20080719
July 19, 2008
Collared Kingfisher, Khulna Province, Bangladesh, 2006
Photograph by Tim Laman
A collared kingfisher preens in the Sundarbans mangrove forest of Bangladesh. A vast breakwater on the Bay of Bengal, the Sundarbans covers nearly 4,000 square miles (10,000 square kilometers) of Bangladesh and India, making it the largest mangrove wetland on Earth. Worldwide, these coastal forests thwart wave-driven erosion and capture riverborne sediments as they meet the sea, building new land.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Forests of the Tide," February 2007, National Geographic magazine)

20080720
July 20, 2008
Opium Smoke, Doi Sam Mun, Thailand, 1985
Photograph by Steve Raymer
A woman smoking opium on Chinese New Year fills her small, sunlit home in Thailand's Doi Sam Mun village with a bluish haze. Thailand was once a significant producer of opium and heroin, but government eradications efforts begun in the 1980s have significantly curtailed poppy cultivation.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "The Poppy," February 1985, National Geographic magazine)

20080721
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)

20080722
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)

20080723
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)

20080724
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)

20080725
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)

20080726
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)

20080727
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)

20080728
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)

20080729
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)

20080730
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)

20080731
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)

20080801
August 01, 2008
Photograph by Flip Nicklin
The serene blues and greens of a coral reef blend in with waters off Australia. Corals live in tropical waters throughout the world, generally close to the surface where the sun's rays can reach the algae. While corals get most of their nutrients from the byproducts of the algae's photosynthesis, they also have barbed, venomous tentacles they can stick out, usually at night, to grab zooplankton and even small fish.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Pursuing the Minke," April 2001, National Geographic magazine)

20080802
August 02, 2008
Sailboats, Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota, 1975
Photograph by David Boyer
Sailboats jockey for position in a boat race on Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota, a state that owes much of its buoyant outdoor spirit to its rivers and 15, 291 lakes. For a lake to be counted, it has to cover at least ten acres (four hectares) and flow with fresh water. No ponds or potholes, please.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Minnesota, Where Water Is the Magic Word," February 1976, National Geographic magazine)