Thread of Bizzare/Oddities

[slikrapid]

rather than worrying about the UV rays and global warming...

i'd agree with a few corrections: UV rays are healthy (vitamin d) & there is no global warming (its a hoax), so no worries there

We have no time to stand and stare?—

now to steer the stare into:

'You cannot travel the path until you have become the path itself' - Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha

[Resurrection]

Hey slik,

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not."

is what I believe in...

Its the state of being...and the state of mind...


================================================== ===
Then again beauty lies in the eye of the beholder....

Spoiler Very long quote:

Blood Falls, Antarctica

In Victoria Land (a region directly south of New Zealand), a murderous hue of what looks like blood stains the white face of the 35-mile-long Taylor Glacier. Blood Falls, as this macabre vision is called, is not in fact a frozen cascade of hemoglobin. The scarlet tint derives from a community of sulfur-eating bacteria that dwell deep beneath the glacier in underground lakes—their crimson iron-oxide excretions dye the ice. But death does lurk in the vicinity: so arid are the McMurdo Dry Valleys that when lost seals and penguins wander irreversibly inland, they never decompose. Their mummified remains are strewn about, completing the ghoulish picture.



PAMUKKALE - TURKEY

The strange and weirdly beautiful terraced pools of Pamukkale have been appreciated for over two millennia and yet still remain a little known wonder of the world. Thousands of years ago earthquakes, which are common in Turkey, created fractures that allowed powerful hot springs to bring water rich in calcium carbonate to the surface. As the water evaporated the chalky material condensed and formed layer-upon-layer of Travertine and thus slowly built up the walls over time in the same way that a stalactite forms in a cave. Apparently Pammakale means Castle of Cotton but the Greco-Romans built a town above it called Heirapolis – meaning “Holy City” or “Sacred City”. They too recognised it as a rare and important place attributing healing powers to the milky-white waters.



MOERAKI - NEW ZEALAND

These large, spherical, alien and strangely beautiful boulders are mainly located on Koekohe Beach, part of the Otago coast of New Zealand’s South Island. Known as “Moeraki Boulders” they were originally formed on the sea floor from sedimentary deposits that accreted around a core in the same way that a pearl will form around a particle of sand. The erosion of the cliffs often reveals these boulders from the surrounding mudstone allowing them to join those already on the beach. Some of the larger boulders weigh several tonnes and can be up to three metres wide.

Maori legend attributes their origin to the arrival of the first ancestors / giants who came in the great Araiteuru canoe which was sunk by three great waves at nearby Matakaea.



NINE HELLS OF BEPPU - JAPAN

Beppu, located on the Japanese island of Kyūshū, is the second largest producer of geothermal water in the world. Located in the same area are the “Nine Hells” or ponds that each has its own remarkable character and colour thanks to the variety of minerals in the outflows. These “Hells” are a popular tourist attraction in Japan but are little known outside of the country. Seven of the strange geothermal springs are located in the Kannawa area and are known as: Sea or Ocean Hell (Umi Jigoku), Shaven Head Hell (Oniishibozu Jigoku), Cooking Pot Hell (Kamado Jigoku), Mountain Hell (Yama Jigoku), Devil or Monster Mountain Hell (Oniyama Jigoku,) Golden Dragon Hell (Kinryu Jigoku) and White Pond Hell (Shiraike Jigoku). Sadly, as with many incredible natural wonders, the area surrounding it has become over commercialised and “tacky”




RACETRACK PLAYA - USA

Located in one of the flattest places on the face of this planet are the strange and unexplained Sailing Stones of Racetrack Playa - Death Valley - California - USA. Once a year the "Playa" or flat desert pan experiences short winter rains and becomes slippery as the hexagonal desert floor turns back to mud. During this time the boulders and rocks move leaving clearly visible tracks behind them. Although scientists believe that high winds are responsible, some of the rocks will suddenly change directions and move at almost perfect right angles to their previous direction. All the evidence suggests that this is not a hoax although it is also said that the movement of these rocks has never been captured on film or video. In this technological age we wonder why long-term time lapse photography hasn't been used?



SUQATRA ISLAND - YEMEN

This enchanting and little known island also known as Socotra is located off the coast of Yemen in the Middle East. Isolated from the rest of the world its plants have evolved into many bizarre shapes and forms that are unknown in other parts of the world. One of the most famous of these is the Dragon's Blood Tree the sap of which is used to make crystals that can be used as a dye or as an alleged aphrodisiac. The plant depicted on the right is the strange Desert Rose (Adenium obesium) but sometimes more popularly called the Elephants Leg Tree. The Island is slowly becoming known to the world and has great potential for eco-tourism as long as the visitors don't do more damage than good. Other species include the Cucumber Tree and the Socotran Fig. Suqatra was listed as a World Heritage Site in 2008.

It has been described as one of the most alien-looking place on Earth



EYE OF AFRICA - MAURITANIA

From space this mysterious depression in the Sahara Desert of Mauritania really does look like a human eye. The image to the left is the "pupil" but a visit to Google Earth zoomed out a little will reveal the cliffs that make up the rest of the eye. This natural phenomenon is actually a richat structure caused by the dome shaped symmetrical uplifting of underlying geology now made visible by millennia of erosion. Please note that this explanation is not wholly accepted by the scientific community. There still remain academics that believe it is the sight of a meteor impact and yet others still that believe it resembles the formations caused by underground nuclear blasts.Currently no country in the world has a weapon even close to this destructive yield.



SANQINGSHAN - CHINA

Sanqingshan is a relatively small National Park near the city of Shangrao in the Jiangxi province of China. What it lacks in size it makes up for in shear natural beauty. It is officially the 7th World Heritage Site designated in China and has been noted for its exceptional scenic attraction. The key mystique of this remarkable place is the combination of extraordinary granite geology in the form of weird outcrops and pillars combined with seasonal climate variations than often cause mists, fogs and striking sunsets. Those that have visited this place describe a feeling of overwhelming peace and tranquility. This effect is enhanced by the profusion of natural waterfalls, pools and springs. If you allow yourself, it is truly possible to see Earth, Water, Wind and Fire joined in time.





The Door to Hell - TURKMENISTAN

Located in the Kara-Kum desert of Turkmenistan is the village of Darvaza (Derweze) near to where, in 1971, a team of Soviet prospectors allegedly drilled into a large chamber filled with natural gas. The roof of the cavern collapsed leaving a crater-like sinkhole some 25 metres deep with a diameter of approximately 60 - 70 metres. It soon became evident that natural gas was still rising into the crater from even deeper sources and the story goes that the decision was made to ignite the emissions rather than risk either a concentrated build-up of gas or local poisoning. According to various sources it has burned continuously since then and has apparently been named “The Gate to Hell” by the local people. However, another source that spoke with the guides from the region claims that it is a wholly natural phenomenon.




GREAT BLUE HOLE OF BELIZE

Found on both land and in the ocean throughout the Bahamas and the national waters of Belize are deep circular cavities known as Blue Holes which are often the entrances to cave networks, some of them up to 14 kilometres in length. Divers have reported a vast number of aquatic creatures some of which are still new to science. In addition, they’ve recorded chambers filled with stalactites and stalagmites which only form in dry caves. For the explorers this was proof that at one time, nearly 65,000 years ago, when the world was in the grip of the last major ice age, the sea level of the Bahamas was up to 150 metres lower than it is today. Over time the limestone of the islands was eroded by water and vast cave networks created. When sea levels rose again about 10,000 years ago some of these collapsed inwards and the Blue Holes were formed




The Great Sand Dune - Pyla

Since Europe has no deserts, you’d think the title of “Europe’s largest sand dune” would go to something that wasn’t particularly impressive. But you’d be wrong. The Great Dune of Pyla is 3km long, 500m wide and 100m high, and for reasons I will probably never understand, it seems to have formed in a forest. The dune is very steep on the side facing the forest and is famous for being a paragliding site. At the top it also provides spectacular views out to sea and over the forest (since the dune is far higher than any of the trees surrounding it).



Green Sand Beach - Hawaii

The Hawaiian islands are a hotbed of geological activity and curious phenomena. This remote Green Sand Beach (or Puu Mahana to the locals) on the island of Hawaii (aka Big Island) is rarely explored by visitors so you'll probably have it all to yourself.

The striking colour is caused by olivine crystals that come from the lava flow from the volcano Mauna Loa.



The Devil's Bath - New Zealand.

The Devil's Bath is one of the most striking sights in the Wai-O-Tapu thermal springs area of New Zealand.

This sulphuric pool is part of a large area that heaves and bubbles with geothermal activity. Wai-O-Tapu is just a few minutes's drive from the town of Rotorua but be warned: the Devil's Bath smells even worse than it looks.



Wave Rock - Western Australia

Four hours' drive east of Perth, Western Australia, you'll find the aptly-named Wave Rock, a does-what-it-says-on-the-tin piece of incredible natural sculpture.

It stands 15 metres high and 100 metres long and its curious shape is the result of hundreds of millions of years' worth of weathering and erosion. The effect is completed by striped lines, created when water caused minerals to dissolve and leak colour down the "wave

[Resurrection]

The 9 Most Mind-blowing Disguises in the Animal Kingdom | Cracked.com

Beautiful disguises in our fantastic Mother Nature

Check out the best of them all...

[slikrapid]

i'd say the narrator conclusions are quite far fetched, the assumption is that this octopus mimics other species for different purposes (the question is how would it know which species to mimic and whether the attacker is even familiar with the mimicked species), but it seems more plausible that it just uses the usual animal protection techniques (appearing taller/bigger, changing color, hiding, retreating), as opposed to exaggerating its abilities into the unrealistic

[PartyOfOne]

The volcanic rock pictures don't actually seem impossible. It makes sense that there would be a specific line between rocks and ocean.

[Resurrection]

Did you know!!

• The Amazon rainforest produces more than 20% of the world's oxygen supply. The Amazon River pushes so much water into the Atlantic Ocean that, more than one hundred miles at sea off the mouth of the river, one can dip fresh water out of the ocean. The volume of water in the Amazon river is greater than the next eight largest rivers in the world combined and three times the flow of all rivers in the United States.
  
• Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country.
  Ninety percent of the world's ice covers Antarctica.
  This ice also represents seventy percent of all the fresh water in the world.
  As strange as it sounds, however, Antarctica is essentially a desert;
  the average yearly total precipitation is about two inches.
  Although covered with ice (all but 0.4% of it, ice.),
  Antarctica is the driest place on the planet,
  with an absolute humidity lower than the Gobi desert.
  
• Brazil got its name from the nut, not the other way around.
  
• Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined. Canada is an Indian word meaning 'Big Village'.
  
• Damascus, Syria, was flourishing a couple of thousand years
  before Rome was founded in 753 BC,
  making it the oldest continuously inhabited city in existence.
  
• Istanbul, Turkey, is the only city in the world
  located on two continents.
  
• Los Angeles' full name is:
  El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula
  -- and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size: L.A.
  
• The term 'The Big Apple' was coined by touring jazz musicians of the 1930s
  who used the slang expression 'apple' for any town or city.Therefore, to play New York City is to play the big time - The Big Apple.
  There are more Irish in New York City than in Dublin, Ireland;more Italians in New York City than in Rome, Italy;and more Jews in New York City than in Tel Aviv, Israel.
  
• There are no natural lakes in the state of Ohio, every one is manmade.
  
• The smallest island with country status is Pitcairn
  in Polynesia, at just 1.75 sq. miles/4,53 sq. km.
  
• The first city to reach a population of 1 million people was Rome, Italy in 133 B.C.
  There is a city called Rome on every continent.
  
• The actual smallest sovereign entity in the world is the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (S.M.O.M).It is located in the city of Rome, Italy,has an area of two tennis courts and, as of 2001, has a population of 80 -- 20 less people than the Vatican.
  It is a sovereign entity under international law,just as the Vatican is.
  
• In the Sahara Desert, there is a town named Tidikelt, Algeria,which did not receive a drop of rain for ten years.Technically though, the driest place on Earth is in the valleys of the Antarctic near Ross Island.There has been no rainfall there for two million years.
  
• Spain literally means 'the land of rabbits'.
  
• Chances that a road is unpaved:
  in the U.S.A. = 1%;
  in Canada = 75%
  
• The deepest hole ever drilled by man is the Kola Superdeep Borehole, in Russia.
  It reached a depth of 12,261 meters(about 40,226 feet or 7.62 miles).It was drilled for scientific research and gave up some unexpected discoveries,one of which was a huge deposit of hydrogen- so massive that the mud coming from the hole
  was boiling with it.
  
• The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every five must be straight.These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.
  

[Extraterrestrial]

A battle between a pride of lions, a herd of buffalo, and 2 crocodiles and the winner is....?

[Resurrection]

Great video that...

Was famous many months ago I remember coz of the incredible number of rare sightings occurring together

[Resurrection]

Spoiler what it is ::

It's a ferrofluid.

Ferrofluids are colloidal mixtures - where one substance is microscopically dispersed evenly throughout a carrier fluid - containing magnetic nanoparticles. When placed in a magnetic field, the suspended particles cause the entire fluid to become strongly magnetised.

In this image a small drop of ferrofluid is placed within a magnetic field created by a neodymium iron-boron rare-earth magnet. The peaks and troughs result as the magnet tries to pull the liquid along its field lines.

Ferrofluids are being used in experimental cancer treatments called magnetic hyperthermia, and are the basis for a new breed of shape-shifting telescope lenses.

[Resurrection]

If you’re over 18, you’ve lived through two years whose dates are palindromes: 1991 and 2002. That’s a rare privilege. Since 1001, the normal gap between palindromic years has been 110 years (e.g., 1661-1771). The 11-year gap 1991-2002 has been the only exception, and we’ll wait a millennium for the next such gap, 2992-3003. Until then we’re back to 110-year intervals, and most people will see only one palindrome in a lifetime.

---------- Post added 19.11.10 at 05:20 ---------- Previous post was 18.11.10 at 12:48 ----------

Exciting Links for Boring Days

[Resurrection]

Eh...i hate this continuous posting but this was too good...



Jem Melts Rock Using Sunshine

[slikrapid]

you’ve lived through two years whose dates are palindromes: 1991 and 2002. That’s a rare privilege.

firstly one would have to show how it can be called a privilege, ie. what advantage/benefit does it provide

Until then we’re back to 110-year intervals, and most people will see only one palindrome in a lifetime.

only when taking years as the sole source of palindromes, yet they appear all the time in other places/sources

Jem Melts Rock Using Sunshine

actually, a similar effect (concerning the temperature range, energy range, concentration of power) happens all around the world, in ordinary light bulbs no less, whose filament temperatures would also be able to melt stone/rocks as well as steel

[anon]

firstly one would have to show how it can be called a privilege, ie. what advantage/benefit does it provide

None other than saying "I already existed by then".

[Resurrection]

Frozen Bubbles



This image was taken in winter time in a arid area of the Canadian Rockies. Temperatures where below -30 degrees Celsius yet because there was no snow fall the surface of the lake was uncovered allowing me to see and capture the bubbles (gas release from lake bed) that were trapped in the frozen waters.

Frozen Bubbles - Traveler Photo Contest 2011 - National Geographic