寒星物语

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/colosseum-night-mazzatenta.html

Cars Passing the Colosseum, Rome, Italy, 1981
Photograph by O. Louis Mazzatenta

Nearly 2,000 years ago, the Colosseum was built to host gladiator duels, battle reenactments, and other public spectacles. Now, the 50,000-seat stone-and-concrete amphitheater serves Rome in another capacity: as a traffic circle.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, “Down the Ancient Appian Way,” June 1981, National Geographic magazine)

译文:

罗马圆形大剧场前的车流,罗马,意大利,1981
摄影:O. Louis Mazzatenta

约2000年前，为了举行角斗、战争剧，以及其它公开演出，罗马圆形大剧场建成了。现在，这个5000座的石头混凝土建筑以另一种方式为罗马服务：充当交通环岛。

(照片来源于《沿着亚壁古道》(1981年6月,国家地理杂志)未发表部分)

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/sudanese-women-olson.html

Women Carrying Firewood, Sudan, 2003
Photograph by Randy Olson

Women carry bundles of firewood on their heads in the Sudanese desert. In rural African cultures, the responsibility of foraging for firewood usually falls to the women. In Sudan’s brutally dry desert, where little vegetation grows, it can take several hours each day to collect enough wood to cook with.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, “Shattered Sudan: Drilling for Oil, Hoping for Peace,” February 2003, National Geographic magazine)

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顶木柴的女人们,苏丹,2003
摄影:Randy Olson

苏丹的沙漠里，女人们用头顶着成捆的木柴。在非洲农业文明中，寻找木柴的职责往往落到女人们的身上。在苏丹仅能生长小型植被的野酷沙漠中，搜集足够做饭的木头需要花费几个小时甚至一天的时间。

(照片来源于《破碎的苏丹：钻探石油，期盼和平》(2003年2月,国家地理杂志)未发表部分)

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/cumulus-clouds-sky.html

Cloudy Sky, Location Unknown, 2004
Photograph by Peter Essick

Piles of cotton-like cumulus clouds fill the sky on a clear day. Mid-level cumulus clouds form between 6,500 feet (2,000 meters) and about 20,000 feet (6,000 meters). They form when humid air cools enough for water vapor to condense into droplets or ice crystals. A single cloud can hold billions of pounds of water, but may not always produce rain.

Earth Day, celebrated annually on April 22, marks the anniversary of the 1970 birth of the environmental movement. Scientists warn that rising temperatures worldwide could fuel extreme weather-just one of many damaging effects of global warming.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, “Signs From Earth: Heating Up, Melting Down,” September 2004, National Geographic magazine)

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多云的天空,地点不详,2004
摄影:Peter Essick

一个晴天，成堆像棉花一样的积云塞满了天空。高积云形成于6500英尺（2000米）至2000英尺（6000米）的高度。当湿润的空气冷却到其中的水汽足够凝结成水滴或者冰晶，便形成了高积云。一片独立的云含有数十亿磅的水，而非总是形成降水。

每年的4月22日是世界地球日，是为了纪念1970年4月22日环保运动诞生而设立。科学家们警告说，全世界范围的气温升高，会加剧极端天气的发生–这只是全球变暖造成的众多破坏后果之一。

(照片来源于《来自土地的征兆：加热，熔化》(2004年9月,国家地理杂志)未发表部分)

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/wild-mustangs-south-dakota.html

Wild Mustangs, South Dakota, 2004
Photograph by Maggie Steber

In the wind-tossed plains of Lantry, South Dakota, two wild mustangs playfully kick and cavort. Descended from Spanish horses brought in by Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century, mustangs represent a tenuous link to America’s frontier past. Researchers estimate the U.S. was once home to more than two million mustangs; today there are fewer than 50,000.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Indian Scenes From a Renaissance," September 2004, National Geographic magazine)

译文:

野马,南达科塔,2004
摄影:Maggie Steber

微风轻拂过南达科塔Lantry的草原，两匹野马在玩笑式地踢打、腾跃。继承自16世纪西班牙征服者带来的西班牙马，野马与美国西部开拓史有着某种细微联系。研究者估计，美国曾经分布着超过两百万匹野马；如今只剩下不到五万匹。

(照片来源于《重现印第安场景》(2004年9月,国家地理杂志)未发表部分)

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/underwater-scene-fiji.html

Fiji Islands, 2004
Photograph by Tim Laman

In the waters of the Fiji Islands, an emperor shrimp and a commensal crab nearly vanish in the calico pattern of a large leopard sea cucumber. The sea cucumber provides food for the crustaceans in the form of mucus on its skin and defends itself by ejecting its toxic stomach when danger threatens.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Fiji’s Rainbow Reefs," November 2004, National Geographic magazine)

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斐济群岛,2004
摄影:Tim Laman

在斐济群岛的海洋里，一只帝王虾和一只共生蟹隐匿在一条大豹纹海参（译注）的斑点纹样中，几乎无法查觉。海参把皮肤上的粘液提供给这些甲壳类生物当作食物，当受到威胁时还会射出有毒的胃进行自卫。

(文字改编和照片来源于《斐济的五彩暗礁》(2004年11月,国家地理杂志)未发表部分)

译注：从照片上看这条应该是蛇目白尼参（Bohadschia argus Jaeger），而非豹斑海参（Holothuria pardalis Selenka）

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/lava-flow-hawaii.html

Molten Lava Flow, Hawaii, 2004
Photograph by Frans Lanting

A flow of glowing lava issues from Mount Kilauea in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Hawaii has some of the youngest land on Earth, remade daily by these rivers of molten rock.

"Kilauea molds the land, belching lava and fumes, hissing, roaring, always transforming," says photographer Frans Lanting. "The view I photographed that day doesn’t exist anymore."

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Red Hot Hawaii: Volcanoes National Park," October 2004, National Geographic magazine)

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熔化的岩浆,夏威夷,2004
摄影:Frans Lanting

在夏威夷火山国家公园里，一股炽热的熔岩从启劳亚(Kilauea)火山中流出。每天在夏威夷，这些岩浆岩都会形成一些地球上最年轻的陆地。

“启劳亚铸造了这里的陆地，时而喷出岩浆和浓烟，时而嘶嘶作响，时而咆哮怒吼，无时无刻不在变化之中。”摄影师Frans Lanting说，“那天我所拍到的景象已不复存在。”

(照片来源于《红热夏威夷：火山国家公园》(2004年10月,国家地理杂志)未发表部分)

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/hammerhead-shark-bahamas.html

Hammerhead Shark, Bahamas, 2007
Photograph by Brian Skerry

Primordial in appearance, great hammerheads, like this one near the Bahamas, are actually among evolution’s most advanced sharks. Wide-set eyes and nostrils provide keen peripheral senses, and tiny electroreceptors on its snout help it pinpoint prey. Dozens of serrated teeth do the rest.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Blue Waters of the Bahamas: An Eden for Sharks," March 2007, National Geographic magazine)

译文:

锤头鲨(双髻鲨),巴哈马,2007
摄影:Brian Skerry

如同在巴哈马附近看到的这条，这些看似原始的巨大锤头，其实是进化得最高级的鲨鱼之一。高度分离双眼和一对鼻孔使它具有 敏锐的外部感知能力，吻上微小的电感受器又能帮助它精确捕食。剩下的工作就可以交给它那数不清的锯状利齿了。

(文字改编和照片来源于《巴哈马的蓝色海洋：一个鲨鱼的伊甸园》(2007年3月,国家地理杂志)未发表部分)

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/glacier-wrangell-alaska.html

Glacier, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska, 2002
Photograph by Frans Lanting

A crumpled ice field forms at the confluence of two massive glaciers in Alaska’s Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. These glacial rivers snake together among the park’s mountains and form ice complexes that cover hundreds—sometimes thousands—of square miles.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Alaska’s Giant of Ice and Stone," March 2003, National Geographic magazine)

译文:

冰川,兰格尔-圣伊莱亚斯(Wrangell-St. Elias)国家公园,阿拉斯加,2002
摄影:Frans Lanting

在阿拉斯加兰格尔-圣伊莱亚斯国家公园里，两条大型冰川的交汇处形成了一片摺皱冰原。这些冰河在公园里的山脉间蜿蜒，使成百甚至上千平方英里的区域为坚冰所覆盖。

(文字改编和照片来源于《阿拉斯加的巨大冰石》(2003年3月,国家地理杂志)未发表部分)

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/stick-mantid-cameroon.html

Stick Mantid, Cameroon, 2006
Photograph by Mark Moffett

Most of the roughly 1,800 species of mantids—often called praying mantises—spend their time sitting and waiting, seemingly at prayer. These highly skilled hunters and masters of disguise have fascinated humans for thousands of years; the ancient Greeks first used the term mantis, meaning "prophet."

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Mantids: Armed and Dangerous," January 2006, National Geographic magazine)

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静止的螳螂,喀麦隆,2006
摄影:Mark Moffett

大约1800种螳螂中的大多数——通常称之为合掌螳螂——把它们的时间花在坐等上，看起来就像在祈祷。这些高度熟练的猎手兼伪装大师已经使人类着迷了几千年；古希腊最早使用“螳螂”这个词来表示“先知”。

(文字改编和照片来源于《螳螂：武装与危险》(2006年1月,国家地理杂志)未发表部分)