Photo of the Day 11 July 2008

Walking Stick Bug, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1993
Photograph by Michael Nichols
A female Macleay's specter stick insect pauses on a branch at the Cincinnati Zoo. Indigenous to Australia, these large, well-defended arthropods are covered in tiny spikes and can reach 6 inches (15 centimeters) in length.

Photo of the Day 10 July 2008

Wallace's Flying Frog, Borneo, 2000
Photograph by Tim Laman
Silhouetted against the night sky, a Wallace's flying frog (Rhacophorus nigropalmatus) glides through the air in Borneo. These frogs, the largest of Borneo's flying frogs, gather on branches above murky pools to breed and lay eggs. The pools then make ideal habitat for tadpoles, which drop into the water when they hatch.

Photo of the Day 9 July 2008

Sunken Treasure Hunters, Atlantic Ocean, 1999
Photograph by Priit Vesilind
A small boat tows a Russian submersible during a 1995 expedition to find sunken gold. The mission sought to raise more than 2 tons (1.8 metric tons) of bullion from a Japanese submarine torpedoed by American forces off Africa's Atlantic coast during World War II. Disappointed treasure hunters recovered only some tin, brass, and an old shoe.

Photo of the Day 8 July 2008

Spacesuit, Houston, Texas, 2007
Photograph by Mark Thiessen
A spacesuit is put through its paces at the Johnson Space Center's Lunar Yard in Houston, Texas. The 2-acre (0.8-hectare) mock moon surface, made of sand and crushed granite, allows engineers to test systems and concepts as they prepare for NASA's return to the moon.

Photo of the Day 7 July 2008

Headlights, Imperial Sand Dunes, California, 2005
Photograph by Gerd Ludwig
Headlights stream up and down the fluid banks of Imperial Sand Dunes, southeast of California's Salton Sea, in this time exposure. An off-roaders' paradise, the dunes were blown from the dry bed of Lake Cahuilla, the sea's ancient ancestor. More than a million fans hit the dunes each year, pumping $54 million into local coffers. The cost? Brawls, fatal crashes, and run-ins with endangered species.

Photo of the Day 6 July 2008

Ariaal Warriors, Marsabit District, Kenya, 1999
Photograph by Maria Stenzel
Ariaal warriors rest on an outcrop amid the deserts of northern Kenya's Marsabit District. The 10,000 or so Ariaal who inhabit Marsabit have managed to maintain their nomadic way of life in spite of shrinking communal pastures, increasing ethnic tensions, and government pressure to trade their cattle culture for a more mainstream existence.

Photo of the Day 5 July 2008

Giant Squirrel, Borneo, Indonesia, 1997
Photograph by Tim Laman
A giant squirrel surveys the surrounding rain forest from a tree limb in Borneo’s Gunung Palung National Park. Borneo, the world’s third largest island, boasts some of the last areas of pristine rain forest in the world. However, deforestation from illegal logging within the park threatens the survival of this unique ecosystem.

Photo of the Day 4 July 2008

Fourth of July Fireworks, Bowlus, Minnesota, 2000
Photograph by Richard Olsenius
Fireworks light up the sky over a grain elevator in Bowlus, Minnesota. The volunteer fire department sets off the display every year on the Fourth of July, during Bowlus Fun Days. The daylong celebration is a "big thing" in Bowlus, says Charlie Sobieck, who owns the grain elevator. "We have bingo, a snow-cone stand, cotton candy, polka bands, and a parade with floats. It's a good gathering for people to see people they haven't seen in years."

Photo of the Day 3 July 2008

Spawning Salmon, Alaska, 1999
Photograph by Karen Kasmauski
Salmon en route to spawning grounds struggle up an intertidal stream on a stretch of Alaskan coastline once fouled by millions of gallons of crude oil from the infamous Exxon Valdez. Today, a visitor would be hard pressed to find evidence of the spill. But studies show lingering effects to regional wildlife.

Photo of the Day 2 July 2008

Bullfight, Arequipa, Peru, 1982
Photograph by William Albert Allard
A slow exposure blurs the charge of a bull at a bullfight in Arequipa, Peru. Peru is the second stop on the calendar for many of the world's top bullfighters. They begin in Spain in March, move to Lima for a month in October, then head to Mexico to close the year.

Photo of the Day 1 July 2008

Sundog Light Phenomenon, Manitoba, Canada, 2005
Photograph by Norbert Rosing
A solar phenomenon known as a sundog arcs over the tundra in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. Sundogs are fairly common occurrences in the Arctic and Antarctic. They form when the sun is near the horizon and ice crystals high in the sky line up in a way that bends the solar rays like a prism.

Photo of the Day 30 June 2008

All-American Canal, Yuma, Arizona, 2003
Photograph by George Steinmetz
The All-American Canal disappears over the horizon of the Yuma, Arizona, desert. The 80-mile (129-kilometer) canal is part of an extensive system of waterways that taps the Colorado River to irrigate hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland in southeastern California and southwestern Arizona.

Photo of the Day 29 June 2008

Desert Rainbow, Red Desert, Wyoming, 2005
Photograph by Joel Sartore
Wyoming's big sky has ample room for this 180-degree rainbow over the Adobe Town rock formations in Red Desert. This seemingly desolate expanse is home to an abundance of life, including antelope, mule deer, and Wyoming's largest herd of wild horses.

Photo of the Day 28 June 2008

Boat at Low Tide, County Mayo, Ireland, 2003
Photograph by Chris Rainier
A fishing boat, beached by low tide, leans against seaweed-covered rocks in Ireland's Sruwaddacon Bay. The waters of this picturesque estuary, located in County Mayo on the northwest coast, are in constant motion, emptying and filling the riverlike bay four times each day.

Photo of the Day 27 June 2008

Upper Falls, Tahquamenon Falls State Park, Michigan, 1991
Photograph by Phil Schermeister
Water from the Tahquamenon River flows over the Upper Falls in Tahquamenon Falls State Park in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The picturesque, tea-colored Tahquamenon is the setting for Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem The Song of Hiawatha.

Photo of the Day 26 June 2008

Tribal Leaders, Saudi Arabia, 2003
Photograph by Reza
Tribal leaders gather around a fire in the tent of a prominent sheik in Saudi Arabia. Such meetings, called majlis, are customary throughout the kingdom. They can be simple social gatherings or, if the host is powerful, an official audience, where a Bedouin camel herder asking help with a grazing issue might be followed by a billionaire property baron requesting a construction permit.

Photo of the Day 25 June 2008

Twin Bolts of Lightning, Grand Canyon, Arizona, 2006
Photograph by Michael Nichols
Twin bolts of lightning reach for the depths of the Grand Canyon near Point Sublime. This scenic area on the canyon's North Rim is not as easily accessible as other lookouts. But for those willing to make the two-hour trip by 4WD vehicle, the vistas are among the best the park has to offer.

Photo of the Day 24 June 2008

Weddell Seals, Antarctica, 2006
Photograph by Maria Stenzel
A mother Weddell seal and her calf swim beneath Antarctic ice. Weddell seals can dive as deep as 2,000 feet (610 meters), but frequently stay in the shallows to avoid predators such as sharks and orcas.

Photo of the Day 23 June 2008

Mountain Village, Gomera, Canary Islands, 2006
Photograph by Justin Guariglia
Tucked in a valley in northeastern Gomera, part of Spain's Canary Islands, the village of Hermigua stairsteps down terraced hills dotted with palms and banana plants. Tiny Gomera is richly contoured with hills and valleys. Wrote one observer: "To make a 3-D map of La Gomera, first crumple a piece of paper into a ball. Next, tease the center into a high point. That's it."

Photo of the Day 22 June 2008

Woman and Dog, Newport, Rhode Island, 2003
Photograph by Bob Krist
A woman and her dog walk on a beach at low tide in Newport, Rhode Island. Each year, this small city of 27,000 residents attracts some 200,000 vacationers, who come to lounge on the beach, take in the resort town's extensive history, and get a look at the many beachfront mansions that have made Newport famous.

Photo of the Day 21 June 2008

Man and Hieroglyphs, Al Kurru, Sudan, 2003
Photograph by Randy Olson
A Sudanese man illuminates hieroglyphs in an ancient tomb in Al Kurru. Sudan is strewn with the ruins of Nubian kings, who once ruled all of Egypt. Today, Sudan's government struggles to control its own country, paralyzed by decades of civil, ethnic, and religious conflict.

Photo of the Day 20 June 2008

Dogsled Team, Greenland, 2006
Photograph by David McLain
Greenland dogs are descended from canines that accompanied immigrants from Siberia some 5,000 years ago. This team, driving across Greenland's Sermipaluk Glacier, is tethered to the sled with a fan hitch, a type of harness that allows each dog to pick its own way across rough and dangerous terrain.

Photo of the Day 19 June 2008

Scuba Diver, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, 1986
Photograph by Bill Curtsinger

A crack in the ice shelf, called a lead, gives a diver access to (and escape from) the frigid waters of Antarctica's McMurdo Sound. Those who brave the water temperatures of 28 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 2.2 degrees Celsius) here are rewarded with unsurpassed visibility and unique sea life that has developed in isolation for some 40 million years.

Photo of the Day 18 June 2008

Boat on the Andaman Sea, Myanmar, 2005
Photograph by Nicolas Reynard
A Moken fishing boat moves past one of the Sister Islands at sunset in Myanmar's Mergui Archipelago. These boats, called kabangs, are the mainstay of the nomadic Moken culture. Each is roughed out in the forest from a single tree, then hauled to the beach to be fitted with a hull and roof. Some take up to four months to build.

Photo of the Day 17 June 2008

Afar Cattle Herders, Ethiopia, 2005
Photograph by Carsten Peter
Zebu cattle driven by Afar herdsmen raise clouds of dust in the baked Danakil Desert near Semerea, Ethiopia. The Danakil is among the most forbidding places on Earth, a land of dry sands, active volcanoes, burning salt flats, temperatures that often top 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius), choking winds, and suffocating days of no wind at all.

Photo of the Day 16 June 2008

Laundry on Lines, High Atlas Mountains, Morocco, 2005
Photograph by Alexandra Boulat
Colorful laundry dries on lines in a Berber village in Morocco's High Atlas Mountains. Many Berbers, or Amazigh, fled to the highlands following the Arab conquest of North Africa in the seventh century A.D. Unlike the Berbers who remained with their conquerors, those who went to the High Atlas have until today managed to preserve their identity, their language, and their independence.

Photo of the Day 15 June 2008

Shadow of a Boy, Qatar, 2003
Photograph by Robb Kendrick
Unfinished homes dot the landscape as a low sun paints a boy's shadow on the wall of a ruined house in the Qatar desert. Qatar has one of the world's fastest-growing economies. Buoyed by oil and natural gas sales, per capita income there topped $60,000 in 2006, with unemployment of less than one percent.

Photo of the Day 14 June 2008

Sandstone Pillars, Sahara Desert, Chad, 1999
Photograph by George Steinmetz

Spires of eroded sandstone stand like ancient pillars in the red dunes of Chad's Karnasai Valley in the central Sahara desert. Fierce winds, punishing sandstorms, and occasional douses of rain are slowly turning these rock formations back into the sand from which they were made.

Photo of the Day 13 June 2008

Rancher and Cows, Yukon Territory, Canada, 1978
Photograph by George Mobley

A rancher attends to a mother cow and her calf at the Pelly River Ranch in Canada's Yukon Territory. Life can be hard in this rugged, picturesque territory, where winter temperatures fall to minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 50 degrees Celsius). A scant 30,000 people call the 186,000-square-mile (482,000-square-kilometer) tract home.

Photo of the Day 12 June 2008

Fire Dancer, Bora-Bora, Society Islands, 1997
Photograph by Jodi Cobb

A riot of light illuminates the night at a Bora-Bora resort. Fire dancing is a relatively recent Polynesian tradition, originated by a Samoan dancer in 1946. It is performed with knives wired with cotton towels soaked with a flammable liquid.

Photo of the Day 11 June 2008

Nighttime Igloo, Moriusaq, Greenland, 2006
Photograph by David McLain
Light shines between the ice blocks of an igloo in Moriusaq, Greenland. Igloos are usually dome-shaped and are made of large slabs cut from compacted snow. A skilled native Greenlander can build one in just a couple of hours.

Photo of the Day 10 June 2008

Chinstrap Penguin, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica, 2006
Photograph by Paul Nicklen

A solitary chinstrap penguin stands at attention on the rocky shore of the Antarctic Peninsula. These penguins, which rely less on sea ice than other species do for their survival, have thrived as climate change has warmed the ocean around Antarctica. Since 1974 their numbers have increased by some 2,700 percent.

Photo of the Day 9 June 2008

Horseman Near a Lake, Mongolia, 2003
Photograph by Gordon Wiltsie

Each fall dwindling grasslands and frigid Siberian air send a thousand people and some 60,000 animals on a treacherous journey out of Mongolia's mountain-ringed Darhad Valley to winter pastures near Lake Hovsgol, where this lone horseman rides. And each spring they pack up and go back.

Photo of the Day 8 June 2008

Churches and Steeples, Salzburg, Austria, 2004
Photograph by Bob Krist
Snow rimes the classic dome- and spire-studded skyline of Salzburg, Austria. This elegant city's unique architecture is the legacy of a long line of prince-archbishops, powerful ecclesiastical rulers who used profits from the city's nearby salt mines to turn their seat of power into a little piece of Baroque Italy transported to the Austrian Alps.

Photo of the Day 7 June 2008

Windblown Kaffiyeh, Near Dukhan, Qatar, 2003
Photograph by Robb Kendrick

A Qatari man in a traditional white dishdasha robe and a wind-blown red-and-white kaffiyeh stands before a sandstone formation near Dukhan. Qatar, a desert-covered Persian Gulf peninsula about the size of Jamaica, may be small, but its oil and natural gas reserves give it big clout. Per capita incomes there are among the highest in the world.

Photo of the Day 6 June 2008

Gelada Monkey, Ethiopia, 2005
Photograph by Carsten Peter

A gelada monkey sits for a portrait in the Ethiopian highlands. These baboon-size animals are more terrestrial than any other primates except humans. They are the last surviving species of ancient grazing primates that were once numerous.

Photo of the Day 5 June 2008

Boats at Sunset, Kangerluk Fjord, Greenland, 2006
Photograph by David McLain

The day's last light illuminates the boats and tents of narwhal hunters on Greenland's Kangerluk Fjord. Narwhals come to Greenland's fjords in July and August to calve and feed. Landing these elusive tusked whales presents extreme dangers for Greenlanders, whose low-riding kayaks can easily capsize in the process.

Photo of the Day 4 June 2008

Schoolmaster Snappers, Conch Reef, Florida, 2003
Photograph by Brian Skerry

A column of schoolmaster snappers hovers near a support beam for the Aquarius research station near Florida's Conch Reef. Installed in 1993, this railroad-car-size unit gives scientists a permanent place to observe the creatures that live on the reef and how each plays a part in the ecosystem.

Photo of the Day 3 June 2008

Praying Mantis, Southeast Asia, 2001
Photograph by Tim Laman

This extreme close-up shows the business end of a praying mantis, one of the insect world's most formidable predators. Mantids have two large compound eyes and three other simple eyes located between them. Some species can see movement up to 60 feet (18 meters) away.

Photo of the Day 2 June 2008

Rainbow, Denali National Park, Alaska, 2001
Photograph by Joel Sartore

A double rainbow plunges into a gorge in Alaska's Denali National Park. Although they appear to exist at a definable point in the sky, a rainbow's position is actually dependent on the location of the observer relative to the sun.

Photo of the Day 1 June 2008

Mineral Pigment, Bhubaneswar, India, 1999
Photograph by Cary Wolinsky

A woman in Bhubaneswar, India, prepares to grind red mineral pigment on a stone pestle. In the Hindu religion, colors, especially red, are endowed with symbolic significance.

Photo of the Day 31 May 2008

Untouchable Woman, India, 2003
Photograph by William Albert Allard

A veiled woman of the Untouchable caste pauses for a photo while sweeping outside her home in India. India's constitution forbids caste discrimination and specifically abolishes Untouchability, but the hierarchies and social codes of Hinduism perpetuate the system.

Photo of the Day 30 May 2008

Water Puddles, Grand Canyon, Arizona, 2006
Photograph by Michael Nichols

Water-filled "potholes" dot the Esplanade, a rock formation on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, as lightning crackles in the distance. The Esplanade region is known for the dramatic weathered-sandstone pillars called hoodoos that dot the landscape.

Photo of the Day 29 May 2008

Climbers on Ertale Volcano, Ethiopia, 2005
Photograph by Carsten Peter

Climbers in Ethiopia's Danakil Desert prepare to descend into Ertale volcano. The volcano, which has been active for nearly a century, has a lake of molten lava at the center of its caldera.

Photo of the Day 28 May 2008

Elephant Musicians, Lampang, Thailand, 2005
Photograph by William Albert Allard

Elephants explore their creative side with super-sized musical instruments, including this custom-made xylophone, at the Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang, Thailand. Elephant handlers called mahouts encourage the animals to play by moving their arms, but the symphonic pachyderms select the notes and rhythms on their own.

Photo of the Day 27 May 2008

Desert Rainbow, Australia, 2007
Photograph by Randy Olson

A rainbow spreads over a desert town in northwest Queensland, Australia, after a monsoon soaking. Every year, a climatological flip-flop draws the rainy-season weather down from India and douses this bone-dry land in a phenomenon known locally as "the wet."

Photo of the Day 26 May 2008

Memorial Day Salute, Minnesota, 2000
Photograph by Richard Olsenius

A Veterans of Foreign Wars honor guard stands at attention for a three-round salute in honor of Memorial Day.

First widely observed in 1868, Decoration Day, as it was originally known, was a time to honor fallen Civil War soldiers by decorating their graves. In 1971, the U.S. Congress made Memorial Day a national holiday honoring all Americans who have died in service to their country.

Photo of the Day 25 May 2008

Cowrie Shells, Myanmar, 2005
Photograph by Nicolas Reynard

A Moken tribesman in Myanmar's Andaman Islands displays two large cowrie shells. The Moken, a nomadic sea people who live among the 800 islands of the Mergui Archipelago, are divers and beachcombers, taking what they need each day from the Andaman Sea. They accumulate little and live on land only during the monsoons.

Photo of the Day 24 May 2008

Volcanic Soil, Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia, 2001
Photograph by Carsten Peter

A fisheye lens captures the desolate gray of a volcanic plain on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. Kamchatka is a scimitar-shaped spit of land on Russia's far east coast, home to more than a hundred volcanoes, 29 of which are active.

Photo of the Day 23 May 2008

Sunset and Palm Trees, Captiva Island, Florida, 1992
Photograph by Raymond Gehman

A fuchsia sunset backdrops a stand of palm trees on Florida's Captiva Island. Captiva is one of four quiet barrier islands on the Gulf coast of Florida—Sanibel, North Captiva, and Cayo Costa are the others—renowned as havens for boating, fishing, and seashell-collecting.