Alex came across some beautiful images of Aurora Borealis (northern lights). They are called aurora australis In the southern hemisphere.

I thought it might be interesting to throw in some of the appearances of the aurora in mythology that I found at wikipedia.

In Bulfinch’s Mythology, Thomas Bulfinch claimed in 1855 that in Norse mythology:

The Valkyrior are warlike virgins, mounted upon horses and armed with helmets and spears. /…/ When they ride forth on their errand, their armour sheds a strange flickering light, which flashes up over the northern skies, making what men call the “aurora borealis”, or “Northern Lights”.

Pretty stunning stuff. Must be incredible to see it live.

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For some of us, mountains are the best places for a vacation, but for others is a way of living. I’m talking about climbers that take their chances to make it “on top of the world”, conquering some of the highest mountains out there. But some are not only after heights, they’re after the most dangerous mountains. They need adrenaline, even if they have to pay with their lives and that’s why we decided to make up a list with the deadliest mountains in the world.

Image: Wikipedia

In the Northern Areas of Pakistan, Baintha Brakk or commonly known as The Ogre Mountain, definitely deserves to be mentioned here. Rises above the north side of the Biafo Glacier, one of the major glaciers of the central Karakoram, and with an elevation of 7,285m (23,901 ft) Baintha Brakk is a dangerous combination of altitude, height above local terrain, and steepness. That’s the reason why the first ascent from 1977 was only followed 24 years later, in 2001.

Image: Wikipedia

Annapurna is a 55-km long massif in Himalaya with six major peaks over 7,200 m and the 10 highest peak in the world. In Sanskrit it means “full of food”, but locals call it the Goddess of the Harvests, however there’s another reason why Anapurna is famous. Since the first ascend in 1950, it’s been climbed by 130 people out which 53 died trying. Fatality rate is close to 40% making it the most statistically dangerous mountain in the world.

Image: Wikipedia

Remember Patagonia and the stunning Los Glaciares National Park? Located close to the amazing El Chaiten close to the Argentinta - Chile border, Monte Fitz Roy - also known as Cerro Chaltén or Cerro Fitz Roy, it’s guarded on all sides by steep rock faces that make it extremely difficult from a technical point of view. Because of unpredictable weather and the relative isolation, Monte Fitz Roy has been considered the most dangerous mountain in the world for decades.

Image: Se7en Summits

Though fully covered in snow, Antarctica has mountains. And one of them, Mount Vinson, has made it to the list with the most endangered mountains in the world. Though not very high, less difficult and with a lower fatality rate than the other mountains, Vinson is an isolated place with extreme temperatures and unpredictable weather. Accidents, no matter how small, are not an option and could lead to disasters.

Image: Wikipedia

Located in Northern Pakistan and part of the Karakoram segment in the Himalayan range, K2 is the second highest mountain in the world also known as the Savage Mountain. That’s because of its ascent difficulty. One out of four people die trying to “conquer” K2 making it one of the most dangerous in the world, all these because of steep, exposed, and committing nature of all routes, because of the extreme high altitude that lacks in oxygen and the fact that it’s renowned for extreme storms that last for days.

Image : judepics

Kangchenjunga, the third highest mountain peaks after Mt. Everest and K2, it translates as The Five Treasures of Snows. Because technology evolved and we now have access to better gear, fatality rates are expeCted to go down, but not on Kangchenjunga. In the recent years, 22 people out of 100 trying to win the top have died because of avalanches and and weather hazards. It’s a dangerous mountain, indeed.

Image: Wikipedia

You would have expected, the highest mountains to be he most dangerous. Well, the Eiger mountain in the Swiss Alps made it to the list as a legendary dangerous, too. The most dificult part of the Eiger is the north face which got the “nickname” of Mordwand (Murder Wall).

Image: Wikipedia

Located on the Swiss-Italian border, Matterhorn (Cervino or Cervin) is one of the most renowned mountains in the European Alps. Looking like a horn rising, it was one of the last peaks in the Alps to be conquered and not only because of its technical difficulty, the prevalence of avalanches and rockfall,but mostly because of the fear it inspired in early mountaineers. Even though these days there are fixed ropes on parts of the routes to help, several climbers die each year.

Image: Ben Tubby

Nanga Parbat is the ninth highest peak in the world and i the western anchor of the Himalayas, lying south of the Indus River in the Astore District of Pakistan. In Urdu the name means Naked Mountain but Nanga Parbat is also two nicknames that made it famouse; Killer Mountain and The Man Eater. That’s mainly because of its technical difficulty.

Image: Giant Ginko

Mount Denali is the highest mountain in North America. Also known as Mount McKinley, the 20,32 ft tall mountain is renowned for its extreme weather conditions and temperature that make it a tough ride. More than 100 climbers lost their lives trying to conquer Denali, keeping the success rate at low levels (50%).

Image: vitafluida

The highest mountain on Earth (8,848 metres - 29,029 ft), Mount Everest makes it hard for climbers to reach its top mainly because of the high altitude where temperatures dip to very low levels causing frostbites to any body parts exposed to air. Exhaustion, extreme cold, the dangers of the climb or the low level oxygen (pressure is one third of sea levels pressure), makes Mt. Everest an undeniably dangerous objective.

So are you up to the challenge? Which one would you like to conquer?

Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina is one of the most awe-inspiring landscapes on the planet, with vast stretches of unending snow-covered peaks and valleys hidden deep in the heart of the mighty and often unforgiving Andes.

Both stirring our imagination and challenging our survival skills, this amazing panorama can be as deadly to a lost tourist as it is a delight to the ones that have learnt to capture its effervescent glory in their camera lenses. It is in this untouched paradise that the spectacle called “Los Glaciares” finds its existence and this unmatched show of glacier extravaganza is as delightful and magnificent as the Andes that shelter it.

Parque Nacional Los Glaciares is an incredible journey into the heart of the biggest ice cap on the planet that falls outside the Antarctic and Greenland region. Thanks to its natural brilliance, part of the 4459 square kilometers have been marked out in 1981 as one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites. Every single inch of the unending white magic is equally enthralling for tourists and ecologists alike, because the giant ice cap feeds about 47 glaciers which start from a height of just 1500 feet above sea level.

The Los Glaciares National Park mainly consists of two parts which subsequently lead to the two rivers of Lake Argentino in the South and Lake Viedma in the North. The northern part consists of the popular Viedma glacier and is pretty overwhelming spot that is a must for all adventure seekers and trekking enthusiasts while the southern part of the ice cap consists of smaller glaciers like the Perito Moreno Glacier, Upsala Glacier, and Spegazzini Glacier.

A ‘once in a lifetime’ boat ride between these glaciers to reach the inaccessible spots will be the highlight of your trip as each and every moment will be etched in your memory for eternity due to the sheer unadulterated beauty of this timeless land.

The whole area is a major attraction for international tourists and words cannot describe enough the simple, elegant and extraordinary beauty of this amazing land that is protected from human meddling. If you want to experience the best “White Magic” on the planet without making a tedious trip to the Poles, then a trip to Los Glaciares will quench your thirst.

Check out more pictures after the break. (more…)

Probably inspired by the way they pay fees in Brazil, if you happen to reside in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, you might have to go searching for a place to plant a tree, before you go around looking for a bride to get married to.

With the pollution of the city reaching an all-time high and much of Indonesian forests being cleared away for commercial purposes, the government had no other option but to introduce this unique new law. From now on, you need to plant a tree to get a marriage certificate or even a birth certificate in the city, which is an ingenious way to ensure that more and more people will get involved in the government’s reforestation program.

Each year, East Kalimantan, a part of Indonesia clears from 865,000 to 1.24 million acres of forest land and only replants 30% of it. This leaves a huge void which is increasingly being felt due to growing pollution in the country. The collection of tropical islands still has large land under forest cover, but the rate at which that land is disappearing is alarming.

Could that be the reason why Indonesia made it to the 2008 Guinness World Records as fastest forest destroyer on the planet? By “forcing” the citizens of Jakarta to plant trees, this may be a much needed boost.

Sounds like an easy way to save forests and a way of giving something back to Mother Nature. I’d love to see it turned into law, worldwide. What do you think?

Source: Reuters
Images courtesy of stefanottomanski and Greenpeace Southeast Asia

Flash floods are becoming more of a global threat than ever before with errant climate patterns that are being constantly altered and disturbed with man’s intrusion. Global warming seems to be causing a lot more than just the gradual melting of the poles as the set climate patterns are now becoming more and more unpredictable.

Flash floods are different from normal floods, which are often the product of melting snow. Flash floods are short-lived and dump a lot of rain.

However, Professor Colin Price from the Tel Aviv University is studying the link between lightening and subsequent flash floods. If his research is taken forward and integrated into a study for climate patterns, then predicting flash floods might be a reality very soon.

Together with his team of five European scientists, Professor Colin has been studying the intensity of lightening before and during every thunderstorm. His breakthrough technology relies on studying the radiation emitted during a storm which allows to predict the course of thunderstorms. By predicting the course of the storm, one can easily evacuate people, put those in the path of imminent flash floods on alert and save millions of lives on certain occasions.

“And it will be even more exciting in the next decade, when we’ll have continuous real-time detection of lightning activity from satellites. That data will be used to predict floods anywhere”, said Professor Colin.

With US geostationary satellites being equipped with cameras that will capture pictures of lightenings from space and transmit them live to earth, the capability of such a system is immense. One can only hope that this will help us further combat the fury that nature unleashes, to some extent.

Source: DailyMail
Images courtesy of pHil and krisR99

41pounds.org stops junk mail and saves the planet.

1. Who they are -41pounds.org is a nonprofit organization wanting to eliminate a big personal nuisance and environmental hazard — junk mail.
2. Why they’re here -41pounds.org was started because of being overwhelmed with unwanted and wasteful junk mail.
3. What they do -Sign individual up, contact 20 to 30 direct mail companies to stop the majority of bulk mail that comes every day.
4. What it means -Raised thousands of dollars for important programs to reduce the impact of junk mail on the planet and our daily lives.

41pounds.org is saving time, saving trees and saving the planet. But can 41pounds.org stop the credit card companies, too? How about 41pounds.org for a Christmas present?

Image courtesy of kahunapulej

It seems that after finding the highest spot on the planet - that’s Mount Everest, man is now obsessed about looking inside the crust and what actually lies under his feet. Deep shafts, natural mines and underground series of caverns and caves are not a cup of tea for everyone, places where even the most experienced climbers and adventure sports specialists can get claustrophobic in the depths very quickly.

The 3,100feet (1,026 meters) deep underground shaft discovered by an international team of cave explorers near the village of Tian Xing can really send the chill down the spines of even the very best.

The shaft with series of tunnels, underground caves and a network of passages was explored extensively for several months with the adventurous guys camping deep down for several days at a time. The tunnel looks almost like a bottomless pit, but still has some breathtaking sights hidden in its depths with waterfalls and underground rivers adding to its beauty.

If you are scared of closed places, this is not the place to be though. While its is not the deepest tunnel in the world, it no doubt figures right along with some of the deepest across the planet. It is the heights that are normally dizzy, but here are depths that can replicate the same effect. Check out the gallery below!

Photographer Robert Shone - via DailyMail

One look at the spectacular pictures that are captured in the depths of the Crystal Cave of Giants, 1,000 ft below the Chihuahua Desert in Mexico and you will be left dumbfound to describe this amazing wonder hidden deep in the heart of the planet.

The scene is very similar to a scene from the flick “The Core”, where a set of scientists stumble upon an amazing crystal mine miles below earth’s surface. The difference though is that this cave is not that deep down and there have been no tragedies in here so far like in the movie. But the visual magnificence of the 170 giant, luminous obelisks is unmatched even by Hollywood.

It’s a breathtaking visual delight, uncovered by two brothers drilling in the Naica Lead and Silver mine. The caves were found at a depth of over 1000 feet deep into the crust and it takes a twenty minute drive into the mines to get to the entrance of these shining beacons in Mother Nature’s secluded abode.

The crystal caves though are no structures of cool ice as they are made out of calcium silicates and other minerals which have been formed by gentle cooling of magma around 6000 years back. The temperatures in here can reach steamy 112F, with a humidity of 90-100 per cent.

If you are planning a trek into these beautiful depths, then a backpack with ice-cooled air is a must. For now though, it is sealed to prevent people from nabbing away the beautiful treasure. Wonder if this is the actual home of Superman… Could be!

Image by Carsten Peter @ NationaGeographic - via DailyMail

I found five recent satellite photos of the Earth and I must admit, they’re some of the most beautiful, I’ve seen. It’s what the world looks like now from space.

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After eight years of planning to restore the vastly damaged Giacomini Wetlands in northern California, the National Park Service managed to re-create one of the largest estuary systems in Marin County, which 60 years ago had been unthinkingly cleared out as pasture land for dairy cattle that provided milk and butter during World War II.

Took them two years of bulldozing and excavating to pull down the levees and re-direct the creeks, to bring back the “naturalness”, the wetlands today are slowly getting back to their original form with rare sightings of rays and leopard sharks - apart from other wildlife, gliding through the shallow waters.

Amazing species of animals which had been thought to be extinct and a variety of birds have been spotted in Point Reyes, and also fishes that had abandoned the waters are all gradually coming back.

“The habitat will come back. In a year, no one will know we did anything,” says Park Service hydrologist Ketcham. Sounds like a fairy tail except this one is true. We can do good, IF we want! - via LA Times