Brazil plunged into darkness as blackout leaves millions without electricity

Much of Brazil was plunged into darkness last night as a problem at a hydroelectric dam left millions without electricity.

As these eerie pictures show, the major cities, such as Rio de Janeiro - the home of the 2016 Olympic Games - were left looking like ghost towns, with only car headlights, candles, and the odd power generator providing tiny pools of illumination for millions.

Other cities such as Sao Paulo were also left in blackness for more than two hours, while all of neighbouring Paraguay was also without power for half an hour.

The outage will likely add to fears that Brazil - and Rio's - infrastructure will not be ready for the influx of people for the games.

Left in the dark: Rio's only illumination comes from car headlights as the city sits in an eerie twilight

Rooftop aeriels were the only source of light for much of the city during the blackout

Rio's famed Copacabana beach was also left in darkness, with some diners heading down to some of the strip's restaurants for meals served by candle light.

The outage was blamed on the large Itaipu dam, which straddles Brazil and Paraguay's borders and produces 17,000 megawatts of power.

Brazilian Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao said outages hit nine of the 27 states in this country of more than 190 million people. No power outages happened in Brasilia, the national capital.

The cause of the failure had not been determined, but Lobao said strong storms uprooted trees near the Itaipu dam just before it went offline and could be to blame.

The power cut could cause problems for Brazil, a nation seen as an ascending economic and political power in the region.

'The image of Brazil, of Rio, is bad enough with all the violence,' said 35-year-old graphic designer Paulo Viera, as he sat in a restaurant a block from the sandy arc of Copacabana.

He said he worried about how the outage might look for a city that last month was picked to host the 2016 Olympics and will be the showcase city for soccer's World Cup in 2014.

'We don't need this to happen. I don't know how it could get worse.'

Dark times: The strip alongside Copacabana beach sits in blackness as reported problems at a hydroelectric dam plunged millions into darkness

A few scattered lights continue in the city centre of the Rio: The power cut raises more questions about how the city will cope with the 2016 Olympics

The only lights come from the roads, with the long exposure of this photograph showing car beams as they head down the freeway

The blackout comes on the heels of a wave of gang fighting in Rio's favelas that led to violence fears for the Olympics.

'It's sad to see such a beautiful city with such a precarious infrastructure,' said 22-year-old law student Igor Fernandes.

'This shouldn't happen in a city that is going to host the Olympic Games.'

No traffic lights on the roads, while Copacabana Palace Hotel manages to give off a few lights thanks to an independent power source

A few candle-lights provide atmosphere for residents who popped for dinner at the Copacabana beach

The major cities were without power for two hours, while portable food stands were perhaps the only outlets providing hot food

Lobao said the hydro plant at the dam itself was working, but there were problems with the power lines that carry electricity across Brazil. Brazil uses almost all the energy produced by the dam, and Paraguay consumes the rest.

In Paraguay, the national energy agency blamed the blackout on a short-circuit at an electrical station near Sao Paulo, saying that failure shut down the entire power grid supplied by Itaipu.

All of Paraguay went dark for about 20 minutes, the country's leading newspaper, ABC Color, reported.

The agency in charge of the dam, Itaipu Binacional, said the blackout did not start at the hydroelectric complex. It said the most likely cause was a failure at one or more points in the transmission system.

The blackouts came two days after CBS's '60 Minutes' news program reported that several past Brazilian power outages were caused by computer hackers.

Brazilian officials had played down the report before the latest outages, and Lobao did not mention it.

Reported cause: The Itaipu Hydroelectric dam, the world's largest operational electricity generator, pictured from the Brazilian side of the border with Paraguay

Brazil's official Agencia Brasil news agency said Tuesday's outage started about 10:20 p.m. (1220 GMT), snarling streets in Rio, where traffic that is normally chaotic turned riotous.

Cars, taxis and buses sped through dark intersections, honking to make their presence known as they zoomed through. Pedestrians scampered across avenues, and tourists scurried back to a handful of luxury beach hotels, the only buildings with light.

The Itaipu dam is the world's second biggest hydroelectric producer, supplying 20 percent of Brazil's electricity. China's Three Gorges dam is the largest.

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10 of the World's Smallest Animals

World’s Smallest Dog: 12.4 cm (4.9-inch) tall
At 1.4 pounds and 4.9 inches tall, Ducky, a yappy short-coat Chihuahua from Charlton (Massachusetts, USA), holds the Guinness World Record for the world's smallest living dog (by height). Ducky succeeds Danka Kordak of Slovakia, a Chihuahua who measured 5.4 inches tall. The smallest dog ever, according to Guinness, was a dwarf Yorkshire terrier who stood 2.8 inches tall.



World's Smallest Snake: 10.1 cm (4-inch) long

Leptotyphlops carlae is the world's smallest species of snake, with adults averaging just under four inches in length. Found on the Caribbean island of Barbados, the species --which is as thin as a spaghetti noodle and small enough to rest comfortably on a U.S. quarter-- was discovered by Blair Hedges.



World’s Smallest Fish: 7.9 mm (0.3-inch) long

On January 2006, the world's smallest fish was discovered on the Indonesian island of Sumatra: a member of the carp family of fish, the Paedocypris progenetica. It is the world's smallest vertebrate or backboned animal; only 7.9 mm (0.3 inches) long.

The title, however, is contested by 6.2 mm (0.2 in) long male anglerfish Photocorynus spiniceps (not technically a fish but a sexual parasite) and the 7 mm (0.27 in) long male stout infantfish Schindleria brevipinguis.



World’s Smallest Horse: 43.18 cm (17-inch) tall

The little horse was born to Paul and Kay Goessling, who specialize in breeding miniature horses, but even for the breed Thumbelina is particularly small: she is thought to be a dwarf-version of the breed. At just 60 lb and 17-inch tall, the five-year-old Thumbelina is the world’s smallest horse.



World’s Smallest Cat: 15.5 cm (6.1-inch) high and 49 cm (19.2-inch) long

Meet Mr. Peebles. He lives in central Illinois, is two years old, weighs about three pounds and is the world's smallest cat! The cat's small stature was verified by the Guinness Book of World Records on 2004.


World's Smallest Hamster: 2.5 cm (0.9-inch) tall

Only slightly bigger than a 50p piece, PeeWee is the smallest hamster in the world. Weighing less than an ounce, the golden hamster stopped growing when he was three weeks old - his five brothers and sisters went on to measure between 4in and 5in.


World's Smallest Chameleon: 1.2 cm (0.5-inch) long

The Brookesia Minima is the world's smallest species of chameleon. This one is just half an inch. Found on the rainforest floor of Nosy Be Island off the north-west coast of Madagascar, females tend to be larger than males.


World's Smallest Lizard: 16 mm (0.6-inch) long

So small it can curl up on a dime or stretch out on a quarter, a typical adult of the species, whose scientific name is Sphaerodactylus ariasae is only about 16 millimeters long, or about three quarters of an inch, from the tip of the snout to the base of the tail. It shares the title of "smallest" with another lizard species named Sphaerodactylus parthenopion, discovered in 1965 in the British Virgin Islands.



World’s Smallest Cattle: 81 cm (31-inch) height

The world’s smallest cattle is a rare breed of an Indian zebu called the Vechur cow. The average height of this breed of cattle is 31 to 35 inches (81 to 91 cm). The photo above shows a 16 year old Vechur cattle as compared to a 6 year old HF cross-breed cow.



World's Smallest Seahorse: 16 mm (0.6-inch) long

The creature, known as Hippocampus denise, is typically just 16 millimetres long - smaller than most fingernails. Some were found to be just 13 mm long. H. denise lives in the tropical waters of the western Pacific Ocean, between 13 and 90 metres beneath the surface.

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Amazing Photos of China

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Some miniature versions of beautiful cities from all over the world

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Planet of the Lemur 10 Beautiful Little-Known Species

Most people have heard of the Ring-tailed Lemur and could suppose that it is the only species. However, there are many varieties of Lemur, a lot of which are beautiful and incredibly rare. Take a look in to the planet of the lemurs and discover for yourself the wonderful diversity of this lesser known family of animals.

he Red-Ruffed Lemur
This exquisitely colored species is critically endangered and part of its habitat in Madagascar has recently been made in to a National Park. This may at least ensure the survival of some of the species but as it is unable to tell where it is safe for itself, many of the animals live outside the park's boundaries and are still prey to humans as "bush food". Who could possibly bring themselves to eat this delightful animal in the full knowledge that it is nearing extinction?


The Blue-Eyed Black Lemur
Does what it says on the label! Its name gives the game away but this unusual lemur has blue eyes, which gives it a distinctly spaced-out look. Due to deforestation on its home island of Madagascar it is thought that there are less than one hundred of these startlingly beautiful creatures left in the wild. As a number of plant species evolved specifically to be spread by this species, a whole eco-system is at the point of collapse.



The Black and White Ruffed Lemur
This wonderful beast is not too good as a next door neighbor. Apart from the Howler Monkey it is thought that the Black and White Ruffed Lemur has the loudest call of all primates. It is the only lemur that has litters - all the other species produce a single young, one at a time. It is also notable for having a muzzle like a dog!







The Crowned Lemur

The Crowned Lemur has a lovely strip of red across its forehead, hence its name and does have the look of a small girl going to a party dressed as a princess! It lives mostly on the Ankarana Plateau of Madagascar and at the very most there are only ten thousand of them on the island. This is the lemur most likely to give birth to twins and it lives for around twenty years.


The Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemur

This beautiful beast is a bamboo lemur, even though it doesn't actually eat bamboo. It is the one and only primate that has adapted to living off papyrus reeds and it chomps it way through tem alongside Lake Alaotra. As such there are very few of these lovely and engaging creatures, although the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust does have a protection program underway in order to ensure the continuance of this (possibly sub) species of lemur.


The Golden Bamboo Lemur


The Golden Bamboo Lemur does, however, actually eat bamboo. Shamefully, it too is on the list of critically endangered species and it is thought that there are less than a thousand of them alive in the wild. It eats more than enough cyanide each day to kill an average human but how it detoxifies itself against the poison is not known or understood at all.



The Northern Sportive Lemur

The sportive lemurs are a whole different branch of the lemur family tree. They are strictly nocturnal and live in the trees most of the time. When on the ground they hop along in a way reminiscent of kangaroos. Sportive lemurs are solitary and although they look cute they will protect their territory with violence when they come across same sex interlopers. Like most of the species here they are endangered due to deforestation and man's blind and willful intrusion in to their only habitat.

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The Ring of Brodgar

The Ring of Brodgar is located in the outskirts of Orkney, Scotland. One of the many rock circles across Britain, The Ring of Brodgar is the third largest of them all, with 27 stone monoliths ranging from 2.1 to a maximum of 4.1 meters in height.

It was one of the first ceremonial places in the British Isles and it was first recorded in the 16 century, in one of Jo Ben’s writings. The exact date of the site is unknown and there hasn’t been any digging inside the stone circle to determine its age, but it is believed it dates back to 2500 BC.

There were originally 60 stones in the Ring of Brodgar but only 27 still stand tall today. the last research was conducted here back in the 70s.

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15 Epic Water and Ice Formations and Phenomena

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Showing posts with label Facts. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Parakeets Go Cockney in London

In the foothills of the Himalayas, there is nothing quite like the green flash against the blue sky of a flock of ring-necked parakeets as they swoop over your head and away to the horizon. However, these particular parakeets have, over recent years, become a common sight in the suburban gardens of London. What’s going on?



There is, of course, some urban legend around the appearance of the ring necked parakeet in London gardens. The best by far is that the rock and roll artist Jimi Hendrix released a pair as a symbol of peace in the nineteen sixties. The hippy parakeets began to breed and slowly a population was made up, spreading love wherever they went.

This (quite possibly untrue!) myth aside, love and peace are usually the last things on one's mind when these parakeets are first encountered. This writer's first introduction to the phenomenon was being woken up at dawn by a strange sounding squawking. Thinking that there was some sort of avian commotion going on in the garden, I opened up the curtains (simultaneously yawning and stretching) and had one of the few genuinely WTF moments in my years living in the silence of suburbia.




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There, a few meters away from me, were two large birds with gorgeous, emerald feathers and ruby colored beaks. Not quite the colors one expects of ‘native' species in the United Kingdom. Now, I may have been looking at them with sleepy (if not wide-eyed) curiosity but the look they gave me back was a combination of disdain, disinterest and - it has to be said - disrespect! The cheek of it!









I had, of course, listened incredulously to accounts of parakeets in other parts of London. There was always one part of me that didn't quite believe the stories, perhaps because I was a little jealous of not having seen such a spectacle myself. There, they were though, right in front of me. Time to do a little research, I thought! A much more likely reason for their new found preponderance in London is that they were released from captivity by owners who could no longer (or did not want to) look after them. Another tale has a flock of about twenty of them escaping from their cages on arrival at Heathrow airport. There is, additionally, the "African Queen" theory. This movie, starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn was filmed at Shepperton studios on the outskirts of London. Although it cannot be properly corroborated, legend (again!) has it that the birds flown in to give the set-bound film a little realism escaped in to the ‘wilds' of suburbia at some point during production. After Hendrix, that has to be my favorite!







London has thirty three boroughs and it seems that parakeets are resident in all of them. Although they have yet to spread to the north of the UK or the countryside in general, the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) estimates that there already thirty thousand of them in London. That number is expected to rise to fifty thousand within the next two years. My purely garden-based observations lead me to believe that this is being conservative. In the space of a few months between my first sighting and the present, these birds have already extended the length of my two mile commute work. These parakeets are here to stay - and in ever increasing numbers.





The UK is getting warmer, so everyone says, but even now it can get extremely cold in the autumn and winter. How can these birds, which look like they would be at home in a hot and humid rainforest, live in a climate such as ours? The ring-necked parakeet actually originates in the foothills of the Himalayas, which can get significantly colder than the UK. So, the wet and warm climate they have found here is, if not ideal, one they can cope with easily.




So far so good. As can be seen above, the birds do not mind a sudden April snowfall either. However, there are more factors involved in whether or not a new species can adapt to a new habitat. The climate is not a problem for our green friends, but what about the other factors, namely a constant food supply and the threat to them from indigenous species.




The British love animals. When they are not hunting them and eating them they have a tendency to feed them. Every second suburban garden has a bird feeder, laden with all sorts of goodies to tempt birds in. Many feeders are designed so only the brighter birds can get at the seeds and nuts inside and these are mostly smaller species, like the various species of tit that can be found in the UK. Cylindrical feeder? No problem for parakeets. So, generally speaking, food is not a problem.




What about the native species? There is no evidence yet that they are having a negative impact on our local bird life, although I have seen them have the occasional spat with the local wide boys - the magpies. They don't seem phased by another immigrant species either - the grey squirrel - and will happily feed side by side with them. The vocabulary of the other birds has increased markedly and they now demonstrate an ever increasing grasp of modern slang, tenses and clauses. Seriously, the only real fear is that the birds will become too numerous. They live a long time - up to forty years - and can breed for the greater part of their life. If they become a threat apparent to the native species then there is the possibility of a cull in the future. Let's hope that doesn't ever have to happen!

Monday, November 3, 2008

Four Gemstones Rarer and More Beautiful Than Your Average Diamond

Gemstone. But, there are stones out there that aren't as tough as diamond, they aren't as famous as diamonds. Yet their beauty rivals that of even the most famous diamonds, the Hope Diamond.

Here's a few of these precious gifts from mother Earth

Demantoid Garnet

This green variation of all you January babies birthstone is the rarest of all garnets. I had to dub this one The Prince. I couldn't stop thinking that if a beautiful princess gemstone kissed a frog gemstone, it would turn into this Prince of a gem. First, discovered in Russia, this brilliant stone got its name because of its diamond-like luster. Bank Accounts beware, at the top retail end, this Ural Mountain dweller can reach as much as US$10,000 per carat.

Alexandrite


Good luck finding this extremely rare stone at you local jewelers. This is one of my favorites because it possesses a quality that only a hand full of other natural stones can stake claim to, color change. Alexandrite is a variety of Chrysoberyl, same family of gemstones that Emerald fall in, that displays a change -of-color from green to blue-green in daylight, and purple to purplish-red in incandescent light. It gets its name from a mineralogist who coined the term in honor of the Russian Czar that was coming of age at the time of its discovery, Alexander II.


Paraiba Tourmaline



I can picture myself floating adrift on a raft in the center of this stone, just off shore a deserted island. Relaxing with this crystal clear blue ocean beneath me. Paraiba is one of the most magnificent natural gemstones in the world. First found in Paraiba, Brazil, it's color varies from intense blue to green. It gets this beautiful color from copper being added to its composition. As the rarest and most expensive of all Tourmalines, this bad boy can easily reach tens of thousands per carat.


Padparadscha Sapphire



And last but definitely not least at all, we have this pink rose of a gem. the Padparadscha Sapphire. Padparadscha is a variety of corundum, the sapphire and ruby family. It's color is a pinkish orange, and it gets its name from the Sanskrit/Sinhalese padmaraga, a color similar to that of the lotus flower. Now-a-days, some define the gem's color as a blend of lotus and sunset shown below.



This stone set as a solitaire ring is sure to melt the heart of your special little lady.
Gemstones really are the flowers of the mineral world. I've been considering using one of these stones as a replacement for the traditional diamond ring, only problem is they can get up to 10x more expensive and even harder to find. But, I guarantee that the look on your Queen's face will be very well worth it.

15 Epic Water and Ice Formations and Phenomena

We all know that the Earth’s surface is covered mostly in water and ice, but what is truly astonishing is how many forms this amazing life-giving element can take. From stunning glaciers and roaring waterfalls as high as a skyscraper to jagged mountainside beds of icy spikes as tall as a man, the myriad beautiful water formations and phenomena found on our planet rival the aesthetic power of human art. Here are 15 ice, glaciers, fjords, waterfalls, unusual lakes, and other stunning examples of nature’s finest water and ice art.

Frozen Water: Small-Scale Ice Formations

Whether on a massive scale or smaller than the tip of your finger, from icicles to ice stars, the planet’s many ice formations like its bizarre and amazing land phenomena are truly as varied as snowflakes.

From the snowflake to the icicle, few things on earth are as gorgeous as frozen formations. Ice ribbons are perhaps one of the most intriguing of ice formations, seemingly resembling frosting squeezed from a baker’s press. Here you see icicles, ribbons, a rare ice star, ice columns and encased grass. The odd picture is certainly a curiosity - how did it form?



Mountain Ice Spikes

Chile is home to the rugged mountain terrain of the Andes and the severe weather extremes at different altitudes make for some stunning ice formations. The above remarkable ice field looks like daggers, but one brave climber makes his way through the Ojos del Salado.




This peak in Valle Frances is studded with distinct ice formations that resemble large boulders. Wind and fluctuating temperatures create unusual ice shapes in this famous national park called the Torres del Paine (it’s an eco-tourism hot spot).


Ice Shelves
The photographer caught this fascinating ice formation shot in Huseby, Sweden. Ice takes on all sorts of interesting asymmetrical and geometric shapes, from the icy platelets above to the incredible parallel ice shelves of the Arctic. Ellesmere Island is famous for its ice shelves, but unfortunately they are diminishing rapidly in the face of global warming. Climate change caused alarming losses in summer of 2008, and scientists are concerned that this special ecosystem may soon be lost forever.


Ice Caves

Hard to believe, but those luscious sculptured waves are completely natural - and on the ceiling. A cave in Bavaria, Germany features this unusual ice. Ice caves are common throughout the world, but some of the largest are the massive, twisting Eisriesenwelt Caves in Austria


Frozen Water: Grand Scale Ice Formations

Rivers of ice and floating ice islands help to regulate the planet’s temperature, control currents, provide water - and they are rapidly disappearing. One can’t help but appreciate their raw beauty as well.

Icebergs

Icebergs are fast melting along with the polar ice caps and glaciers. It’s a shame; not only are they ecologically valuable, they’re amazing displays of nature’s artistry. Here are images of a variety of some stunning shapes and beautiful bergs. Note the tabular iceberg (table-shaped) and the artistic marbled iceberg.





Iceberg B-15

The world’s most famous iceberg, known as B-15, was originally part of the Ross Shelf but broke off (or “calved”) in 2000. It then broke up into three still-massive chunks, one of them - B-15A - being the largest floating object in the world at 17×76 miles in size. It continued to sail on, breaking up further and engaging in several collisions along the way. It lodged in McMurdo Sound in 2005, and its presence was significant enough to prevent proper ocean current action that normally breaks up sea ice in McMurdo. In 2006, a powerful wave traveling all the way from Alaska broke up B-15A into further smaller pieces and it was hailed as “the death” of the world’s most famous iceberg.


Glaciers

Glaciers are simply accumulated snow, packed densely into ice over thousands, even millions, of years. Glaciers serve an important function as ecosystem regulators and water suppliers (they are the largest single source of fresh water), and the heating of the planet has led to major glacier shrinkage around the world in the last decade. Some of the most famous glaciers are located in the Himalayas and Alaska, but glaciers can be found in many places around the globe. These rivers of ice are so powerful, they create a “glacial” effect, and visible signs of glacial carving can be seen throughout the world.


Moving Water: Rivers, Waterfalls, Fjords

From craggy fjords to famously high waterfalls and massive rivers, waterways are another memorable artistic statement of Mother Nature.

Rivers

Pictured at left is the Mississippi River, which travels some 2,340 miles of the continental United States. (Trivia: its tributary, the Missouri River, is actually longer.) It’s the fourth longest and tenth largest (by discharge) river in the world. Regardless of its invaluable economic and ecological service, it is simply beautiful to see. Pictured next are the Niger Delta from space - a magnificently beautiful water system - as well as the Ganges in stunning hi-res and the Okavango (one of the world’s biggest inland water systems). It floods annually, making life possible in an otherwise arid region for the rest of the year. And finally, the brilliant contrast of the iconic Amazon river and its emerald tropical rainforests.



Waterfalls

Some of the most famous waterfalls in the world are shown here. Angel Falls in Venezuela, the tallest waterfall in the world, dives some 979 meters (over 2,000 feet) into the rocks below. Tugela Falls in South Africa is nearly as high, at 947 meters and boasts 5 beautiful cascades.

And of course, the famous Niagara Falls of North America. Niagara once froze in a freak weather occurrence in 1911 - or so the myth and the single photo indicate. Even Snopes can’t determine if it’s an urban legend or if it really happened.


Fjords

Though the fjords of Norway are famous, that’s not the only place where you can see these magnificent chiseled carvings of Mother Nature as artist. Chile is home to gorgeous fjords, as are several other spots around the world. A fjord is simply a narrow water inlet with high, steep land on either side - however, they are unique because they are created through glacier activity. The images above are of fjords in Alaska (the boldness of the blue is amazing), Iceland (lobster claws?), Norway (almost other-worldly), and Chile (once again the Torres del Paine).


Lakes Seen From Above

Rounding out the tour, here are some of the quirky and artfully abstract shapes of lakes when seen from the aerial view. A playground of the rich and famous, Lake Como in Italy is famously known as the Y Shaped lake, while this lesser known Horseshoe Lake in Arkansas is endearing. But it’s this dragon lake in China that’s most striking.

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9 of the Most Bizarre Animal Defense Mechanisms

The frog that breaks its own legs and grows claws. The beetle that sprays a jet of boiling fluid at predators. The fish that engulfs its enemy in a thick casing of slime. The ant that explodes. These are just a few of the incredibly unusual ways animals have evolved to defend themselves against predators. If you enjoyed learning about the strangest endangered animals on earth, be prepared for even more oddities with this list of strange animal defense mechanisms. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Malaysian exploding ant

You know Malaysian ants - always exploding all over themselves, ruining the fun. All kidding aside, it’s really true. Malaysian ants internally combust under threat, causing their bodies to explode (they wait until their enemies are close enough to die before detonating). Camponotus saundersi soldier ants have large glands full of poison inside their bodies. When they sense a threat, they contract their abs, causing the glands on either side of their bodies to explode and spray poison.




Sea cucumber




The sea cucumber can literally take on different body states - from hard to liquid - in order to defend itself. From wikipedia: “Like other echinoderms the cuke has a type of collagen in its skin capable of excreting or absorbing more water effectively changing from a ‘liquid’ to a ’solid.’ They can turn their bodies into mush, climb through small cracks and then solidify into small lumps so that they cannot be extracted.” Even more amazing than effectively scattering yourself into pieces of your collective whole and then reassembling: the ability to turn yourself inside out so that your digestive tract’s toxic juices poison your enemies. Yeah, the sea cucumber can do that, too. Do not mess.



Hagfish

The Pacific Ocean Hagfish has a disgusting way of defending itself. When under attack, it oozes a suffocating slime from its many pores that envelops its predator in a fatal mass of fibrous goo. The hagfish, unfortunately, sometimes falls prey to its own defense mechanism, but normally it twists itself into knots to escape the gelatinous goop.


The hairy frog or “horror frog” intentionally breaks its own bones to turn out a wicked set of cat-like claws. Like Wolverwine, only slimy and a lot more terrifying because it’s a freaking frog. Scientists don’t know if the claw is able to retract once it pierces through the skin. According to New Scientist: “Trichobatrachus robustus actively breaks its own bones to produce claws that puncture their way out of the frog’s toe pads, probably when it is threatened.” Also, it is apparently hairy. This doesn’t stop Cameroon locals from spearing and roasting hairy frogs as a tasty snack.

Bombardier beetle



Oh, there’s nothing like a pulsating jet of foul boiling anal fluid to say “Howdy, neighbor!” The bombardier beetle may look innocent enough, but it is famous for being able to spray boiling hot and chemically toxic bodily fluids in the direction of any would-be predator. The bombardier beetle doesn’t exactly melt in your mouth (but it will melt you).

Horned lizard




The horned lizard is a seemingly normal looking lizard found in the southwest region of the United States. It doesn’t use its horns to defend itself, as you might expect. Rather, when attacked, it pressures its own sinus cavities until the blood vessels in its eyes burst, and it sprays its attacker with blood from its eyes.

Skunk




The skunk, or polecat, is actually an attractive little mammal and some people keep them as pets (sans glands, of course). Skunks are omnivores but will turn to trash and carrion when no fresh insects or honeybees, their favorite food, are available. Though their amazing musk can be smelled miles away, their vision is exceptionally weak, and most skunks can only see about 10 feet in front of them. As a result, many are run over - half of all skunk deaths, in fact, are due to humans. All Mustelidae family members (like weasels and ferrets) can spray musk, but skunks are famously the most potent. The skunk’s anal musk is so powerful that if sprayed directly, the victim will experience temporary blindness.

Opossum




The cute little opossum has a number of tricks up its defensive sleeve. It can play dead. It can foam at the mouth in an attempt to convince its predators that it is toxic, sick or perhaps just bat sh*t insane. It can also emit a green anal fluid that smells nearly as bad as a skunk’s offensive spray (though mercifully it can easily be washed off). Opossums playing dead actually slip into a semi-comatose state, thus removing any excitement of the kill for a predator.

Potato beetle




Like our little friend the komodo dragon, potato beetle babies (larvae) cover themselves in their own poop to avoid being eaten. Unlike baby komodos, the potato beetle’s feces are actually poisonous to predators. Smelly but effective!

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Stunning High-Speed Liquid Photography

High speed photography equipment) to create such frozen-in-time compositions, revealing the inherent energy, the dynamics of flowing water and the beauty of it all! Some artists substitute water with more viscous liquids, producing even more lava-lamp-like effects. But often just playing with coloring and light is enough to make an effective picture. In this article, we will try to cover a large variety of stunning high-speed liquid photography.


Luiz Luxvich makes startlingly clear images of splashing water


Amazingly, water looks simply great without any added coloring, like in these shots from the French photographer






Water Kiss!
Not mercury, not ice - just water... splendid Water





Woke up one morning, saw this thing crawling toward me across the sink... decided to go to sleep some more:-







Suspended...

For more great examples of colored drops high-speed photography we're going to recommend this flickr group. The following photographs, though, we've received without any credit, so please let us know if you recognize them:-

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Bizarre Deaths in History

Steve Irwin (1962 - 2006): Death by Stingray




Irwin was an Australian wildlife expert and a well-loved TV personality, who gained worldwide fame from his internationally broadcast wildlife documentary program "The Crocodile Hunter," which he co-hosted with his wife Terri. While filming the documentary "Ocean's Deadliest" at the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Irwin swam too close above one of the stingrays with the cameraman directly right in front of it. Threatened by their presence, the ordinarily harmless stingray instinctively responded by flexing upward its razor-sharp, barbed tail which pierced Irwin's chest and into his heart, an injury that brought about his untimely demise at only 44 years of age.
Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626): Death by Stuffing Chicken





One of the leading figures of the English Rennaisance, Bacon was a statesman, philosopher, scientist and author, whose celebrated works "Novum Organum" (1620) and "The New Atlantis" (1626) contributed significantly to the European scientific revolution. During a particularly heavy snowstorm in 1626, Bacon suddenly came up with the thought of possibly using snow to preserve meat. Desirous of finding out, he went to nearby marketplace to buy a fowl and had its internal organs removed. Standing outside in the snow, he immediately began stuffing the fowl to freeze it. However, the fowl never froze, but he did. He contracted pneumonia and died a few days after.
Gregori Rasputin (1869 - 1916): Death by Poison, Gunshot, Beating and Drowning





Rasputin was a Russian mystic and monk who gained considerable influence on Tsar Nicholas II due to his unusual ability to use hypnosis to control the hemophilia suffered by Alexei, the heir to the throne. Rasputin survived being fed cakes laced with potassium cyanide and being shot through the heart. He was shot three more times by his assassins who found him to be alive and struggling to get up as they drew near to his body. He was then beaten with clubs and thrown into the freezing Neva River. When his body was recovered, an autopsy revealed that the cause of death to be hypothermia.
Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632 - 1687): Death by Conductor's Staff





Lully was an Italian-born French composer who worked most of his life as the appointed musician in the court of Louis XIV of France. While conducting the Te Deum in honor of Louis XIV's recent recovery from sickness, Lully was so deeply engrossed on keeping the tempo by banging his long staff against the floor (as was the custom of the time before the baton came into common usage) that he struck his toe so hard that the would developed into an abscess. He refused to have his toe amputated even if the wound had turned gangrenous and had spread, leading to his death two months after the incident.
Sherwood Anderson (1876 - 1941): Death by Toothpick





Anderson was an American author best known for his collection of short stories "Winesburg, Ohio" (1919) and the novel "Dark Laughter" (1925). He died in Panama of peritonitis that developed after accidentally swallowing a toothpick embedded in a martini olive at a party held on an ocean liner bound for Brazil.
George Allen (1918 - 1990): Death by Gatorade







Allen was an American Football coach, who was showered by some of his Long Beach State players with an ice cold bucket of Gatorade in celebration of their season-ending win over the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on November 17, 1990. Afterwards, he even granted media interviews for some time under the cold weather with a piercing wind and boarded the bus back to Long Beach State still in his drenched clothing. Since then, he acknowledged that he had not been feeling completely well. He finally succumbed to pneumonia on December 31, 1990.
Alexander Litvinenko (1962 - 2006): Death by Radiation Poisoning





Litvinenko was a former officer of the Russian State Security Services, who fled his country to the United Kingdom where he was granted political asylum in 2000. Litvinenko was hospitalized on November 1, 2001 when his health unexpectedly deteriorated. It was later discovered that he had been poisoned with significant amounts of the rare and extremely toxic radioactive element polonium-210. He died three weeks later, thus becoming the first known casualty of deliberate radiation poisoning. His murder marked the start of a new era of nuclear terrorism.
Jack Daniel (1850 - 1911): Death from Stubbed Toe







In 1905, Jack Daniel, founder of Tennessee whiskey distillery, had trouble opening his safe early one day at work as he always had difficulty remembering the right combination. He kicked the safe in frustration resulting in a toe injury that later became infected; and eventually died (six years later) from blood poisoning attributable to the mishap. He could have just dipped his toe in his famous whiskey to ward off infection.
Isadora Duncan (1877 - 1927): Death by a Scarf




Duncan was an American dancer, considered by many to be the mother of modern dance. Her extreme fondness for long flowing scarves was the cause of her death in a freak automobile accident in France at the age of 50. Duncan was strangled by her own scarf when it got caught in the rear wheel of a moving car.
Claude François (1939 - 1978): Death by a Light Bulb

François was a French pop singer, best known for writing "Comme d'habitude," which was adapted for the English public by Paul Anka into the celebrated hit "My Way" famously sung by Frank Sinatra. François noticed a broken light bulb while standing in a bathtub filled with water in his Paris apartment. But being a stickler for orderliness and cleanliness, he cannot help but try to change the bulb, resulting in his death by electrocution.

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Most Bizarre Celebrities

William Hung: the Chinese American Idol
William Hung is a Chinese American college student and American entertainer who gained fame and notoriety in early 2004 as a result of his poorly received audition performance of Ricky Martin's hit song "She Bangs" on the third season of the television series American Idol.

"Um, I really like music. It is very good. I want to make music my living." This was Hung's statement before he started singing Ricky Martin's "She Bangs!". As judges Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul tried to hold back their laughter, judge Simon Cowell dismissed Hung's performance outright: "You can't sing, you can't dance, so what do you want me to say?" Hung defended himself, stating, "Um, I already gave my best, and I have no regrets at all." Jackson and Abdul applauded his positive response, and Abdul said, "That's the best attitude yet." Hung's response to Cowell's criticism was in stark contrast to earlier contestants' often angry, confrontational rejoinders. Hung also remarked, "And you know, I have no professional training of singing and dancing," eliciting a response of mock surprise from Simon Cowell, saying, "No, well this is the surprise of the century." Hung was not admitted to the next round.





Hung rapidly gained a cult following around the world. A William Hung fan site set up by Realtor Don Chin and his wife Laura, recorded over four million hits within its first week. Hung subsequently appeared as a guest on a number of television programs including On Air with Ryan Seacrest, Entertainment Tonight, The Late Show With David Letterman, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, The Howard Stern Radio Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Dateline NBC, and CBS's The Early Show. He was also featured in numerous magazines and newspapers nationwide and parodied on Saturday Night Live and Celebrity Deathmatch.

On March 8, Koch Entertainment announced that Hung had decided to sign a record deal. The album has sold 195,000 copies, and reached #3 on Amazon.com's sales rankings.

Hung released a Christmas album, Hung for the Holidays, on October 19, 2004. Hung's third album, Miracle: Happy Summer from William Hung, was released July 12, 2005 and became an instant failure. Its poor reception perhaps indicates that Hung's fifteen minutes of fame had finally run out.



Gary Brolsma: the Numa Numa Dancer
A Flash-based video of now twenty-year-old American Gary Brolsma lip-synching the song energetically on his webcam brought the Numa Numa phenomenon to the US (video). Brolsma has stated that he first discovered the song in the Japanese flash animation.

Brolsma first published his "Numa Numa Dance" on the Newgrounds site on December 6, 2004. Since then it has popped up on hundreds of other websites and blogs, and he has made appearances on ABC's Good Morning America, NBC's The Tonight Show and VH1's Best Week Ever.

Brolsma is a resident of the state of New Jersey and is reportedly not happy with his fame, although he has created tweaked versions of the video since it became popular. According to The New York Times, Brolsma has become an "unwilling and embarrassed Web celebrity." Brolsma has stopped taking phone calls from the media; he canceled an appearance on NBC's Today Show on February 17, 2005, and he did not cooperate with The New York Times for their February 26, 2005 article about him.





Ghyslain Raza: the Star Wars kid
Ghyslain Raza (born 1988), from Canada, became known throughout the Internet in May 2003 as the "Star Wars Kid" when a video clip he recorded of himself was leaked online.

On November 4, 2002 Raza made a video of himself swinging a golf ball retriever around as if it were a weapon. Most believe he was imitating the Star Wars character Darth Maul with a lightsaber. The video was filmed at the studio of Séminaire St-Joseph high school. The tape was left forgotten in a basement for a few months. On or around April 19, 2003, the original owner of the videotape discovered Raza's recorded acts and immediately shared it with some friends. Thinking that it would be a funny prank, they encoded it to a WMV file and shared it using the Kazaa peer-to-peer file sharing network, calling the videofile Jackass_starwars_funny.wmv.

Within two weeks, the file was downloaded several times. An adapted version of the video was created, adding Star Wars music, texts, and lightsaber lights and sounds to Raza's golf ball retriever. According to Waxy.org, this was done by Bryan Dube, an employee from Raven Software. Several gaming, technology and Star Wars-related sites began to host the video, which caused the video to be downloaded more and more. Soon, people all over the world picked up the original and began making conversions of it, adding music, visual effects, and sounds, combining it with other well-known videos or scenes from films, for comic effect.

Raza reportedly suffered considerable embarrassment, in part because the video showed him to be overweight, and not particularly graceful. The case raised privacy issues and was extensively reported in mainstream news media worldwide, including the New York Times, CBS News and BBC News. The boy had to undergo therapy and counseling that began on October 12 and is currently still suffering chronic depression.




Mahir Cagri: "I KISS YOU!!!!!!"
Mahir Cagri, a resident of Turkey, became an Internet celebrity in 1999. His picture-laden personal homepage, which exclaimed in broken English his love of the accordion and travel, was visited by millions and spawned numerous fansites and parodies.

Mahir claimed in various interviews that his personal webpage was hacked, with additions such as "I like sex" embedded into his webpage. His website was quickly spread through word of mouth on the internet. The website came at a time when "Internet phenomenon" was a new concept for Internet users, media, and the curious public.

Some quotes from his site:
"I KISS YOU!!!!!!"
"Who is want to come TURKEY I can invitate ..... She can stay my home ........"
"I like sex"
"I like music, I have many many music enstrumans my home I can play"



Péter Guzli: Tourist guy
The tourist guy, is an Internet phenomenon consisting of a photograph of a tourist (Péter Guzli) that has appeared in many Photoshopped pictures after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The first one who claimed to be the tourist was the Brazilian businessman José Roberto Penteado. When Penteado started to get media attention, including an offer to be in a Volkswagen commercial, a 25 year old Hungarian man named Péter Guzli came forward as the real tourist. Guzli says, however, that he does not want publicity and did not originally release his last name.

Guzli took the photo on November 28, 1997, and was also responsible for the initial edit. He edited the image for a few friends, not realizing it would spread so quickly across the Internet. He first provided the original undoctored photo and several other photos from the same series as proof to a Hungarian newspaper. Later on, Wired News examined the evidence and confirmed that Guzli was the real tourist guy.


Florence Foster Jenkins: The Glory (????) of Human Voice
Florence Foster Jenkins (1868) was an American soprano who became famous for her complete lack of singing ability. she became tremendously popular in her unconventional way: her audiences apparently loved her for the amusement she provided rather than her musical ability. Jenkins was firmly convinced of her greatness, comparing herself favourably to the renowned sopranos Frieda Hempel and Luisa Tetrazzini, and dismissed the laughter which often came from the audience during her performances as coming from her rivals consumed by "professional jealousy".

Jenkins restricted her rare performances to a few favorite venues, and her annual recital at the Ritz-Carlton ballroom in New York City. Attendance of her recitals was always limited to her loyal clubwomen and a select few others - she handled distribution of the coveted tickets herself. At the age of 76, Jenkins finally yielded to public demand and performed at Carnegie Hall on October 25, 1944. So anticipated was the performance that tickets for the event sold out weeks in advance. Jenkins died a month later.




Dick Assman: a famous name
Dick Assman is a Saskatchewan gas station owner whose name propelled him to international celebrity status in 1995. Assman, who worked at Petro-Canada's Victoria Square Mall station in Regina, was discovered by David Letterman, who was amused by his name. Assman was lavishly introduced on July 24, 1995, on The Late Show with David Letterman, where he was a nightly feature for about a month. Live field units in Canada interviewed him for the show. Over the weeks, Assman received a musical tribute from Tony Orlando, while Joe Namath declared himself an "Ass-maniac".

Vancouver polling company Angus Reid reported that 49 percent of surveyed Canadians in September 1995 had heard of his name. Assman received a number of contracts for commercial appearances, was asked to run for public office, and received many marriage proposals. Assmania came to a close in August when Assman visited the Ed Sullivan Theater and was presented with a bouquet of roses by Letterman.




Noel Godin: the cream pie flinger

Noel Godin (1945) is a Belgian writer, critic, actor and notorious cream pie flinger or ‘entarteur'. Godin gained global attention in 1998 when his group ambushed Microsoft CEO Bill Gates in Brussels, pelting the software magnate with pies. Godin claims his goal has long been to ‘entarte' as many people like Gates as possible - people he feels are particularly self-important and lacking a sense of humor.

Godin, who uses the pseudonym ‘Georges Le Gloupier' has also inspired an unknown number of followers around the world, who now regularly provide him with details about the whereabouts of various important potential targets. It took 32 people to conduct the Bill Gates operation. His followers take care to look as ridiculous as possible as they throw their tarts, smiling broadly, spouting anti-pretentious poetry and repeating "gloup, gloup, gloup."




Pope Michael I: the elected Pope from Kansas

David Allen Bawden (born 1959), is an American citizen who was elected "Pope Michael I" by a group of six Conclavist or post-Sedevacantist Catholics, arguing that the elections of the last 6 popes were invalid because they are all modernists.

Sedevacantists argue that if the College of Cardinals will not or cannot elect a valid pope, ordinary Catholics can do so, under the principle of "Epikeia" (Equity). Acting on the basis of this, David Bawden was elected Pope by six people on 1990 (including himself and his parents). He is still on the job to this day.



Henry Earl: 936 alcohol-related offenses
Henry Earl (born 1949) is a homeless African-American man from Kentucky who is famous primarily because of his extensive police record, mostly for non-violent alcohol-related offenses.

Henry's rise to fame was in large part due to the fact that the Fayette County Jail had a public web site which listed a person's arrest record and mug shots. Henry Earl had an extensive record, and a wide range of emotions expressed in the mug shots, from despondent to happy. This page was linked to regularly by Internet news blogs - in particular, Fark.com and www.messedup.net. The web site eventually had to be shut down due to the strain that was placed upon it. Later, a Henry Earl website was made in tribute to him, by the admin of www.messedup.net, Heywood Jablomey. Henry has made numerous talk show appearances and has been featured in national and international media venues, including MSNBC, the UK Sunday Mail, and Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Henry Earl's Arrest History on alcohol related offenses as of Monday May 1 2006Statistic Name Statistic Value
Number of Lifetime Offenses 936
Number of Lifetime Days Spent in Jail 3634
2005 Year to date offenses: 44
2005 Days spent in jail 308
2006 Year to date offenses: 3
2006 Days spent in jail 82
Average Days per year spent in jail 259.57
Average duration of incarceration 3.89 days
Average duration of freedom 1.61 days

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More Abandoned And Decayed Hotels From Around The World

All throughout the world lie the scattered remains of hotels that once stood magnificent in their beauty, but which are now decaying and decrepit

The urban explorer may discover these architectural monuments of history on a trek in nearly any part of the world. From hotels that were only half-built and then abandoned mid-project to hotels who fell from their glory into a state of decay, here are eight more of the most interesting abandoned hotels in the world.









King Edward Hotel, Calgary

King Edward Hotel: The King Eddy, as it is affectionately called by those who want to revive it, was a hotel created in the 20th Century under the reign of King Edward VII. It was Calgary’s oldest continuously-operating hotel until 2004 when the site was condemned due to an infestation of cockroaches and an overgrowth of mold. A new owner had ambitious plans to re-open the hotel but it appears they may have taken on a project that’s bigger than they can handle as it continues to simply decay.

There are hopes that the historic building will still be brought back to life (and suggestions have been made that it could be turned into a venue for live music) but it’s unclear at this time whether it will ever make a return from its state of abandonment.






Hotel Regina Maris, Belgium

Hotel Regina Maris: This hotel located on the coast of Belgium in De Panne appears to have causes some confusion inside the travel industry. Hotel Regina is listed in several hotel directories but appears by all photographic accounts to actually be abandoned. Built in the 1920’s, it is not completely falling apart but has been the victim of extensive interior and exterior vandalism.








Diplomat Hotel, Philippines

Diplomat Hotel: This abandoned hotel in the Philippines is a historic attraction on the verge of being turned into a museum after decades of stagnation (unless you count the creatures that reportedly haunt the place). The building has served many purposes throughout the years including being a refugee camp, housing for Dominican friars and a first-class hotel. Its current state of disrepair is said to make the place incredibly spooky, so consequently it is a place of both notoriety and great interest to the world’s ghost hunters.








Palace Hotel, Jerusalem

Palace Hotel: The Palace Hotel was built in 1929 and once was the home of the Industry and Trade Ministry. Abandoned in 2004, it has been empty for several years. It isn’t going to be empty much longer, though; in 2010 this site is going to be home to the new Waldorf-Astoria luxury hotel.





Hotel Durant, Michigan

Hotel Durant: This grandiose hotel is named after William Durant, the founder of General Motors. That’s quite apropos considering that it is located in Flint, Michigan. This city used to be a thriving hotbed of automotive industrial activity, but has been in gradual decline due to the outsourcing of labour. The abandoned hotel serves as a symbol of the remains of a once-bustling area now fallen from its prime.







North Point Surf Resort, Barbados
North Point Surf Resort: Over thirty years ago there was a luxurious resort built on the Caribbean island of Barbados. With an Olympic-sized swimming pool and a dramatic staircase leading to the beautiful ocean beach, the North Point Surf Resort was poised to be a major tourist attraction. Unfortunately, the remote location didn’t appeal to travellers and the developer’s grandiose plans fell through. North Point Surf Resort is now a hangout for skinny-dipping Rastafarians but there are suggestions that it may soon get a renovation.


Dream Island
Dream Island: The site of this abandoned hotel looks like paradise and it could have actually been a dream come true if the region where it is located had been of any interest to tourists. Since that wasn’t the case, it’s simply just another spot marked only by some stunning, if not eerie, abandoned ruins.







Ramada Hotel, Louisiana

Ramada Hotel: The Ramada Hotel chain decided to move one of its Lafayette, Louisiana businesses to a new location and abandoned the old building. Sources say that it took less than two years for the abandoned hotel to fall into this somewhat shocking state of disrepair.

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Only first photos in the world

1826 - The first photo in the world




1856 - First underwater photo




1858 - First photo from the air



1861 - First photo in color





1946 - First photo from the space


1968 - First Photo of whole Earth




1975 - First Photo of Venus



2005 - First Photo of the planet out of our solar system

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Terrifying Tornadoes, Wind Storms and Hurricanes

The hurricane that swipes a town off the map. The month of tornadoes that won’t quit. A dust storm that has to be seen to be believed. While sudden volcanic explosions, massive earthquakes and terrifying tsunamis are examples of Mother Nature’s unexpected acts around the globe, some parts of the planet also experience ravaging tornadoes and hurricanes as reliably as the seasons. The damage these massive storms cause, however, is anything but predictable. In North America, residents in places like Florida and Kansas have learned to prepare for these wild disasters. But sometimes no amount of planning is enough.






Hurricane Ike



13 days, 114 lives, $10 billion in damage. Most recent in memory is the devastating but brief Hurricane Ike. Boston.com has a stunning picture gallery of Hurricane Ike and the destruction throughout Cuba, Haiti and the United States.

This home in Winnie, Texas was spared. Notice the horse grazing in the floodwater. Hurricane Ike was the first hurricane since Katrina to cause so much damage to mainland cities. Galveston was essentially wiped off the map, seeing damage only outdone by a storm in 1900.



The New England Hurricane



Hurricanes famously strike the Southern seaboard of the United States, but they can also reach as far north as New England. In 1938 a 120-m.p.h. hurricane slammed into New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and Rhode Island. 700 people were killed and 63,000 were instantly homeless in what is widely considered one of the worst storms of the last century. The hurricane created forceful two-story waves that flooded urban areas in New York and beyond.



A National Tragedy: Hurricane Katrina



The tragedy was unspeakable; the initial response was shameful. A combination of a lack of preparedness - despite warnings - and a lack of adequate response in the face of one of the most powerful hurricanes in U.S. history created an epic disaster that many critics argued became the defining failure of the Bush Administration and the federal government. Tens of thousands were displaced, injured and homeless; thousands still live in temporary housing provided by FEMA. What made Category 5 Katrina so devastating was not only its blunt wind force (175 mph winds) - it was the hurricane combined with the massive waves that caused the levee breach.

Much of the city was flooded beyond all repair or hope of habitation. As 20,000 agonized without sufficient supplies in the Superdome and another 30,000 tried to escape the city, stifling heat and putrid conditions turned New Orleans into a shocking story of government neglect. According to Popular Mechanics, “The city they left behind had been nearly wiped off the map, but Hurricane Katrina affected 90,000 square miles in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Well over 1300 people were killed across the region, and bodies were still turning up in condemned homes eight months later. The financial tally as of July 2007 was approaching $200 billion; some predict it will top $300 billion after all the checks are written.” The nation was horrified at the management of the disaster and an outpouring of aid and celebrity involvement continues well into 2008.


Hurricanes from Above



Going through the experience of a hurricane is terrifying - and in some tragic cases, deadly. Seen from above, however, hurricanes appear surreal, almost protective. The contrast is nothing short of unsettling. These are images of Hurricane Ike, Hurricane Gordon and Hurricane Ivan.



Tornadoes Caught on Film


Tornadoes are both terrifying and captivating. They are the products of thunderstorms and their whirling vortexes frequently reach up to 300 mph. As residents of the notorious Midwest’s Tornado Alley know, tornadoes can pop up suddenly and without much warning. In many tornado-prone areas residents have tornado shelters they can retreat to in the sudden event of a tornado





Up Close: Tornado Chasers


A resident of Orchard, Iowa snapped this image seconds before the tornado passed by their home. It’s not an isolated case; people can’t seem to resist catching twisters on film despite the risks.
Photographer Ryan McGinnis captured these stunning formations in 2006.



The Tri-State Tornado


Did you know there was a time when weather experts weren’t allowed to discuss tornadoes? The severe Tri-State Tornado in 1925, one of the worst storms of the last century, brought social awareness and paved the way for public alerts. The country’s longest-lasting tornado destroyed 15,000 homes in four states and killed hundreds.

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