Observations · Science · Nature

Sebastian Voltmer's 1 December image and questions about the anti-tail and plasma tail of 3I/ATLAS

Sebastian Voltmer has published a stunning image of the "comet" 3I/ATLAS taken on 1 December. Well-informed viewers are asking how to explain the green anti-tail, which moves against the solar wind, and the opposite blue tail, which moves with it. I, for my part, simply

Faith · Art · Museums · Observations

Self-Portrait and John the Baptist in Ghirlandaio’s “Adoration of the Magi” in Florence

I have not been to Florence for some five years, but I remember distinctly the impression made by Domenico Ghirlandaio's Adoration of the Magi of around 1488 in the Foundling Hospital. The painter modestly included a self-portrait in the scene: the figure on the left in red

NB! · Books · People

A Good Poet, Alexander Volovik

Archaeology · Science · Humour

Underwater work on the galleon San José off Cartagena yields a cannon, cups and coins

A galleon filled to the brim with gold has been found in the Caribbean, yet the scientists somehow report that all they have managed to raise from the treasure ship is a piece of rope, some broken cups, three coins and a cannon. Curious, is it not? In the Caribbean

NB! · Archive

Newborn, photograph by Yury Abramochkin

Cinema · Society

Estonia considers banning cinema screenings of films dubbed into Russian

The Estonian Government is considering amendments to language legislation that could ban cinemas from screening films dubbed into Russian. The aim of the initiative is to encourage audiences to watch films in the original language. The bill still has to pass its second and third readings in parliament. If adopted,

Museums · Society · Paris

The Louvre to raise ticket prices for visitors from outside the EU from 14 January

The Louvre will raise ticket prices for most visitors from outside the EU. Tourists from the USA, the United Kingdom and China, for example, will have to pay €32. The increase will come into effect on 14 January. This step is expected to increase annual revenue by €15–20 million.

Three wood-framed drawings hang on a white wall, each showing an empty room with a door and window: yellow, green and pink walls, grey-brown floors.

NB!

Three framed drawings of empty rooms with coloured walls on a gallery wall

Art · Moscow · Observations · Reportage · Humour

The Oberton graphic art fair takes place in a former turntable depot behind Leningradsky Station

Buy! Buy! Buy! I have come to a new contemporary art fair, yes, yet another in this year of squandered budgets. It is called Obertone, and it is devoted exclusively to graphic art. It is held in an industrial zone behind Leningradsky Station. The taxi driver was most curious as

NB! · Cinema · Observations

Hard to say whether 2025 did Brienne of Tarth any good or not?

NB! · Archive · Art · Books · People

Tolkien's own illustrations for "Letters from Father Christmas", the series of letters he wrote to his children every year

Art · People

Mikhail Nesterov's "Tsarevna": a masterly embodiment of the Russian winter and a lament for a beloved wife

Mikhail Nesterov's "Tsarevna" is a masterly embodiment of the Russian winter and a lament for a beloved wife. Nesterov painted this picture in memory of his late wife, giving his heroine the eyes and the expression of the woman he loved. That is why the tsarevna

Alexandr Radayev