【国家地理】每日一图：08年7月21-31日（图） - 珍珠湾ART

Photos and Captions are all from Photo of the Day of National Geophysic website at http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day

July 21, 2008

Wells, Zakouma National Park, Chad, 2007

Photograph by Michael Nichols

Like petals on a flower, wells fan out from a central point in Chad’s Zakouma National Park. The wells hold water from the life-giving heavy rains that start every year in May, ending months of drought in central Africa.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Zakouma: Eye to Eye," March 2007, National Geographic magazine)

July 22, 2008

Durian Fruit, Borneo, Indonesia, 1997

Photograph by Tim Laman

A wild durian fruit from the rain forests of Borneo is cut open, its vivid red flesh exposed. Wild durian has a spiny green exterior, emits an infamous rotting stench, and is mainly eaten by birds.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Borneo’s Strangler Fig Trees," April 1997, National Geographic magazine)

July 23, 2008

Thracian Tomb, Tarnovo, Bulgaria, 2006

Photograph by Kenneth Garrett

At the ancient cult complex of Mishkova Niva, a monumental wall of white marble, mined locally in the mountains of southeastern Bulgaria, circles the ruins of a Thracian tomb from the second or third century B.C.

Possibly as early as the second millennium B.C. a sanctuary took shape here, perhaps for the worship of a heroic tribal king. The site continued as a sacred place for centuries. It may have lost that status about the sixth century A.D., when Slavic invasions began to obliterate Thracian culture.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Bulgaria's Gold Rush," December 2006, National Geographic magazine)

July 24, 2008

Virtual Surgery, NASA Ames Research Center, California, 2001

Photograph by Cary Wolinsky

A student at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, practices virtual surgery on a three-dimensional image of a rat. NASA hopes that one day such tools will help coach space travelers through medical procedures on fellow astronauts.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Surviving in Space," January 2001, National Geographic magazine)

July 25, 2008

Tiny Snails, Cuatro Cienegas, Mexico, 1995

A cluster of tiny aquatic snails sits in a freshwater pool, called a poza, in Mexico’s Cuatro Cienegas Biosphere Reserve. This isolated region, a spring-fed wetland in the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert, has given rise to some of the most uniquely adapted flora and fauna on Earth.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Cuatro Cienegas: Mexico's Desert Aquarium," October 1995, National Geographic magazine)

July 26, 2008

The Needles, Black Hills, South Dakota

Photograph by Bobby Model

Rock climbers descend the spire of Tricouni Nail in the Needles of South Dakota’s Black Hills. Popular with tourists and climbers, the Needles is full of eroded granite pillars, towers, and spires.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Secret Worlds of the Black Hills," October 2004, National Geographic Adventure magazine)

July 27, 2008

Blood Indians, Alberta, Canada, 1986

Photograph by Sam Abell

Chieftains of the Kainai, or Blood, Indian tribe wear elaborate headdresses during a ceremony in Alberta, Canada. The Blood are one of three tribes that make up the Blackfoot, a confederacy of Algonquian-speaking peoples.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "C.M. Russell, Cowboy Artist," January 1986, National Geographic magazine)

July 28, 2008

Lodgepole Pines, Yellowstone, Montana, 1989

Photograph by Jonathan Blair

A stand of lodgepole pine trees in Montana’s Yellowstone Park are backlit by the glow of the 1988 North Fork Fire, which charred nearly 800,000 acres (324,000 hectares) of the park. Such fires are actually good news for lodgepoles, whose pine cones need extreme heat to release their seeds.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Extinctions," June 1989, National Geographic magazine)

July 29, 2008

Manta Ray, Mexico, 2007

Photograph by Brian J. Skerry

A leaping manta ray (Manta birostris) seems to fly above the Gulf of California off the coast of Mexico. Mantas, easily recognizable by their pectoral "wings," stay near the ocean's surface, unlike other rays. They leap—up to seven feet (two meters) high—then return to the surface with a resounding slap.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Still Waters: The Global Fish Crisis," April 2007, National Geographic magazine)

July 30, 2008

Bloodstained Shroud of Turin, New Mexico, 1980

Photograph by Victor R. Boswell, Jr.

This computer-enhanced image, created in New Mexico’s Los Alamos National Scientific Laboratory, shows bloodstained areas on the Shroud of Turin. This relic’s fame comes from the imprint of a life-size, bearded man on the linen cloth. The shroud also contains traces of blood and marks consistent with scourging and crucifixion. While some believe this cloth covered Jesus at the time of his burial, the shroud’s origins and authenticity remain a source of controversy.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "The Mystery of the Shroud," June 1980, National Geographic magazine)

July 31, 2008

Mountains and Climber, Tibet, China, 2004

Photograph by Jimmy Chin

A climber looks over the peaks of the Kunlun Mountains in Tibet's Chang Tang Reserve. This forbidding range in the Northern Tibetan Plateau is buffeted year-round by strong winds, bitter cold, and scant precipitation, suitable habitat for only the hardiest of plants and animals.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in the National Geographic book The Big Open: On Foot Across Tibet's Chang Tang)