Books · Science · Nature

John F. Kennedy on Humanity's Origin in the Sea and Salt in the Blood

“I really don't know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it's because the sea changes, and the light changes, and the ships change, it's because we all came from the sea. And it is

Landscape: view from a rocky ledge with a pine over a green plain with a winding river, beneath a pale pink sky filling most of the canvas.

NB! · Art · Nature

Arkhip Kuindzhi’s painting “North”, created in 1879

The North. Arkhip Kuindzhi, 1879

Observations · Society · Paris · Nature · Humour

Even the Paris City Hall Is Now Asking: Girls, Please Stop Behaving Like This

On the fence of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, as at other historic monuments, there are posters with the plea "Stop the rats!" and an explanation: waste left on the ground attracts rodents. On the whole, it is just like private life: the more waste you leave behind, the

NB! · Art · Nature

Natalia Goncharova, "Autumn

Natalia Goncharova, "Autumn. Park", 1909

Art · Books · Nature

A 1899 poem by Konstantin Balmont on the coming of autumn

The cowberries are ripening, The days have turned colder, And the cry of the birds Only saddens the heart. Flocks of birds are flying Away, beyond the blue sea. All the trees are glittering In their many-coloured attire. The sun laughs more rarely, The flowers have no fragrance. Soon

Geography · Science · Nature

Mercury's tail consists of surface particles ejected by micrometeorites

Professor of Planetary Science Paul Byrne explains that what we see in this photograph by the astrophotographer Sebastian Voltmer is not a comet but Mercury. The reason it has a tail is that micrometeorites bombard the planet's surface and throw tiny fragments of it out into space. These

NB! · Moscow · Observations · Nature

Autumn Has Come to Moscow

Close-up of the Moon with coloured surface tones and craters, with Saturn and its rings visible above the limb against the dark sky.

NB! · Geography · Science · Nature

Andrew McCarty photographed Saturn being occulted by the Moon from a Hawaiian volcano

Saturn emerging from behind the Moon. The American astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy climbed to the summit of a volcano in Hawaii to photograph Saturn being briefly covered by the Moon. The Mauna Kea Observatory, where the picture was taken, stands on the volcano at an altitude of between 3,700 and

NB! · Nature · Humour

We Are All That Bird, Sometimes

Books · Observations · Nature

If bellua is some very large beast, then bestia is any dumb, unreasoning animal, fera a wild beast, and pecus, ǒris any animals kept by humans

Such is Latin

Globe of the Earth on a black background, almost entirely covered by the dark blue water of the Pacific Ocean, with New Zealand at lower left.

NB! · Geography · Observations · Nature

The Earth seen from the Pacific Ocean, with almost no land in view

Our planet from a rare angle. Few people know it, but this is how the Earth looks from the side of the Pacific Ocean

The East · Geography · Maps · Nature

Topographic map of Asia shows why Tibet is called the Roof of the World

A topographical map of Asia. A graphic answer to the question of why Tibet is called the Roof of the World: the average height of its territory is 4,000 m above sea level, and it is the largest mountain system by area. A mountain system on the continent. The