Architecture · Observations · Nature · Humour

In Salisbury a youth organisation built an insect house shaped like the cathedral

Salisbury has another outstanding sight besides its spire: an insect house in the shape of Salisbury Cathedral. The beetle hotel is a very important ecological initiative by a local youth organisation. Thanks to such structures, thousands of insects gain a safe place where they can lay their eggs and pass

Watercolour of black rooks walking across snow before a snowy field and bare trees, with the artist's signature below.

Art · Nature

A reminder to feed birds in winter and a watercolour by Irish artist Mildred Anne Butler

A reminder. Feed the birds in winter. The Irish artist Mildred Anne Butler

Observations · Science · Nature

An interesting letter about Knorozov's cat has arrived from Artem K., shedding some light on the history of the Thai and Siamese breeds

I remember a cat my uncle had. We took it for a Siamese, but I now realise that the clever, affectionate and sociable creature was in fact a Thai. Well, now you know too

Art · Nature

The Mandrill

Oskar Kokoschka, 1926

NB! · Palaeontology · Nature

The moa: giant dinornithiform birds, up to 3.6 metres tall and 250 kg

The moa: giant dinornithiform birds, up to 3.6 metres tall and 250 kg. Entirely wingless. All that remained of their wings was a tiny little digit. They lived in New Zealand. They were wiped out completely in only 100 to 200 years by the tribes who settled the islands

Geography · Science · Nature

Bar-tailed godwit flew 13,560 km across the Pacific in 11 days without stopping

This small migratory bird, no more than 40 centimetres long, holds the record for the longest non-stop flight. The figure is phenomenal: 13,560 km. A five-month-old bar-tailed godwit chick flew over the Pacific Ocean for 11 days without stopping, travelling at a speed of about

NB! · Art · People · Nature

The Exquisite Clouds of the German Artist Otto Modersohn, 1892

NB! · Geography · Nature · Ethnography

A dog of one of the most ancient breeds, the Kazakh sighthound, the tazy, basks on a slope of the Turgen Gorge at an altitude of 2,750 metres

An old olive tree with a thick trunk whose bark shows the outline of a pensive face, on a grassy hill under a cloudy sky.

NB! · Observations · Nature

A 1,500-year-old olive tree in Apulia, known as the Thinking Tree

The celebrated 1,500-year-old olive tree in Apulia is known simply as the Thinking Tree. One glance at that imposing, pensive profile is enough to see why

NB! · Nature

Dutch Tulip Fields

Books · London · Monarchies · Mores · Nature · Ethnography

The Royal Bees at Clarence House and Buckingham Palace Were Informed of the Death of Queen Elizabeth II, Their Former Mistress, and That Their New Master Is King Charles III

I wrote in my book about the tradition of telling the bees important family news and notifying them of deaths. The English have long shared their joys and sorrows with their bees, and at moments of family bereavement the hives, too, are dressed in mourning. If the little bee houses