“The mind is sharper and keener in seclusion and uninterrupted solitude. No big laboratory is needed in which to think. Originality thrives in seclusion free of outside influences beating upon us to cripple the creative mind. Be alone, that is the secret of invention; be alone, that is when ideas are born. That is why many of the earthly miracles have had their genesis in humble surroundings.”
thirteen year old ashol pan is part of a nascent movement of girls who are keeping alive the six thousand year old kazakh tradition of golden eagle hunting known as berkutchy.
though long the monopoly of boys — once deemed uniquely strong enough to carry a full grown eagle on their arms and endure harsh winter hunts — fewer are now learning the skill, abandoning their traditional semi nomadic ways for life in the cities.
berkutchy is a life long profession, and is often a hereditary one. but ashol’s brother left for the military, leaving her father, an experienced eagle hunter, to ask if she would take his place and assume training.
asher svidensky — who took these photos during a four month trek in the mountains of western mongolia’s bayan ulgii (or “rich cradle”) province, where only 250 hunters remain —told the bbc that where most boys are at first apprehensive around their eagles, ashol was very much at ease.
ashol, though still in school, will spend much of her time nurturing her eagle, imprinting herself on the fiercely independent bird from birth. after much time and training, her eagle — who is considered a member of the family — will learn to track down rabbits, foxes and wolves, whose furs are needed for the harsh winters.
A major X5.7 solar flare produced this arcade resembling a popular slinky toy, on 14 July 2000, in Active Region 9077 (AR9077). The enormous loops are actually
magnetic field lines which trap the glowing, cooling plasma above the
relatively dark solar surface.The event also blasted an enormous cloud of energetic charged particles
toward planet Earth, triggering magnetic storms and dramatic auroral
displays. The false-color image covers an expansive 230,000 by 170,000
kilometer area on the Sun’s surface (Earth’s diameter is about 12,800
kilometers) and was recorded in extreme ultraviolet light.
NASA’s Transition Region And Coronal Explorer, known as TRACE, observed the event in three colors: the red image shows the ultraviolet
continuum, generally characteristic of cool, dense gas; the blue image
shows the 171 Å pass band, characteristic of material around 1 million
degrees; the green channel – 195 Å, shows material hotter than about 1.5 million
degrees up to approximately 10 million degrees.
