30th anniversary of the start of Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution. On November 17, 1989, during their annual International Students Day observance, 15,000 students in Prague began demonstrating against the Communist Party's authoritarian rule over the country. After the official end of the demonstration, the students continued marching to the center of the city. When they reached Národní Street, they were met by security forces who, after blocking all escape routes, began attacking. Afterwards, unfounded rumors of an injured or possibly dead student triggered strikes among students, actors, and other theater workers. These groups began calling for a general strike later in the month.

Within days, mass demonstrations were happening in Prague's Wenceslas Square and spreading to other cities. By November 27, the movement had grown so large that 75 percent of the population participated in general strike across the country. Demonstrators and dissidents would successfully achieve the nonviolent end to communist rule over Czechoslovakia on December 10 and within months Soviet troops would leave the country.

Mountain mists over Bavaria

If the forecast in Bavaria calls for 'nebel'—you'll know that means fog. In modern German, the word for 'November' is 'November.' But an older German term for this month was 'Nebel-mond' which translates to English as 'fog month'—it's the time of the year when fog is most likely to roll in. In some parts of the world the topography and local climate make fog a regular feature of the weather, especially during certain times of the year. That's called 'fog season.' San Francisco has a fog season. Tampa, Florida, does too. Is there a fog season where you live?

Mesmerizing murmuration

Around this time of year, as temperatures dip in the Northern Hemisphere, European or common starlings put on a dazzling show. Most of the time, these noisy birds are scorned for their bullying behavior at the birdfeeder. But in autumn months, they gather to roost in huge flocks, like here in Blackpool, England. At dusk, the starlings take flight en masse and flock together in a hypnotizing, swirling cloud of fluttering wings. This behavior is called mumuration. It's thought to help keep the birds warm while also acting as a defensive tactic to confuse predators like hawks and falcons. But maybe the raptors are just awestruck by the starlings' synchronized spectacle like the rest of us.

Rodrigo Koxa riding the biggest wave ever surfed, on Nov 8, 2017, off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal (© Pedro Cruz/AP Photo)

Big wave hunters watch Nazaré

Today's image captures Brazilian surfer Rodrigo Koxa in action, surfing a record 80-foot wave off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal. Nazaré began attracting surfers to the area in the 1960s and has since become a major destination for men and women who want to surf some of the world's biggest waves. Nazaré's Praia do Norte (North Beach) is the site of the two latest records for largest wave ever surfed. The previous record was set by American Garrett McNamara on November 1, 2011, when he rode a 78-foot wave here. Then, on November 8, 2017, Koxa set a new record with this ride.

Surfers' ability to catch these giant waves is a relatively new accomplishment that's made possible by using a watercraft, usually a Jet Ski or a helicopter, to tow a surfer into the wave. This time of year, with the return of the big-wave season, surfers from around the world are descending on this seaside town with their support teams. Together, they anxiously await the optimal conditions required to create these monster waves, hoping for an opportunity to test their skills and see their names added to the record book.

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