Talking about using the bathroom might not be exciting, but like sleeping and eating, it’s something you do every day. While you can control how you handle your bathroom needs at home, it’s not always the case when traveling, especially to other countries.
Even if you’re not into geography, you probably know Antarctica is a freezing continent unsuitable for humans. However, it seems a pyramid has been found there with curious metrics. And that’s not all — let’s take a look.
You’re on a plane heading to an important astronomy convention when you see a large figure outside your window that eclipses the whole Sun. You spit out all of your coffee, and everyone in the plane stares outside in shock. You then notice that it has rings like Saturn. You were supposed to fly to Japan, but you’re forced to land in California.As soon as you land, you look up in the sky and see some more giant planet-like structures floating around in the sky. Everyone is taking pictures and trying to figure out what’s going on. Suddenly you notice a huge ball of fire crashing down near the airport. Everyone scrambles for safety, and luckily, it ends up in the middle of the runway with no one around. The bad news is that there’s no more runway for planes to land.
There are islands on our planet that have not been touched by the hand of modern man. Not even his fingers. Nature in these places has remained unchanged for thousands of years.What if people lived on one of these islands? They wouldn’t know about civilization’s progressive benefits or have seen a modern person. This island actually exists, and traveling to it is unlawful and involves many dangers.
You check under the sofa. Nope. You open the cupboard. Not there. You lie down on the floor and sneak a peek under your bed. Nah. No kitties there, just dust bunnies. Then, where’s your cat?! Oh no, could that crazy pet slip out through the back door?A wave of panic overwhelms you, and you bolt outside. Your backyard, once green and blooming, is now covered with a thick layer of rock-hard asphalt. Several large fake plants in pots make the dull landscape somewhat more upbeat.
Frozen plains, mountains with white peaks glistening in the distant sun, and rustic red...snow? Welcome to Pluto, where nothing makes sense anymore... Looking at it from a distance, the ice-ball planet is mostly predictable wintery shades of white and light blue. Once you land on the surface, you’ll notice familiar blue skies as well.But see that whale-shaped red stain running along the equator? Right there to the left of the white heart-shaped region. Thar she blows! This spot is bigger than Alaska, and it’s a mystery to scientists. That’s not red clay soil or anything you’ll see on Earth. That’s Pluto’s version of ice!
In 2016, scientists decided to visit the widest part of the Atlantic Ocean, between Africa and South America. It’s kind of lonely there. They went days without seeing a single plane or ship. It was mostly just dolphins and whales swimming by. They were in the middle of nowhere, so why?They were floating right above one of the most important geological spots on Earth, the mid-Atlantic ridge. It’s where two monster tectonic plates meet. Tectonic plates are massive jigsaw pieces that are constantly moving, even though we usually can’t feel them. They form Earth’s crust and, in this case, meet beneath the Atlantic Ocean.
What comes to your mind when you hear the word Antarctica? Most likely, “cold, snow, ice, and penguins.” Yet, this is one of the least explored regions in the world that hides many strange and unique things. Check them out.
What we adore about Jennifer Garner is that she’s refreshingly open and candid about her family. While Jennifer’s rise to fame may seem like a fairytale, it wasn’t always easy for her mom when she was a kid. But through it all, the Garner family has remained strong and resilient. Read on to learn about all the challenges they had to face.
A study published in 2013 showed that dolphins and humans had one little thing in common — apart from being mammals — they have names! In particular, bottlenose dolphins, which have their own special whistles, just like human names. Not only do they develop this type of whistle to present themselves to other dolphins, but they can also learn other “names” so that they can better communicate with one another.
Next time you jump into a yacht, you should worry not about the wind but about the waves. An average storm can’t cause enough damage on its own, as the wind is unlikely to tilt the boat over. A wind-driven wave, however, might destroy a lot of equipment and even sink the yacht altogether. Don’t worry, though; it’s not that common to come across a bad storm — or worse, a hurricane — while at sea. You’d really have to be looking for it. Most people with over 20 years’ worth of experience at sea have never encountered extreme weather.
Antarctica is the most remote continent on the planet. It has 90% of the world’s ice, but it’s considered a desert because the annual rainfall is only about 8 inches. You’d probably never think it was a desert if you look at it since it’s white and full of wildlife. But Antarctica is not only what it appears to be on the surface — there is so much hidden beneath it. And even above it.
Question for you: Does the island of Hy-Brasil [hai bruh·zil] sound familiar? You’ve surely never seen it on a vacation brochure. Not because it’s exclusive or hard to reach, but because it’s like the ultimate mash-up of myth and reality. Some people believe it’s just a figment of imagination, while others swear they’ve seen it with their own two eyes! According to historians, the island of Hy-Brasil has been noted in both travelers’ records and ancient Irish legends. It makes this location an Irish version of Atlantis! Although it’s known by several other names too, the island takes its most famous name from Breasal [Breh-zahl], an important figure from Celtic folklore. It’s also been spotted on maps dating back to 1325. One cartographer for example placed it west of Ireland, while subsequent sailing charts have shown it more specifically southwest of Galway Bay.
Leave it to people wandering on Google Earth to stumble upon the world’s newest — and weirdest — places ever! Like this mysterious pyramid discovered in Antarctica. Soon enough the internet blew up with all sorts of theories regarding this unusual shape. Could it be a sign from a different life form? Is this pyramid indeed natural, or is it man-made? For starters, it’s not the first time we’ve discovered a pyramid in the Antarctic. The first one was observed by the British Antarctic Expedition in the 1910s and kept secret for a long time. Its discovery being kept hidden only added to the mystery. A second such structure was discovered in 2016, which further increased the interest in the matter.
We’ve all dreamed of visiting the Arctic and witnessing the natural wonders of polar bears frolicking on ice floes or the aurora borealis dancing across the sky. Well, sorry to break it to you, but you won’t find any tourists flocking to Antarctica anytime soon. Why, you may ask? Let’s dive into it! First off, where is Antarctica? It’s located in the Southern Hemisphere, specifically at the South Pole.
Let’s try something together: open any world map you have available. It can be the one you find in your bookcase or even an online version. Take a look at the vast area covered by water. That’s 71% of the Earth’s surface! And all that is salt water in the world’s ocean. There aren’t any borders between the four oceans we’ve all come to know, but oceanographers and the world’s countries did traditionally split these waters into four distinct regions: the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic oceans.
If you’re into mushrooms and eat them a lot, you’ll love the honey mushroom. It’s larger than any plant out there: watermelon, pine tree, even baobab! It’s even bigger than an elephant... or a megalodon. The mushrooms cover miles and miles of the Malheur National Forest, Oregon, and it’s the oldest organism on our planet — some are up to 8,650 years old!
You’ve probably heard about the mysterious sea state of Atlantis. It was a high-tech utopia where people lived happily. But then something happened, and Atlantis disappeared from the face of Earth. Many believe that this city lies at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. But what if we’ve been looking in the wrong place all this time? What if it’s somewhere different from where they’re trying to find it? What if all this time, Atlantis was in the middle of the Sahara Desert? Well, this unexpected theory has some evidence. But to study this version, you first need to understand what Atlantis was and how we got to know about it. The very first mention of the mysterious city was in 360 BCE. Ancient philosopher Plato wrote about Atlantis. His work “Dialogues” described Atlantis as a rich land with advanced technologies. Its inhabitants were powerful, intelligent, and beautiful, like superhumans.
They ruled the planet for over 170 million years... And then disappeared. History says it was a huge city-sized asteroid that came from space and hit the land of the Yucatán peninsula around 66 million years ago. It caused terrible environmental changes, debris in the air blocking the sunlight, so the plants couldn’t survive. Temperatures on Earth’s surface plunged, animals were struggling to survive — until they finally went extinct. At least, that’s something many paleontologists believe happened. Now they found out dinosaurs were about to go extinct even before the asteroid. Their diversity started to go down 10 million years before the asteroid — older long-living species didn’t evolve enough to adapt to all changes in the environment, such as higher sea levels, massive volcanic activity, cooler periods. Dinosaurs preferred a warm climate because it helped them to keep a stable body temperature.
A shadow is cast when you have an object in the path of light. Light travels in a straight line, which is why you always get a shadow when something’s in front of a light source — birds and airplanes are no exception. They DO cast shadows, but we can’t see them.The closer the object to a source of light, the denser its shadow, and vice versa: if the object is too far away, its shadow disperses. A commercial airplane flies at 35,000-40,000 [ft] [12,191 m] feet — at such a height, you barely see the plane, let alone its shadow. It’s too far from the Earth’s surface, so its shadow is scattered, and you can’t see it — the same goes for birds.
Attention! Attention! Residents of all countries and cities of the world! A massive asteroid is approaching the Earth. Now its speed is several times greater than the speed of sound, and each day it accelerates even more. Once it enters our solar system, it will fly past Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars. The gravitational fields of these planets will also accelerate the asteroid. And our planet will be the final destination! A collision is inevitable. According to scientists, a meteorite the size of Mount Everest can destroy the entire planet. The disaster will happen in 350 days. There’s panic in the streets. People buy and build bunkers. Scientists and astronomers from all over the world were assembled to find a solution.
Hey, don’t we all love wintertime? Gingerbread cookies and sitting by the fireplace and... frozen methane bubbles? Freezing temperatures afford humanity the pleasure of some very weird winter phenomena. Let’s go take a look at some of them.
The lowest temperature ever recorded was a staggering −128.6°F (-89.2°C) in July of 1983 in Antarctica. Maybe these degrees can’t be reached inside cities and highly populated areas, but it can get pretty freezing there too. It looks that even something close to −4°F (-20°C) can make life difficult to the point where even your dog might refuse to go out for a walk with you.
No matter how old you are, exercising your brain is vital to improve your memory and concentration. And it’s important to start the process at a younger age so your brain health doesn’t decline as you get older. Things like puzzles, riddles, tai chi, and learning a new language can all benefit your mind.
Bathroom traditions in foreign countries can differ, like when you come to Korea, for example, some things might amaze or shock you. Even the way some people wash their hands can be unusual and instead of a dispenser, you may see a weird device with soap in public toilets.
Scientists around the world have found themselves at loss in the face of some mysterious findings. Unknown civilizations of the past, enigmatic artifacts, and even unexplainable monoliths have all presented themselves and no explanation has been found yet.
It’s such an intriguing idea to be able to travel around planet Earth without getting off the couch. Despite the fact that Google launched its Google Maps service back in 2005, curious users from different parts of the world still make interesting finds — from alien images to mysterious desert drawings and structures that have some historical value.
Nowadays, we rarely hold paper money in our hands. For example, a Bristol pound is still in use in England, which depicts a vivid cyclist. Antarctica also has its own currency. And you can get a hefty sum for a faulty banknote.
The resident of Saint Petersburg, Denis Melnikov, works as a geophysicist. He has already visited Siberia, Central Asia, India, and now has even gone to Antarctica. This continent doesn’t have anything but cold weather, icebergs, and penguins, yet it has always attracted Melnikov. And now, his dream has finally come true. He describes all his adventures on Twitter with the nickname The Polar Daddy and thousands of followers are in awe of the photos he posts.
On May 7, the universe bestowed us with a Pink Moon that excited all of the stargazers among us. If you didn’t get a chance to observe this spectacular phenomenon, 2020 has a lot more of these celestial events to look forward to.
Every day, there are more and more environmental problems in the world: forests in Brazil are burning, glaciers in Antarctica are melting, and the oceans are filling with plastic. But there are people who aren’t able to bear these things and who are trying to help the planet. People are building factories that suck carbon dioxide from the air and are helping to invent new ways of getting clean energy. And all of us can join these people, even if it’s with something as simple as sorting through the trash or cleaning our own yards.
If you’re looking to fill your brain with amazing facts to impress your friends, you’ve come to the right place. Dropping these truth bombs will turn anyone into an expert at the dinner table and be the start of an entertaining conversation. No scientific degree required.
Today the popularity of tourist attractions depends a lot on social networks. 50% of travelers reported that information and advertisements on the internet influenced their travel plans. But this growing popularity isn’t good for the attractions at all. And it’s not just because of garbage or graffiti on walls that are left by tourists. People can cause damage in different ways from simply breathing to intentional destruction.
What is located on the top of the pyramids of Egypt? How is “volcano bread” made in Iceland? In which conditions can the rarest phenomenon in the world be seen? The process of looking for answers boosts people’s energy, makes them dream, and makes them feel like pioneers. That’s why we like to learn new things about ourselves and the world surrounding us so much.
Antarctica is often called the White Mars due to its severe conditions. In 2005, the French-Italian polar station, Concordia, was built there. The European Space Agency (ESA) conducts research there. At the same time, almost 60 people live there in isolation, extremely low temperatures, and with a lack of light and oxygen. They’ve all gone through months of preparation to work there for no less than 9-12 months. The station consists of 2 cylindrical buildings: the first one is called “quiet” and it’s the place where all the labs, living rooms, and a hospital are located. The second one is called “noisy” and has the gym, storage area, dining hall, movie theater, and a rec room.
Throughout history, humanity hasn’t been able to learn everything about our planet. But the facts that we keep learning are so amazing that they motivate us to keep studying the world we live in. Do you know the speed of spring? And what the state of the ozone layer is? Where is the place where you don’t need to buy soap in the store because you can dig some up in the yard?
