Nature: Portrait of John Muir as a Young Man

John Muir (1838-1914) was America's most famous and influential naturalist and conservationist, and founder of the Sierra Club. The John Muir Exhibit features his life and contributions.
Visit the John Muir Exhibit.

Nature: A universe in one cubic

How much life can you find in one cubic foot?

That's a hunk of ecosystem small enough to fit in your lap. To answer the question, photographer David Liittschwager took a green metal frame, a 12-inch cube, to disparate environments -- land and water, tropical and temperate. At each locale he set down the cube and started watching, counting, and photographing with the help of his assistant and many biologists.

The goal: to represent the creatures that lived in or moved through that space.

The team then sorted through their habitat cubes, coaxing out every inhabitant, down to a size of about a millimeter. Accomplishing that took an average of three weeks at each site. In all, more than a thousand individual organisms were photographed, their diversity represented in this gallery.

"It was like finding little gems," Liittschwager says.

Passion: Heads in the Clouds

At The Cloud Appreciation Society, they love clouds, and they’re not embarrassed to admit it. Read their manifesto and see how they're fighting the banality of "blue-sky thinking." For a minimal postage and administration fee, you can join the society and receive your very own official membership certificate and badge.

ZenCam (something happens...or not): Old Faithful Geyser - Live!

"This full-motion, live-streaming webcam is located near Old Faithful Geyser and brings online visitors views of several other geysers in the area. When geysers such as Beehive, Lion, or Giantess are erupting, the camera will be aimed at them and zoomed in for optimal viewing enjoyment. When bison, elk, coyotes, or the occasional bear wander into the camera’s view, live video images will be transmitted." -- from the website.
<http://www.nps.gov

Nature: Battle at Kruger

Here is an endlessly watchable confrontation between buffaloes, lions and a crocodile. Guess who wins?