Arif Iqbal

Pink Floyd’s “Astronomy Domine” sounds less like a song and more like a journey on the wings of Voyager into the dark depths of space. Released in 1967, the track is basically Earth looking up at the sky and saying, “I have absolutely no idea what’s going on up there, but wow.” The song drives right into the chaos in space. Just radiation, vacuum, and rocks hurting around like they forgot their purpose. Syd Barrett doesn’t explain the universe; he chants it, reminding us how these giants are...

Picture an unbroken verdant belt coming from the Alborz Mountains and running down to the Caspian Sea. It is a place full of images of moss-covered old beech trees with whispers of streams and trees that anciently hibernate. It is the Hyrcanian Forest - an ancient and one of the most broadleaf temperate forests that exists as a true natural treasure. Why it’s called “Hyrcanian” The name comes from Hyrcania, an ancient region south of the Caspian Sea known to classical geographers. The...