Wikipedia:Picture of the day/October 2015

The

The Chamberlin trimetric projection is a map projection where three points are fixed on the globe and the points on the sphere are mapped onto a plane by triangulation. It was developed in 1946 by Wellman Chamberlin for the National Geographic Society. It is neither conformal nor equal-area, but rather attempts to minimize distortion of distances everywhere with the side-effect of balancing between areal equivalence and conformality.

Map: Strebe, using Geocart

The

The M-209 is a portable, mechanical cipher machine used primarily by the US military in World War II, though it remained in active use through the Korean War. In this photograph, an intermediate gear unit (center) meshes with gears adjoining each key wheel. Visible to the left of the image is the typewheel that prints out messages and ciphertext onto paper tape.

Photograph: Rama

Guildhall is a building in the City of London, off Gresham and Basinghall Streets, that has been used as a town hall for several hundred years. It remains the ceremonial and administrative centre of the City of London and its Corporation. This photograph shows the interior of its main room, a medieval great hall dating back to 1411.

Photograph: David Iliff

Calocoris affinis is a species of bug of the family Miridae that can be found everywhere in Europe except for Switzerland and Greece. It feeds on Urtica dioica juices, Heracleum sphondylium nectar, and Centaurea jacea nectar. This specimen is shown on a field scabious.

Photograph: Darius Baužys

Relief: Bernhard Hoetger; Photograph: Andrew Shiva

The

A panel from

A captive Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) showing white plumage. Wild specimens usually appear soiled, with a rusty or brown shade to the white plumage, derived from mud or iron-rich soil.

Photograph: Carlos Delgado

"The superficial layer of the facial muscles and the neighboring muscles of the neck seen from the side and slightly from in front."
This illustration was published in the 1909 edition of Johannes Sobotta's Sobotta's Atlas and Text-book of Human Anatomy.

Illustrations: K. Hajek and A. Schmitson; Restoration:

The

An aerial photograph of Six Flags New Orleans taken two weeks after Hurricane Katrina struck the city. The theme park is located in a low-lying artificial basin, and as such remained flooded with 4 to 7 feet (1.2 to 2.1 m) of brackish water for more than a month. The corrosive water damaged most of the rides past the point of salvageability, and Six Flags terminated their 75-year lease over the property. Though there have been several plans to redevelop the site, Six Flags New Orleans today remains abandoned.

Photograph: Bob McMillan/FEMA; edit: Chris Woodrich

The

A flock of James's flamingos (Phoenicoparrus jamesi) during a mating ritual, in which it is not unusual for the entire colony to participate. Males put on a show by vocalizing, sticking their necks and heads straight up in the air, and turning their heads back and forth. A female can then walk away from the group, which is an invitation for a male to follow. The ritual is completed by her spreading her wings and the male mounting her.

Photograph: Pedros Szekely

An interior view of the chapel at Exeter College, Oxford. Designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and constructed between 1854 and 1860, it was heavily inspired by the Sainte-Chapelle chapel in Paris.

Photograph: David Iliff

An

The

The reading room at the

A cordwainer making shoes in Capri, Italy. Cordwainers are shoemakers who make shoes from new leather. They are distinct from cobblers, who repair shoes or make shoes out of old leather.

Photograph: Jorge Royan

A 1934-series

The

Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette is an undated oil painting on canvas completed by Vincent van Gogh. It is held in the Van Gogh Museum of Amsterdam.

Painting: Vincent van Gogh