Photo: Roberto Navarro/Unsplash
Using observations submitted to the popular eBird app, scientists discovered that 66 out of the 82 bird species that they examined changed their behavior during the “anthropause”—a scientific term coined to describe last spring’s abrupt global slowdown in human activity linked to pandemic shutdowns. The event provided a unique opportunity for researchers to learn how wildlife behaves without interference from humans. So far, researchers report that it wasn’t a cut-and-dry win for all animals, but there’s certainly positive news from a conservation perspective. In a matter of weeks, warblers and sparrows increased their use of human-altered habitats. That’s especially good news because these two groups account for nearly half of the bird decline since 1970. Anything we learn about making more habitat more hospitable for them is a win.
Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keeffe, 1932, Gift of Georgia O’Keeffe, Metropolitan Museum of Art, through the generosity of The Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation and Jennifer and Joseph Duke
Georgia O’Keeffe preferred a very cramped studio space: a Model A Ford. To shield herself from the harsh sun present in the desert landscapes she painted, she would take out the driver’s seat and reverse the passenger seat so that it faced the back. Then, she would place the canvas on the back seat and paint from the passenger seat.
A fig is not a fruit, but rather a ball of inverted flowers and seeds that bloom inside its pear-shaped pod. How are the flowers pollinated? Thank miniscule fig wasps.
Paul Cézanne, The Gulf of Marseilles Seen from L’Estaque, 1885, Metropolitan Museum of Art, H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer
Cezanne’s Ports by American poet Allen Ginsberg
In the foreground we see time and life
swept in a race
toward the left hand side of the picture
where shore meets shore.
But that meeting place
isn’t represented;
it doesn’t occur on the canvas.
For the other side of the bay
is Heaven and Eternity,
with a bleak white haze over its mountains.
And the immense water of L’Estaque is a go-between
for minute rowboats.
Photo: Baron Reznik/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Snow is a good insulator, slowing the flow of heat from the warm ground to the cold air above. That’s why so many animals burrow deep into the snow during winter to hibernate. It’s also the reason that igloos, which use only body heat to warm them, can be 100% warmer inside than outside.
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