His painting El valle de México is considered Velasco’s masterpiece, of which he created seven different renditions. José María Velasco Gómez New to me and hard to find good images of his work but I like them. More art
Bruno Liljefors, Falcon and Mallards, A peregrine among thousands, Yard Eagle
If you’re in the Kansas City area, be sure to check out “Survival of the Fittest” on view now at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art! Comprised of masterworks from the National Museum of Wildlife Art and the Rijksmuseum Twenthe, this is the final stop of this touring exhibition before the works return home! Bruno …
The Colossal Squid
The colossal squid was first described in 1925 based on specimens from the stomach of a commercially hunted sperm whale. A century later, an international voyage captured the first confirmed video of this species in its natural habitat—a 30-centimeter juvenile, at a depth of 600 meters near the South Sandwich Islands. The colossal squid is …
Stunning Sunset Shots on the Moon, Firefly
Firefly’s Blue Ghost landed on the moon on March 2, the first private spacecraft to touch down upright and perform its entire mission. It kept taking pictures and collecting science data five hours into the lunar night before it died for lack of solar energy. Blue Ghost lander captures stunning sunset shots on the moon before falling silent Nothing …
Dogs’ noses decoded: Optical sensor unveils canine brain’s olfactory prowess
A pioneering study investigating the brain activity of dogs during scent detection has unveiled crucial insights into their remarkable olfactory capabilities. Researchers at Bar-Ilan University have developed an optical sensor capable of remote sensing dogs’ brain activity in three key regions—the olfactory bulb, hippocampus, and amygdala—that play a critical role in how dogs distinguish between …
Detectorists
However, we wouldn’t know about any of this if it hadn’t been for the decision of metal detectorist Peter Heads to resist unearthing the hoard himself. On making the discovery in December 2021, Heads immediately contacted archaeologists at Durham University, setting in motion a textbook example of proper archaeological practice. This allowed crucial contextual information …
Great Maps
Hungarian Robert Szucs (Grasshopper Geography) maps the veins of the Earth! By highlighting the water streams that cascade our planet, it reveals maps of the blood system… This mapographer had set out to map all the watersheds of the world, in other words, the territories drained by a single river, its tributaries and rivers. …
Doggerland
Furthermore, until now there has been considerable uncertainty about the total rise between 11,000 and 3,000 years ago. Estimates varied between 32 and 55 meters. The new study has eliminated that uncertainty and it shows that the total rise was about 38 meters. Sea level rise after the last ice age revealed by new …
New Book Reviewer at Gray’s
I saw the April 2025 Gray’s Sporting Journal, last night. It was Steve’s old book review gig some 30+ years ago. Teresa Mull does it now. I was surprised that Camuto did it for 30 years. Fifty years. It is an honor and privilege to say I’ve spent the past 30 years here at Gray’s …
Botany of Empire book
Modes of reproduction in the plant kingdom are not binary, she explains, but far more diverse. She makes a compelling case that plants do not have sex. And she observes that the xenophobic anxieties surrounding immigration and invasive species make for a telling parallel. Sounds like it might have interesting observations. Since Botany of Empire is …