These featured pictures previously appeared as image of the day. You can add this template to your userpage or talk page using {{pic of the day}} or {{POTD}}. Older images are at Template:Pic of the day/Archive1. A montage of the images used since May 14, 2004 is at Template:Pic of the day/Image archive. When no new images are available, older pictures of the day are reused.
Orion Nebula, Monday 1 November, 2004
The Orion Nebula is a glowing nebula with a greenish hue and is situated below Orion's Belt. It is possibly the brightest diffuse nebula visible to the naked eye in the night sky. M42 is located at a distance of about 1,600 light years from the planet Earth, is 33 light years across, and can be seen clearly through even low-power binoculars, particularly from dark sky locations. Observations with powerful telescopes (especially the Hubble Space Telescope) have found stars enclosed in dust rings, probably the first phase of a planetary system formation. Photo credit: NASA
Strelitzia, Sunday 31 October, 2004
Strelitzia is a South African genus of perennial plants named after the duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, home of the former Queen Charlotte of England. The common name of the genus is "bird of paradise", because of the resemblance of its flowers to the bird of that name. Photo credit: Scott Bauer USDA
Degenerate art, Saturday, 30 October, 2004
The Magdeburger Ehrenmal from Ernst Barlach was declared to be "degenerate art" due to the anti-war motive. Degenerate art (from the German: "entartete Kunst") is a term that became notorious during the Nazi rule of Germany to refer to any art reflecting values or aesthetics contrary to the Aryan ones. It is therefore somewhat ironic that the concept of "degenerate art" was first proposed during the late nineteenth century by Max Nordau, the Zionist leader. In 1937, Nazi authorities purged German museums of art they considered "degenerate." They then took 650 of the works so condemned, and sent them on tour as a special exhibit of "degenerate art." Photo credit: Chris 73
Cathedral of Magdeburg, Friday, 29 October, 2004
The Cathedral of Magdeburg (known as Magdeburger Dom in German) is the first gothic cathedral in Germany and with a height of 104 m the highest cathedral in Eastern Germany. The current cathedral was constructed over the period of 300 years starting from 1209, and the completion of the steeples took place only in 1520. In 2004 a funding drive for a new organ that was started in 1997 was completed, collecting 2 Million Euro. The new organ has been ordered from a company near Potsdam, constructing a 36 ton instrument with 93 registers and approximately 5000 pipes. The construction is planned to be completed in 2007, and the new organ will hopefully be used for the first time in 2008. Photo credit: Chris 73
Matterhorn, Thursday, 28 October, 2004
The Matterhorn is located on the border between Switzerland and Italy, towering over the Swiss town of Zermatt and the Italian town Breuil-Cervinia in the Val Tournanche. It was the last major mountain of the Alps to be climbed, not merely because of its technical difficulty, but of the fear it inspired in early mountaineers. The first serious attempts began around 1858, mostly from the Italian side, but despite appearances, the southern routes are harder, and parties repeatedly found themselves on difficult slippery rock and had to turn back. Photo credit: Stan Shebs
Sunflower, Wednesday, 27 October, 2004
The oil extracted from Sunflower seeds, is used for cooking, as a carrier oil and is used to produce biodiesel. The meal remaining after the seeds have been processed for oil is used as a livestock feed. Some recently developed varieties have drooping heads. These varieties are less attractive to gardeners growing the flowers as ornamentals, but appeal to farmers, because they reduce bird damage and losses from some plant diseases. Photo credit: Bruce Fritz (USDA)
Supernova remnant, Tuesday 26 October, 2004
This Supernova remnant of Kepler's Supernova (SN 1604) is made up of the materials left behind by the gigantic explosion of a star. There are two possible routes to this end: either a massive star may cease to generate fusion energy in its core, and collapse inward under the force of its own gravity, or a white dwarf star may accumulate material from a companion star until it reaches a critical mass and undergoes a similar collapse. In either case, the resulting supernova explosion expels much or all of the stellar material with great force. Photo credit: NASA
Himalayan Mountains, Monday 25 October, 2004
The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everest as seen from the International Space Station. The Himalaya separates India and the Northern Areas of Pakistan on the south and southwest from the vast Tibetan plateau (now part of China) on the north. Four of the world's fourteen eight-thousanders, mountains higher than 8000 m, can be seen, Makalu (8462 m), Everest (8850 m), Lhotse (8516 m) and Cho Oyu (8201 m). Photo credit: NASA
Horse Chestnuts Conker, Sunday 24 October, 2004
A selection of fresh conkers from a Horse-chestnut. They are not true nuts, but rather capsules. The soft whitish-brown wood can be used for cheap furniture, boxes and firewood. The nuts are poisonous, but some Native American tribes leached the pulverized nuts to make them edible. Crushed buckeye nuts have been used by poachers to kill fish for easy capture. Some animals, notably deer, are resistant to the toxins. Photo credit: Solipsist
Peafowl, Saturday 23 October, 2004
The Peafowl are most notable for the male's extravagant tail, a result of sexual selection, which it displays as part of courtship. The male is called a peacock, the female a peahen. In user-friendly English, however, peacock is used to mean any peafowl. Many of the brilliant colors of the peacock plumage are due to an optical interference phenomenon called Bragg reflection. Photo credit: Adrian Pingstone
Biodiversity, Friday 22 October, 2004
Biodiversity is the diversity of and in living nature. Diversity, at its heart, implies the number of different kinds of objects, such as species. To increase the genetic diversity of U.S. corn, the Germplasm Enhancement for Maize (GEM) project seeks to combine exotic germplasm, such as this unusually colored and shaped maize from Latin America, with domestic corn lines. Photo credit: Keith Weller (USDA)
Surface tension, Thursday 21 October, 2004
Surface tension is caused by the attraction between molecules of a liquid, due to van der Waals forces. In the bulk of the liquid, molecules are pulled in all directions, resulting in a net force of zero. At the surface, molecules are pulled inwards, but there are no liquid molecules on the outside to balance these forces, so the surface molecules are subject to an inward force of molecular attraction which is balanced by the resistance of the liquid to compression. Photo credit: W. M. Connolley
Red-back spider, Wednesday 20 October, 2004
The red-back spider is a potentially dangerous spider found throughout Australia. A successful bite from a female red-back injects a neurotoxin into the blood stream. Individuals bitten often describe the bite as extremely painful. In September 2004, inmates at Grafton maximum security prison in New South Wales were found to be keeping red-back spiders. Media reported a prisoner's allegation that other inmates had been breeding the spiders, milking them, and injecting the venom for a high. However, the authorities uncovered no supporting evidence (e.g. syringes), and concluded the spiders were kept simply as pets. Photo credit: Fir0002
Landing at the Battle of Normandy Battle of Normandy, Tuesday 19 October, 2004
The Battle of Normandy (D-Day) is one of the best-known battles of World War II. The invasion force included 4000 landing craft, 130 warships for bombardment and 12,000 aircraft to support the landings. In order to persuade the Germans that the invasion would really be coming to the Pas de Calais, the Allies prepared a massive deception plan, called Operation Fortitude. An entirely fictitious First U.S. Army Group was created, with fake buildings and equipment, and false radio messages were sent. Photo credit: U.S. Army's First Division
Space Shuttle Columbia, Monday 18 October, 2004
The Space Shuttle Columbia seconds after engine ignition in 1981. For the first two missions only, the external fuel tank was painted white. The space shuttle became the major focus of NASA in the late 1970s and the 1980s. Planned to be frequently launchable and mostly reusable vehicle, four space shuttles were built by 1985. The first to launch, Columbia did so on April 12, 1981. Photo credit: NASA
Mad scientist caricature was reused on Sunday 17 October.
Ladybird Ladybird, Saturday 16 October, 2004
Ladybirds are beneficial to organic gardeners because most species are insectivores, consuming aphids, fruit flies, thrips, and other tiny plant-sucking insects that damage crops. In fact, their name is derived from "Beetle of Our Lady", recognizing their role in saving crops from destruction. Today they are commercially available from a variety of suppliers. Adult ladybirds are able to reflex-bleed from their leg joints. The blood is yellow, with a strong repellent smell, and is quite obvious when one handles a ladybird roughly. Photo credit: PDPhoto.org
Halo around the sun Halo around the sun, Friday 15 October, 2004
Halos are optical phenomena that appear near or around the Sun or Moon, and sometimes near other strong light sources such as street lights. There are many types of halos, but they are mostly caused by ice crystals in cold cirrus clouds located high (5-10 km, or 3-6 miles) in the upper troposphere. The particular shape and orientation of the crystals is responsible for the type of halo observed. Light is reflected and refracted by the ice crystals and may split up into colors because of dispersion, similarly to the rainbow. Photo credit: NOAA
Pentakis dodecahedron, Thursday 14 October, 2004
An animated Pentakis dodecahedron, member of the Catalan solids. Catalan solids are all convex, face-uniform but not vertex-uniform. This is because the dual Archimedean solids are vertex-uniform and not face uniform. Note that unlike Platonic solids and Archimedean solids, the faces of Catalan solids are not regular polygons. However, the vertex figures of Catalan solids are regular, and they have constant dihedral angles. Additionally, two of the Catalan solids are edge-uniform: the rhombic dodecahedron and the rhombic triacontahedron. These are the duals of the two quasi-regular Archimedean solids. Photo credit: W. M. Connolley
The caterpillar of the Large White butterfly Caterpillar, Wednesday 13 October, 2004
The Caterpillar of the Large White butterfly. Caterpillars eat leaves voraciously, grow rapidly, shed their skins generally four or five times, and eventually pupate into an adult form. Caterpillars do not breathe through their mouths. Air enters their bodies through a series of small tubules along the sides of their thorax and abdomen. These tubules are called 'spiracles', and inside the body they connect together into a network of airtubes or 'tracheae'. Photo credit: Sannse
Fire ants, Tuesday, 12 October, 2004
Fire ants, like these Red Imported Fire Ants (Solenopsis invicta), are more aggressive than most native ant species and have a painful sting that is rarely life-threatening to humans and other large animals, but can kill smaller animals such as birds. Fire ants cannot be killed by flooding. If the ants sense a change in water levels in their nests, they will come together and form a huge ball that is able to float on the water and protects the queen in its center. Photo credit: Scott Bauer
Nattō, Monday 11 October, 2004
Nattō (納豆) is a traditional Japanese dish made from fermented soybeans, popular especially at breakfast, when it is eaten on top of rice. Natto is an acquired taste and has a powerful aroma and sticky consistency. Photo credit: Gleam
UK roundabout was reused on Sunday 10 October, 2004
Potato plant was reused on Saturday 9 October, 2004
Bonfire, Friday 8 October, 2004
Controlling fire was one of the first great achievements of humankind. It made possible migration to colder climates which otherwise would have remained out of reach for colonization. It allowed for cooking food and using flame and heat to process materials. Archeological studies indicates that ancestors of modern humans such as Homo erectus may have been using controlled fire as early as 790,000 years ago. Photo credit: Fir0002
"Promenade des Anglais" in Nice "Promenade des Anglais" in Nice, Thursday 7 October, 2004
"Promenade des Anglais" in Nice, a major tourist centre and a leading resort on the French Riviera - Côte d'Azur. During the middle ages Nice had its share in the wars and disasters of Italy. As an ally of Pisa it was the enemy of Genoa, and both the king of France and the emperor endeavoured to subjugate it; but in spite of all it maintained its municipal liberties. Photo credit: W. M. Connolley
Sculpture by Henry Moore Sculpture by Henry Moore, Wednesday 6 October, 2004
Sculpture by Henry Moore, an influential 20th century sculptor who helped to introduce modernism. Best known for his abstract monumental bronzes, Moore's subjects are usually abstractions of the female figure, typically mother-and-child or reclining figures. Photo credit: Andrew Dunn
Hansom cab, Tuesday 5 October, 2004
A Hansom cab is a kind of horse- drawn carriage first designed and patented in 1834 by Joseph Hansom, an architect from Leicestershire, England. Its purpose was to combine speed with safety, with a low center of gravity that was essential for safe cornering. The Hansom Cab was introduced to the United States during the late 19th century, and was most commonly used there in New York City. Photo credit: Andrew Dunn
Frogspawn Frogspawn, Monday October 4, 2004
In the life cycle of a frog, a female lays her eggs in a shallow pond or creek, where they will be sheltered from the current and from predators. The eggs, known as frogspawn hatch into tadpoles. The tadpoles develop gradually into adolescent froglets and finally the froglet develops into an adult frog. Photo credit: Tarquin
Bumblebee was reused on Sunday 3 October, 2004
Peppermint and Corsican mint plant was reused on Saturday 2 October, 2004
Villain was reused on Friday 1 October, 2004
Sunset, Thursday 30 September, 2004
A red Sunset. The red-hue is explained by the phenomenon of Rayleigh scattering. The sunset is often more brightly coloured than the sunrise because there is more dust at the end of the day than at its beginning. Because the light from the Sun is bent by the variable density of the Earth's atmosphere, the Sun is still seen after it is below the horizon. Photo credit: Fir0002
LG-118A Peacekeeper, Wednesday 29 September, 2004
The LG-118A Peacekeeper missile system being tested at the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The Peacekeeper can carry up to ten re-entry vehicles, each armed with a nuclear warhead with the explosive power of up to 300 kilotons, 25 times the power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War II). Under the unratified START II treaty, all are to be removed from service by 2005. Photo credit: U.S. Army Forces Strategic Command
Joey, Tuesday 28 September, 2004
A newborn joey (baby kangaroo) in its mother's pouch. Kangaroo babies are born at a very early stage of development after a gestation of 31-36 days. At this stage, only the forelimbs are somewhat developed, to allow the newborn to climb to the pouch and attach to a teat. It will not re-emerge for several months, during which time it develops fully. Photo credit: Geoff Shaw
St. Helens, Monday, 27 September, 2004
1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, Washington, US. Mount St. Helens from Monitor Ridge showing the cone of devastation, the huge crater open to the north, and the post eruption lava dome inside it. The small photos were taken from Spirit Lake before and after the eruption. Spirit Lake can also be seen in the larger image, as well as two other Cascade volcanos. Photo credit: Daniel Mayer, U.S. Forest Service and USGS
Magnetic resonance imaging, Sunday 26 September, 2004
Magnetic resonance imaging is a commonly used form of medical imaging which creates images of the inside of opaque organs in living organisms and detects the amount of bound water in geological structures. It is primarily used to visualise alterations of living tissues. A functional MRI scan (shown in the image) measures signal changes in the brain that are due to changing neural activity. Photo credit: Fastfission
Image:Geyser exploding 3 large.jpg was reused on Saturday 25 September, 2004.
Emperor penguin, Friday 24 September, 2004
The Emperor Penguin is the largest of all penguins. Like his King Penguin counterpart, a male Emperor Penguin has an abdominal fold, the "brood pouch", between its legs and lower abdomen. The male will incubate an egg in its brood pouch for 65 days without food by surviving on his fat reserves. Photo credit: Josh Landis
Sombrero Galaxy Sombrero Galaxy, Thursday 23 September, 2004
The Sombrero Galaxy is a spiral galaxy in the Virgo constellation. It was discovered in the late 1700s. It is about 28 million light years away and is just faint enough to be invisible to the naked eye but easily visible with small telescopes. In our sky, it is about one-fifth the diameter of the full moon. M104 is moving away from Earth at about 1,000 kilometers per second. Photo credit: NASA / STScI
Lake Fryxell Lake Fryxell in the Transantarctic Mountains, Wednesday 22 September, 2004
The blue ice covering Lake Fryxell in the Transantarctic Mountains –a mountain range in Antarctica– comes from glacial meltwater from the Canada Glacier and other smaller glaciers. The freshwater stays on top of the lake and freezes, sealing in briny water below. Photo credit: Joe Mastroianni
Antarctica, Tuesday 21 September, 2004
Antarctica, the continent surrounding the Earth's South Pole, is the coldest place on earth and is almost entirely covered by ice. Antarctica was discovered in late January 1820. Too cold and dry to support virtually any vascular plants, Antartica's flora presently consists of around 250 lichens, 100 mosses, 25-30 liverworts, and around 700 terrestrial and aquatic algal species. Photo credit: NASA
Image:Eastern Yellow Robin.jpg was reused on Monday 20 September.
Fractal broccoli, Sunday 19 September, 2004
Broccoli, a plant of the Cabbage family, Brassicaceae, is a cool-weather crop eaten boiled, steamed, or raw. The Roman natural history writer, Pliny the Elder, wrote about a vegetable which might have been broccoli and some recognize broccoli in the cookbook of Apicius, but its history is unclear. Broccoli was certainly an Italian vegetable long before it was eaten elsewhere. Photo credit: pdphoto
Emperor Gum Moth, Saturday 18 September, 2004
The Emperor Gum Moth. Photo credit: Fir0002
Sainte Jeanne d'Arc Church was reused on Friday 17 September.
Monopoly Game Monopoly, Thursday 16 September, 2004
Monopoly is one of the best selling board games in the world. Since the invention of the original version in 1904, it is estimated that more than 500 million people have played the game. Monopoly involves a substantial portion of luck, there are, however, many strategic decisions which allow skilled players to win more often than the unskilled. Photo credit: Horst Frank
Virgin River Narrows was reused on Wednesday 15 September.
Mount Rainier Mount Rainier, Tuesday 14 September, 2004
Mount Rainier is a stratovolcano and national park southeast of Seattle, Washington in Pierce County. The most recent recorded eruption was between 1820 and 1854, but many eyewitnesses reported eruptive activity in the late 1800s. Photo credit: JediMaster16
Fyodor Dostoevsky, Monday 13 September, 2004
Portrait by Vasily Perov, 1872. Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) was an influential figure in Russian literature, and is sometimes said to be a founder of existentialism. His novels include The Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment. Dostoevsky was imprisoned in 1849 for engaging in revolutionary activity against Tsar Nicholas I. He later abandoned his radical sentiments and became deeply conservative and extremely religious. In the 1860s, Dostoevsky traveled to Western Europe to escape creditors. He married Apollinaria Suslova in 1867 and wrote many of his greatest books in this period.
Stata Center, Sunday 12 September, 2004
The Ray and Maria Stata Center is an academic complex designed by Frank Gehry for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The building opened in spring 2004. Funding for this project was provided by Ray and Maria Stata, Bill Gates and Alexander Dreyfoos. Photo credit: Raul654
Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, Saturday 11 September, 2004
The Basilica of Mary Magdalene in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume is a conservative 13th century Gothic church in Provence, France. Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume is a commune of southern France, in the Var département. Photo credit: Ericd
Collar, Friday 10 September, 2004
In BDSM, a collar is a device of any material placed around the neck of the submissive partner. Materials used include leather, rubber, PVC, and metal. Collars may be decorated in various ways, and often feature buckles, straps and hooks, padlocks and other attachments. The standard colour is black, however variation is possible, including elegant necklaces. Photo credit: Grendelkhan
Star thistle, Thursday 8 September, 2004
The star thistles, cornflowers and knapweeds are a group of thistle-like plants in the Genus Centaurea of the Family Asteraceae. Some 350 species of herbaceous flowering plants belong to Centaurea, most native to the Old World. One species in this genus is the Centaurea solstitialis, shown in the picture. Also called the Yellow star thistle, this is an annual that grows to a height of 1 to 2.5 feet. This plant is widely naturalized outside of its native Europe. Photo credit: Peggy Greb
Image:Sand sculpture.jpg was reused on Wednesday 7 September.
Glass ball, Tuesday 6 September, 2004
Glass ball from the Vérrerie of Brehat In its pure form, glass is a transparent, biologically inactive material. Hand blown glassware is popular for its artistry. Some artists in glass include Sidney Waugh, Rene Lalique, Dale Chihuly, and Louis Comfort Tiffany, who were responsible for extraordinary glass objects. The term "crystal glass", derived from rock crystal, has come to denote high-grade colorless glass, often containing lead, and is sometimes applied to any fine hand-blown glass. Photo credit: Chmouel Boudjnah
Image:Peppermint and Corsican mint plant shorter.jpg was reused on Monday 5 September.
Clownfish, Sunday 5 September, 2004
Common clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris). The Clownfish are a subfamily of the family Pomacentridae, native to the Pacific Ocean. Clownfish are marked by their behavior of living in a comensual relationship with sea anemones. A school of clownfish is always built into a hierarchy with a female fish at the top. When she dies, the most dominant male changes sex and takes her place. Photo credit: Jan Derk
Gyeongbokgung, Saturday 4 September, 2004
The Gyeongbokgung is a palace located in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Along with Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung and Gyeonghuigung, it is one of the "Five Grand Palaces" built by the Joseon Dynasty. This dynasty was founded in 1392 by Korean general Yi Seonggye, who overthrew the former kingdom of Goryeo and established the kingdom of Joseon. Photo credit: Kokiri
Carolina Anole Carolina Anole, Friday 3 September, 2004
The Carolina Anole is a lizard found primarily in the south eastern parts of the United States. It has color-changing abilities, although it is not a chameleon. This lizard can reach a total length of about 22 cm. The male has a pink or red dewlap that extends from his chin. Green Anoles can have a green or a brown body colour, which depends on mood and climate. Photo credit: Pollinator
Mandelbrot set, Thursday, 2 September, 2004
The Mandelbrot set is a fractal that is defined as the set of points in the complex number plane for which with z0 = 0 does not tend to infinity. The Mandelbrot set was first defined by Pierre Fatou in 1905, and first plotted on computer by Benoît Mandelbrot. The color reflects the number of iterations it takes to reach a certain distance from the origin. Photo credit: Evercat
Onsen, Wednesday 1 September, 2004
An onsen is a Japanese hot spring. The onsen is a Japanese public bath, or sento. and plays an important role in Japanese culture. As well as bathing facilities, onsens should include accommodation, extravagant cooking and all manner of relaxing pastimes - massages, aromatherapy, relaxation rooms and comfortable surroundings. Photo credit: Chris 73
Messier 8, Tuesday 31 August, 2004
Messier 8, commonly known as the Lagoon Nebula, is a Messier object within the Sagittarius constellation. Sagittarius, depicted as a centaur drawing a bow, lies between Scorpius to the west and Capricornus to the east. The Milky Way is at its densest as it passes through this constellation. Photo credit: Ryan Bruels
Windmill, Monday 30 August, 2004
Pitstone Windmill, believed to be the oldest windmill in the British Isles. A windmill is an engine powered by wind energy. In Europe, windmills have been used since the Middle Ages. They were developed from the 12th century, apparently from technology gained by crusaders who came into contact with windmills in the Middle East. Persian sources indicate windmill use as early as the 7th century BC. In the United States, the development of water-pumping windmills was a major factor in allowing the farming of vast areas of North America. Photo credit: Michael Reeve
Messier 3, Sunday 29 August, 2004
Messier 3 is a globular cluster that was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764. This cluster is one of the largest and brightest, and is made up of around 500,000 stars. It is located within Canes Venatici, a small northern constellation, at a distance of about 33900 light years. Messier 3 is visible to the naked eye in certain conditions. Photo credit: Ryan Bruels
Pearl Harbor, Saturday, 28 August, 2004
Pearl Harbor is a complex embayment on the island of O'ahu, Hawai'i, west of Honolulu. Originally an extensive, shallow inlet or bay called Wai Momi, meaning "Water of Pearl", or Pu'uloa, by the Hawaiians, Pearl Harbor was regarded as the home of the shark goddess Ka'ahupahau and her brother Kahi'uka. Pearl Harbor is well known for the attack by Japan in 1941 which brought the United States into World War II.
Osiris, Friday 27 August, 2004
Osiris is an extrasolar planet that orbits the Sun-like star HD 209458 in the constellation Pegasus, some 150 light years from Earth's solar system. HD209458 is a 7th magnitude star, visible on Earth with binoculars. The radius of its orbit is only 7 million kilometers, resulting in a year only 3.5 Earth days long and an estimated surface temperature of about 1000°C. Photo credit: NASA/ESA/CNRS
Mahameru volcano, Thursday 26 August, 2004
The Mahameru volcano on the island Java in Indonesia. A volcano is a geological landform where magma erupts through the surface of the planet. There are numerous volcanoes on the solar system's rocky planets and moons. On earth at least, this phenomenon tends to occur near the boundaries of the continental plates. Photo credit: Jan-Pieter Nap
Space suit, Wednesday 25 August, 2004
David Scott in a space suit. A spacesuit is a complex system of garments, equipment, and environmental systems designed to keep a person alive and comfortable in the harsh environment of outer space. Related preceding technologies include the gas mask used in WWII, the oxygen mask used by pilots of high flying bombers in WWII, the high altitude or vacuum suit required by pilots of the Lockheed U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird, the diving suit, rebreather and scuba diving gear. Photo credit: Jawed Karim
Glacier, Tuesday 24 August, 2004
Perito-Moreno glacier in Patagonia, Argentina. A glacier is a large, long-lasting river of ice that is formed on land and moves in response to gravity. Glacier ice is the largest reservoir of fresh water on Earth, and second only to the oceans as the largest reservoir of total water. Glaciers are found on every continent except Australia. Photo credit: Chmouel Boudjnah
Enigma machine, Monday 23 August, 2004
Exploded view of an Enigma rotor. The Enigma was a small, portable electro-mechanical rotor machine used to encrypt and decrypt secret messages. Key: (1) notched ring; (2) marking dot for "A" contact; (3) alphabet tyre; (4) plate contacts; (5) wire connections; (6) pin contacts; (7) spring-loaded ring adjusting lever; (8) hub; (9) finger wheel; (10) ratchet. Photo credit: Eric Pierce
Highgate Cemetery, Sunday 22 August, 2004
Highgate Cemetery, located in Highgate, London, England, was opened in 1839 as part of an initiative to provide seven large, modern cemeteries in a ring round the outside of London. Highgate was a fashionable place for burials. The Victorian attitude to death and its presentation led to the creation of a wealth of Gothic tombs and buildings. Photo credit: Michael Reeve
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Twilight Wilderness, by Frederic Edwin Church, Saturday 21 August, 2004
Twilight Wilderness, by Frederic Edwin Church. Frederic Edwin Church was a central figure in the Hudson River School of American landscape painters. Church became the pupil of Thomas Cole at eighteen and was elected as a member of the National Academy of Design in 1849.
Stomach, Friday 20 August, 2004
The movement and the flow of chemicals into the stomach are controlled by both the autonomic nervous system and by various digestive system hormones. Gastric acid is the main secretion of the stomach, characterised by H2O, hydrochloric acid and several enzymes (mainly pepsinogen). Gastic acid is produced by the parietal cell (wall cell) of the gastric mucosa. Photo credit: Prisonblues
Bryce Canyon National Park, Thursday 19 August, 2004
Bryce Canyon National Park is a national park located in southwestern Utah in the United States. Contained within the park is Bryce Canyon, a giant natural amphitheater created by erosion along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce Canyon was not formed from erosion initiated from a central stream, meaning it technically is not a canyon. Photo credit: Daniel Mayer
Montreal Metro, Wednesday 18 August, 2004
The Montreal Metro, operated by the Société de transport de Montréal, was inaugurated in 1966. Originally comprising 26 stations on three lines; the metro has now expanded to 65 stations on four lines, serving the centre and east of Montreal Island with a connection to Longueuil and, soon, Laval. Montreal metro lines are identified by colour, by number, and by terminus station. Photo credit: Montrealais
Hot air balloon inflation Hot air balloon, Tuesday 17 August, 2004
Hot air balloons are the oldest successful human flight technology, dating back to the Montgolfier brothers' invention in Annonay, France in 1783. The first manned flight was made in Paris by Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes. Unmanned hot air balloons are mentioned in Chinese history. Chu-ko Kung-ming (諸葛 孔明) in the three kingdoms era used airborne lanterns for military signalling. Photo credit: Randy Oostdyk
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Sound barrier, Monday 16 August, 2004
U.S. F/A-18 Hornet breaking the sound barrier. In aerodynamics, the sound barrier is the apparent physical boundary stopping large objects becoming supersonic. When an aircraft breaks the sound barrier, an unusual cloud sometimes forms. A drop in pressure, in this case due to shock wave formation, causes water droplets to condense and form the cloud. Photo credit: John Gay
Painted Bunting, Sunday, 15 August, 2004
The Painted Bunting (Passerina cirisgenus) belongs to the Passerina group of birds in the Cardinal family Cardinalidae. Not directly related to buntings in the family Emberizidae, they are sometimes known as the North American buntings. They have short tails and short slim legs. They have smaller bills than other Cardinalidae; they mainly eat seeds in winter and insects in summer. Photo credit: U.S. National Park Service
Mickey Mouse, Saturday, 14 August, 2004
A medieval image resembling the cartoon character Mickey Mouse was discovered on November 14 2002 during restoration of a church's outside wall in the town of Malta in Austria. It is part of a 14th century fresco depicting Saint Christopher of the Catholic Church, who is often shown accompanied by fabulous creatures. Photo credit: Unknown 14th century source
City Hall, London, Friday 13 August, 2004
City Hall in London is the headquarters of the Greater London Authority, and stands on the south bank of the River Thames near to Tower Bridge. The building was designed by Sir Norman Foster and opened in July 2002. It has an unusual bulbous shape, intended to reduce the building's surface area and thus improve energy efficiency. City Hall was constructed on a site formerly occupied by wharves serving the Pool of London (a stretch of the River Thames). Photo credit: ChrisO
Santa Cruz Mountains, Thursday 12 August, 2004
Skyline Boulevard runs through the Santa Cruz Mountains, here near Palo Alto, California. The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central California. They form a ridge along the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco, separating the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco Bay and the Santa Clara Valley, and continuing south, bordering Monterey Bay and ending at the Salinas Valley. Photo credit: Jawed Karim
Mackerel sky, Wednesday 11 August, 2004
A mackerel sky is an indicator of moisture and instability at high levels. If the lower atmosphere is stable and no moist air moves in, the weather will most likely remain dry. However, moisture at lower levels combined with temperature instability can lead to spectacular thunderstorms should the rising moist air reach this layer. In weather lore, a mackerel sky portends changeable weather. Photo credit: Denni Windrim
Machu Picchu, Tuesday 10 August, 2004
Machu Picchu is a well preserved Pre-Columbian town located on a high mountain ridge above the Urubamba valley in modern-day Peru. It is thought the city was built by the Inca emperor Pachacuti starting in about 1440 and was inhabited until 1532. The city was re-discovered in 1911 by Hiram Bingham. This World Heritage Site is a popular tourist attraction. Photo credit: Chmouel Boudjnah
Central Arizona Project Aqueduct, Monday 9 August, 2004
The Central Arizona Project Aqueduct is a diversion canal in Arizona in the United States. The aqueduct diverts water from the Colorado River from Lake Havasu City into central and southern Arizona. The Central Arizona Project is a multipurpose water resource development and management project that was designed to provide water to nearly one million acres (4,000 km²) of Indian and non-Indian irrigated agricultural land areas as well as municipal water for several Arizona communities. Photo credit: US Bureau of Reclamation
New Scotland Yard, Sunday 8 August, 2004
New Scotland Yard, located at Broadway in Westminster, is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service who are responsible for policing Greater London. The name derives from its original ___location on a street off Whitehall called Great Scotland Yard. The exact origins of this name are unknown, though a popular explanation is that it was the former site of the residence of the Scottish kings or their ambassadors when staying in England. Photo credit: ChrisO
Thunderstorm, Saturday, 7 August, 2004
A thunderstorm is a form of severe weather involving lightning and thunder. Thunderstorms have had a lasting and powerful influence on mankind. Romans thought them to be battles waged by Jupiter. Thunderstorms were associated with the Thunderbird, held by Native Americans to be a servant of the Great Spirit. Photo credit: John Kerstholt
Fennec Fennec, Friday 6 August, 2004
The fennec is a small fox found in the desert of Northern Africa. The fennec is the smallest canid, only weighing up to 1.5 kg. The fennec is nocturnal and hunts for rodents, insects, lizards, birds and eggs at night. The fennec is rare and is not often seen. It is often hunted by humans, even though the fox does not cause any harm to human interests. Photo credit: Ralf Schmode
London by night London by night, 5 August, 2004
London is the capital of the United Kingdom and of England. The city of Londinium was founded by the Romans on the north bank of the River Thames in around 50 AD. By the 18th century London was the biggest city in the world. It was the most populous city in the world from 1825 until 1925, when it was overtaken by New York City. Photo credit: NASA
Schlern, 4 August, 2004
The Schlern is a 2,563m high mountain of the Dolomites in South Tyrol, Italy. The Dolomites are a section of the Alps in northern Italy. The name Dolomites is derived from the French mineralogist Deodat de Dolomieu who was the first to describe the mineral Dolomite which is responsible for the characteristic shapes of these great limestone mountains. Photo credit: Fantasy
Halong Bay Halong Bay, 3 August, 2004
Halong Bay (Vịnh Hạ) is a body of water in north Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin near the border with China. Its name means "Bay of the Descending Dragon" in Vietnamese. The bay consists of a dense cluster of 1969 limestone monolithic islands, each topped with thick jungle vegetation, which rise spectacularly from the ocean. Photo credit: David Stewart
Royal Doulton Darby and Joan figurines Darby and Joan, Monday August 2, 2004
Royal Doulton Darby and Joan figurines. "Darby and Joan" is a term used to describe a happily married couple. In England, clubs for senior citizens are appropriately called Darby and Joan Clubs. The first mention of John Darby and his wife Joan is believed to be in a poem by Henry Woodfall in 1735. At that time Woodfall was apprentice to Darby, a printer from the town of Bartholemew Close. Photo credit: Paul Darby
Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park, 1 August, 2004
Yellowstone National Park is a United States National Park located in the states of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Yellowstone is the first and oldest national park in the world. The park is famous for its geothermal features and is home to grizzly bears, wolves, bison and elk. Photo credit: Daniel Mayer
National Gallery, Saturday 31 July, 2004
The National Gallery at night, illuminated for an event to promote the launch of a Pepsi commercial. The National Gallery in London is an art gallery designed by William Wilkins. It holds part of the National Collection, particularly Western European art from 1250 to 1900. The collection of 2300 paintings belongs to the British public. Photo credit: Michael Reeve
Weather lore, Friday 30 July, 2004
Weather lore, the informal folklore related to the prediction of the weather, suggests that the cumulus humilis clouds in this sky indicate a good day ahead. Such clouds show there is very little convection in the lower atmosphere, and the fact that it is well-formed indicates light winds at low levels. There is no cloud aloft, and thus no moisture or stable conditions or both. The cumulus congestus on the horizon suggests showers may be possible three or four hours from now, at the earliest, but chances are good it will remain a pleasant day through until the evening. Photo credit: Denni Windrim
Darlingtonia, Thursday 29 July, 2004
Darlingtonia (Darlingtonia californica), also called the California Pitcher plant or Cobra Lily, is a carnivorous plant in the family Sarraceniaceae. Darlingtonia is native to California and Oregon and grows in bogs and seeps. The name Cobra Lily is from the resemblance of the tubular leaf to a rearing Cobra, complete with "fangs". The genus Darlingtonia is monotypic. Photo credit: Daniel Keshet
Icefish, Wednesday 28 July, 2004
Icefish are a type of Antarctic fish belonging to various families, including the Channichthyidae family. They have no haemoglobin and their blood is transparent. They feed on krill, copepods, and other fish. Icefish rely on well-oxygenated water and absorb oxygen directly through the skin as they lack red blood cells. Photo credit: Uwe Kils
Mount Cook Mount Cook, Tuesday 27 July, 2004
Mount Cook, a peak in the Southern Alps is the highest mountain in New Zealand. Mount Cook is also known as Aoraki, meaning "Cloud Piercer" in the Kai Tahu dialect of the Maori language. The mountain is located within the Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park and was formally declared one of the United Nations World Heritage Parks in 1953. Photo credit: User:Dynabee
Tawaret, Monday 26 July, 2004
Tawaret was a popular deity in ancient Egyptian mythology. She was a household deity who protected women during pregnancy and childbirth, in conjunction with another deity, Bes. Tawaret was depicted as an amalgam of human and animal with the head of a hippopotamus,the arms and legs of a lion, the back and tail of a crocodile, and the breasts and stomach of a pregnant woman. Photo credit: ChrisO
Pin tumbler lock, Sunday 25 July, 2004
The pin tumbler lock is a lock mechanism that utilizes a group of pins of varying lengths to prevent opening the lock without the correct key. Pin tumblers are most commonly employed in cylinder locks, but may also be found in tubular or radial locks. When the correct key is inserted, the gaps between the key pins (red) and driver pins (blue) align with the edge of the plug (yellow). Photo credit: Eric Pierce
Four-stroke cycle, Saturday 24 July, 2004
The four-stroke cycle of an internal combustion engine is the cycle most commonly used for automotive and industrial purposes today, including cars, trucks, and generators. The cycle was invented by Nikolaus Otto in 1876, and is also called the Otto cycle. The cycle is characterized by four strokes, or straight movements in a single direction, of the piston. Photo credit: Eric Pierce
Zootomical terms of ___location, Friday 23 July, 2004
Zootomical terms of ___location differ from from the terminology used in human anatomy. In animals, the head end is caled the "cranial end" and the tail end is the "caudal end". The side of the body normally oriented upwards is the "dorsal" side; the opposite side, typically the one closest to the ground when walking on all legs, swimming or flying, is the "ventral" side. Photo credit: Jonathan Merritt
Geisha, Thursday 22 July, 2004
Women dressed as geisha in Kyoto, Japan. They are wearing traditional kimonos and geta. Geisha (芸者) are traditional Japanese artist-entertainers. Geisha were very common in the 18th and 19th centuries, and are still in existence today, although their numbers are dwindling. The geisha tradition evolved from the taikomochi or hōkan, similar to court jesters. Geisha were traditionally trained from young childhood although modern geisha begin their training, which remains extremely long and difficult, at much older age. Photo credit: Michael Reeve
Water Buffalo, Wednesday 21 July, 2004
The Water Buffalo is a very large ungulate. It probably survives in the wild in India, Nepal, Bhutan and Thailand; is very widespread as a domestic animal in Asia, South America. North Africa and Europe; and is feral in northern Australia. Wild-living populations of Water Buffalo also exist in much of South-east Asia but their origin is uncertain: they may be the descendants of wild Water Buffalo, formerly domesticated ferals, or a mixture of both. The population of wild Water Buffalo has become very sparse. Photo credit: Chmouel Boudjnah
Planet Mars, Tuesday 20 July, 2004
Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, is named after the Roman god of war because of its blood red color. Mars has two small, oddly-shaped moons, Phobos and Deimos, named after the sons of the Greek god Ares. At some point in the future Phobos will be broken up by gravitational forces. The atmosphere on Mars is 95% carbon dioxide. In 2003 methane was also discovered in the atmosphere. Since methane is an unstable gas, this indicates that there must be (or have been within the last few hundred years) a source of the gas on the planet. Photo credit: NASA
Bryce Canyon National Park, 19 July, 2004
Bryce Canyon National Park is distinctive due to its unique geological structures, called hoodoos. In winter, most birds in the park migrate, but jays, ravens, nuthatches, eagles, and owls stay. The Mule Deer, Mountain Lion, and coyotes will migrate to lower elevations. Ground squirrels and marmots pass the winter in hibernation. Photo credit: National Park Service
San Francisco Bay Area, Sunday 18 July, 2004
The Skyline Boulevard in the San Francisco Bay Area stretches through the Santa Cruz Mountains, here near Palo Alto, California. Three large cities dominate the San Francisco Bay Area; San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. As well as constituting one of the world's greatest metropolitan areas, the Bay Area includes some exceptional natural coastal and rural landscape. It includes significant national parks such as the Point Reyes National Seashore and a large number of state parks. Photo credit: Jawed Karim
Compound eye of a dragonfly, Saturday 17 July, 2004
A compound eye is a visual organ found in certain arthropods. The compound eye consists of between 12 and 1,000 ommatidia, little dark/bright sensors. The image perceived by the arthropod is "recalculated" from the numerous ommatidia which point in slightly different directions. In contrast to other eye types, there is no central lens or retina. Though the resulting image is poor in resolution, it can detect quick movements and, in some cases, the polarization of light. Dragonflies have about 30,000 facets to their compound eyes, giving them nearly a 360° field of vision. Photo credit: David L. Green
Left section of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel after restoration. Sistine Chapel, Friday 16 July, 2004
The Sistine Chapel is a religious chapel and one of the most famous artistic treasures of the Vatican, built between 1475 and 1483, in the time of Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere. The chapel is known worldwide both for being the hall in which conclaves and other official ceremonies are held, including some papal coronations, and for having been decorated by Michelangelo. The subjects of the pictures were historical religious themes. Michelangelo was employed to paint only 12 figures, the Apostles, but when the work was finished there were more than 3,000. Photo credit: Adrian Pingstone using a artchive.com source
Yellow rattle, Thursday 15 July
Yellow rattle (Rhinanthus minor) is a flowering plant in the family Scrophulariaceae. This family comprises of 220-300 genera and 4000-4500 species. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, with the majority found in temperate areas, including tropical mountains. Other members of the family include Digitalis, Linaria and Verbascum. Yellow rattle is a semi-parasitic plant that gains some of its nutrients from the roots of neighbouring plants. The name refers to the seedpods, which contain loose, rattling seeds when ripe. Photo credit: sannse