A child runs through a bleak village in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Conservationist J. Michael Fay trekked some 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) across central Africa as part of a yearlong survey of the continent's remaining wild places. Fay designed the route of his Megatransect to skirt towns and villages by as wide a margin as possible, but he occasionally passed through one to survey its impact on surrounding wildlife populations.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Megatransect," October 2000, National Geographic magazine)
August 22, 2008
Boreal Forest, Arctic Circle, 2002
Photograph by Peter Essick
Water and sky form a blue canvas for boreal forest in the Arctic Circle. Circling the globe, the boreal forest—its name derived from Boreas, the Greek god of the north wind—comprises one-third of Earth's wooded lands. The forest begins where the temperate woods of oak and maple disappear and continues north, often past the Arctic Circle. With long, cold winters and short, cool summers, the boreal woods have far less biodiversity than tropical forests.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Boreal: The Great Northern Forest," June 2002, National Geographic magazine)
August 23, 2008
Researchers, Anavilhanas Reserve, Brazil, 1982
Photograph by James P. Blair
Researchers from the National Institute for Amazonian Studies (INPA) use nets to collect specimens of pacu, a fish that eats fruits and nuts, on the Rio Negro in Amazonas state, Brazil. INPA scientists, financed by the World Wildlife Fund, monitor flora and fauna on plots of untouched rain forest in large areas where the trees have been cut and burned to establish cattle reserves.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Nature's Dwindling Treasures," January 1983, National Geographic magazine)
August 24, 2008
Orchid, Gurukula, India, 2002
Photograph by Frans Lanting
A pink orchid blooms in the dense rain forests of India's Western Ghats mountain range. Once linked by land, the Western Ghats and the island nation of Sri Lanka together make up a biodiversity hotspot—a place with threatened natural habitats that are rich in species, especially plants, that live nowhere else.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "India's Western Ghats," January 2002, National Geographic magazine)
August 25, 2008
Carmine Bee-Eaters, Chad, 2007
Photograph by Michael Nichols
Colorful carmine bee-eaters set up a breeding colony in holes they dug in a dried-up, sandy riverbed in Zakouma National Park, Chad. During the day, bee-eaters catch honeybees and other insects, sometimes displaying them outside their holes to attract mates. At sunset the colony gathers and embarks on a mysterious, swirling flight. By nightfall the birds are back in their holes.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Zakouma: Eye to Eye," March 2007, National Geographic magazine)
August 26, 2008
Aztec Rain God, Mexico City, Mexico, 2003
Photograph by Macduff Everton
An Aztec brazier in the Templo Mayor Museum in Mexico City depicts Tlaloc, the god of rain. Like many Aztec deities, Tlaloc was both benevolent and wrathful, sending rain to nourish crops but also unleashing drought and hurricanes and demanding appeasement in the form of sacrificed children.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Under the Mexican Sun," November/December 2003, National Geographic Traveler magazine)
August 27, 2008
French Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2000
Photograph by Bob Sacha
Shot in infrared, New Orleans' French Quarter seems bathed in blue early one morning. The oldest neighborhood in the city, the quarter is a national historic landmark and a popular tourist destination.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Spirits of New Orleans," October 2000, National Geographic Traveler magazine)
August 28, 2008
Cape Point at Twilight, South Africa, 2002
Photograph by David Doubilet
Clouds streak the twilight sky above South Africa's Cape Point. South Africa's coastline stretches some 1,550 miles (2,500 kilometers) along the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Oceans of Plenty: South Africa’s Teeming Seas," August 2002, National Geographic magazine)
August 29, 2008
Custom Car, Near San Diego, California, 1981
Photograph by Bruce Dale
A woman in a custom-made classic car replica motors along a stretch of highway near San Diego. Car-crazy California boasts more than 15,000 miles (24,140 kilometers) of state highways, including some of the country's most scenic routes.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "America's Auto Mania," February 1981, National Geographic magazine)
August 30, 2008
Temple Ruins, Near Marib, Yemen, 1979
Photograph by Steve Raymer
Pillars of a Sabaean moon-god temple jut from the desert near Marib, Yemen, offering clues to a powerful kingdom that may have been ruled by the legendary Queen of Sheba, mentioned in both the Koran and the Bible.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "North Yemen," August 1979, National Geographic magazine)
August 31, 2008
Luther-Translated Bible, Eisenach, Germany, 1983
Photograph by James L. Amos
A copy of the Bible translated from Greek to German by religious reformer Martin Luther in 1521 lies open to the New Testament in a dimly lit room in Wartburg Castle in Eisenach, Germany. Luther lived incognito at the castle for nearly a year after he was declared an outlaw by the Roman emperor for refusing to recant his Reformation writings.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "The World of Luther," October 1983, National Geographic magazine)