Bing wallpaper for mobile

Hottest Latest
The old guard at Old San Juan
The old guard at Old San Juan
This photo offers an uncommon view of Castillo San Felipe del Morro on the coast of Old San Juan in Puerto Rico—it’s often shown in the bright Caribbean sunlight. In September 2017, Puerto Rico was devastated by the landfall of Hurricane Maria, which wreaked havoc on the landscape, people, and livelihoods of this US territory. While Puerto Rico continues to repair, rebuild, and return to normal two years after the landfall of Maria, other parts of the Caribbean have been damaged by subsequent storms. Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas particularly hard. That island nation sits northwest of Puerto Rico, and much closer to Florida.Desktop Version
Summer huts in winter
Summer huts in winter
We"re getting chilly just looking at these snow-covered beach huts in England—and that cyclist slogging through the white stuff. But in the summer, these huts in Brighton and Hove (neighboring towns that share a local government) are in major demand. You can"t stay in them overnight, but they give you a place to change your clothes and stash your belongings, which makes a day at the beach less messy and generally more pleasant. The seaside resort area is also known for attractions like Brighton Palace Pier, which offers amusement park rides and fast food, and the i360 tower, which takes visitors 450 feet up for a 360-degree view across Brighton, the South Downs, and English Channel.Desktop Version
Thomas Edison s bright idea
Thomas Edison s bright idea
On January 27, 1880, Thomas Edison received a patent for an electric lamp using "a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected to platina contact wires." This wasn"t exactly the first light bulb, but it was the first practical and inexpensive one, a key technological innovation that introduced a new era. To mark the day, we"re looking at the bright lights of New York City and its surrounding area, as seen from the International Space Station.Desktop Version
Bay Marker Lookout, Sydney Olympic Park, Australia
Bay Marker Lookout, Sydney Olympic Park, Australia
It"s an easy, circular trail to the Bay Marker Lookout, but you have to make it under your own steam—sorry, no cars allowed. This is one of the five Sydney Olympic Park Markers, cone-shaped earth mounds installed for the 2000 Olympics in Australia. They are cleverly placed to look from the air like the Australian flag"s Southern Cross. From the ground, the Bay Marker gives a stunning full-360-degree view of Wentworth Common—a large grassy park—and the larger Olympic Park and stadium. You can also look over Homebush Bay (the community and the body of water) to the north. It"s a dramatic melding of urban landscape, the city skyline, the wetlands and greenery, rivers, and beaches.Desktop Version
Total solar eclipse
Total solar eclipse
Put on your solar glasses and turn your eyes skyward. Today, you can witness a rare celestial event—a total solar eclipse! As the moon perfectly aligns between the Earth and the sun, daylight will shift eerily to twilight. The total solar eclipse will be visible across North America, from Mazatlán, Mexico, to eastern Canada"s Newfoundland Island, for up to four and a half minutes between 10:57 AM PST and 4:47 PM ADT. It will be the first total solar eclipse visible in the continental United States since August 21, 2017, although one occurs somewhere on Earth approximately every 18 months. Astronomers study the sun"s corona, which is the outermost part of its atmosphere, its magnetic fields, and the behavior of Earth"s atmosphere during the eclipse. Keep an eye on the time today and find a good spot to put on eclipse-safe solar glasses and see the golden ring emerge.Desktop Version
Summer winds down in the Southern Hemisphere
Summer winds down in the Southern Hemisphere
As we in the Northern Hemisphere prepare to greet spring, many in Australia are probably looking forward to the end of a punishing summer. Relatively temperate autumn weather must come as a relief to our friends Down Under. Some are likely greeting the change in seasons with a trip to the pool, like the swimmers in today"s image of the Bronte Baths, an ocean pool located in a Sydney suburb. While seaside swimming pools aren"t unique to Australia, this island country is known for its many oceanside pools, which provide sheltered spots for swimming in places where rocky shorelines and occasional shark attacks can make ocean swimming difficult or dangerous.Desktop Version
An endless journey
An endless journey
In May the rainy season in the southern Serengeti ends, and herds of zebras numbering in the hundreds of thousands begin to migrate north across the plains from Tanzania up to the Maasai Mara region of Kenya. The herd in our photo today shows a small portion of the 250,000 zebras that will spend the next couple of months or so on the northern leg of their year-long loop across the plains. Joining the zebras will be 1.5 million blue wildebeest that follow the same migratory route. Not every zebra will survive the 500-mile journey. By July the surviving herd will arrive in Kenya’s Maasai Mara, only to leave in November and return to Tanzania.Desktop Version
Here s looking at you
Here s looking at you
This bright-eyed burrowing owl is emerging from its burrow just in time to enjoy the sunset here in Northern California. And yes, you read that right—it’s a burrowing owl. Unlike most owls, burrowing owls nest and roost underground, often in tunnels abandoned by ground squirrels or prairie dogs. It"s one of many traits that make the pint-sized species unique among owls. Burrowing owls live in grasslands, deserts, or other open dry areas with low vegetation. When threatened, they retreat to their burrows and are known to frighten off predators by mimicking the rattling and hissing sounds of a rattlesnake. And while most other owls sleep during the daytime, burrowing owls are often active in the daylight hours. It"s as if they didn"t finish proper owl training.Desktop Version
What the hay?
What the hay?
Is it harvest time where you live? Perhaps growing up you spent this season bucking hay with your family. If you’re not familiar with the practice, it involves stacking hay bales that weigh up to 150 pounds–-often throwing them up onto higher levels. These days, farmers use sophisticated machinery to handle many aspects of hay production. The round, uniform bales of hay shown here in the fields of Tuscany were likely produced by a baler machine. And the round shape, while not as easy to maneuver as the rectangular style, is more resistant to moisture, which can damage a crop. Happy harvest!Desktop Version
Happy New Year! (Again!)
Happy New Year! (Again!)
For the first day of the Chinese New Year, we’re showing the southern fortification of the Xi"an City Wall as it was decorated and lit up for last year"s lunar new year party. The south gate was rebuilt in 2014 and is often used to stage the fireworks show that rings in the Chinese New Year, which falls between late January and early February. Why a different new year celebration date? It comes down to the sun versus the moon: While the widely used Gregorian calendar is based on the Earth"s rotation around the sun, the lunar calendar is marked by the phases of the moon. So, the Gregorian new year always falls on January 1, while the lunar new year date moves around from year to year. Either way, we"re excited to have another excuse to throw a party.Desktop Version
Trunks stick together
Trunks stick together
In honor of Cousins Day, we"re looking at a pair of African elephants who seem to have nothing but love for each other. Elephants are matriarchal, meaning they live in female-led groups. The matriarch—usually the biggest and oldest female—leads an extended family group that includes aunts, sisters, and their young, so a given herd is likely to be full of cousins.Desktop Version
Behold the mighty Aldeyjarfoss
Behold the mighty Aldeyjarfoss
In waterfall-dense Iceland, it says something that Aldeyjarfoss is considered one of the most beautiful sights in the country. Fed by Iceland"s largest ice cap, the 65-foot fall is flanked by distinctive hexagon-shaped basalt columns seemingly carved by some Norse god.Desktop Version
On the lookout for Sheep-Cote Clod
On the lookout for Sheep-Cote Clod
You"re looking at one of the oldest breeds of sheep in the world. Icelandic sheep are descended from short-tailed sheep brought to the island from Norway in the 9th and 10th centuries with the first waves of settlers. These sheep, with their dual-layer woolly coats, thrive in this harsh environment, outnumbering people in Iceland by more than 2-to-1. But on December 12, Icelandic sheep, especially the ewes, will have to contend with something more fearsome than the wind chill factor. Sheep-Cote Clod, the first of the 13 Yule Lads, is due to visit. Who"s that and what"s he up to? Take our quiz to find out.Desktop Version
The last thing seen by Wile E. Coyote
The last thing seen by Wile E. Coyote
We"d say, "Don"t look down," but that"d kind of be missing the point: Verticality is what put Toroweap Overlook on the map. Situated on the Grand Canyon"s elevated North Rim, it offers an unmatched view down a sheer 3,000-foot drop straight to the Colorado riverbed.Desktop Version
Provence blooms with lavender at Sénanque Abbey
Provence blooms with lavender at Sénanque Abbey
Lavender season is in full swing in Provence, and tourists are flocking to destinations like Sénanque Abbey to see the sweet-smelling spectacle of fields painted purple. The monks here at Sénanque cultivate lavender for their livelihood and these days the herb is in demand mostly for its essential oil, which lends a soothing scent to cosmetics, cleaning products, and even food. Lavender ice cream, lemonade, and cakes are popping up on menus around the globe.Desktop Version
Heron lies the Salton Sea
Heron lies the Salton Sea
Migratory bird species are predictable frequent fliers, taking to the sky to travel along roughly the same route, at the same time, every year. Following sources of food and water along the way, the birds often fly great distances to reach breeding grounds or places to spend the winter. Today, we"re looking at an important stopover for migratory birds—California"s largest lake, the Salton Sea.Desktop Version
Celebrating all things Austen
Celebrating all things Austen
Bath, in southwestern England, was the first home Jane Austen knew away from her tiny village when she moved here at about age 25. Though the author only lived in Bath from 1801 to 1806 and did little writing here, no doubt this spa city on the River Avon gave her inspiration. After all, Bath was a popular resort at the time for Britain"s upper crust—the posh, mannered society types whom Austen satirized so wittily in novels like "Pride and Prejudice."Desktop Version
The scene of a literary crime
The scene of a literary crime
Remarkable enough in itself, this 800-foot mountain waterfall is also the site of one of fiction"s most enduring showdowns between good and evil. Just outside Meiringen, Switzerland, the Reichenbach Falls are the backdrop for "The Final Problem"—the 1893 Sherlock Holmes story where, on a precipice near the falls (which in the 19th century gushed with far more power than our recent image shows), the genius detective enters a death duel with the criminal Professor Moriarty. In the end, both men plummet to their presumed doom.Desktop Version
Loud waters
Loud waters
Roaring Fork may seem like a misnomer for this mountain stream in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. During dry spells, it"s a gentle brook. But Roaring Fork descends 2,500 feet over just 2 miles—a steep drop down Mount Le Conte. When heavy rains swell the stream, Roaring Fork transforms into a whitewater rush, with the sound of the surging water echoing off the sandstone walls of the mountain.Desktop Version
Islands that turned the tide
Islands that turned the tide
Pictured here are Eastern Island and Spit Island, the two smallest of the three islands in the Midway Atoll, located about 3,200 miles west of San Francisco and 2,500 miles east of Tokyo. The atoll was formed as a shield volcano roughly 28 million years ago. Over the millennia, the volcanic island subsided under the sea but the coral reef encircling it has maintained itself and protected the atoll"s three, low-lying islands (Sand Island, not shown in our photo, is the third).Desktop Version
Why’s it called a spelling ‘bee,’ anyhow?
Why’s it called a spelling ‘bee,’ anyhow?
You might recognize our homepage friend from the logo of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, an annual US competition since 1925. Why’s it called a spelling bee? Because another meaning of ‘bee’ is any kind of gathering or meeting for collective work or competition, like a quilting bee or, yes, a spelling bee. The Scripps National Spelling Bee is being held this week in National Harbor, Maryland, and savvy spellers from grade schools and middle schools around the world will compete for top honors.Desktop Version
It’s World Migratory Bird Day
It’s World Migratory Bird Day
Every traveler needs a place to rest from time to time. In the case of the snow goose, that place needs to be very large. Snow geese travel in flocks of hundreds, sometimes thousands, as they travel north to their springtime breeding grounds in the Arctic tundra. They stop along the way to rest and forage, relying on places like Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge in New York, where our homepage image was photographed. World Migratory Bird Day, recognized on May 12, highlights the need to protect habitat for winged travelers like these.Desktop Version
Village of Labro, Italy
Village of Labro, Italy
Join us for a journey to a tiny Italian village about 40 miles northeast of Rome. Labro, which covers about 4.4 square miles, was founded sometime between the 9th and 10th centuries and was assigned to a powerful aristocratic family by Emperor Otto the Great. Perched atop a wooded hill, the Nobili-Vitelleschi castle originally served to secure the border and control communication routes in the valley below.Desktop Version
Light show in the forest
Light show in the forest
You might be crashing the biggest party in Japan"s least populous region. Each summer, fireflies turn this forest in rural Tottori prefecture into their own glitzy nightclub. There"s no telling which fireflies are the males in this shot, but be assured they"ll spend mating season trying to flicker their way into the females" hearts.Desktop Version
Happy 50th for the National Trails System!
Happy 50th for the National Trails System!
Next time somebody tells you ‘take a hike,’ you tell ‘em you did, and it was for a good cause. Today is National Trails Day, and we’re on the South Kaibab Trail in Grand Canyon National Park. The National Trails System in the US turns 50 this year. Want to pay your respects to a trail you love? Take a hike and do your best to leave it better than you found it—pack out any trash you may find or join a trail improvement project—the point is to get out there and give back some of the love you get from hiking trails.Desktop Version