Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Fly Geyser, Reno
Fly Ranch features two geysers, one of which is dormant. The other, Fly Geyser, was accidentally formed by a water well drill that hit a geothermal source, and continuously sprays hot water. Fly Ranch is private property and does not allow visitors.
strange-places-beppu
. NINE HELLSFurther away in the Shibaseki District are Blood - Pond Hell (Chinoike Jigoku) - shown above - and Waterspout Hell (Tatsumaki Jigoku). OF BEPPU - JAPAN
Beppu, located on the Japanese island of Kyūshū Japan
The Bermuda Triangle
The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil’s Triangle, is a region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean in which a number of aircraft and surface vessels are alleged to have mysteriously disappeared in a manner that cannot be explained by human error, piracy, equipment failure, or natural disasters. Popular culture has attributed these disappearances to the paranormal, a suspension of the laws of physics, or activity by extraterrestrial beings. Apparently it doesn’t seem alien but it is really scary!
cenote-cancun-mx
Deep within the jungles of Mexico and Guatemala , this civilization flourished when Europe was still in the Dark ages. These people were the masters of mathematics and had mapped the heavens. These warriors called Maya had fought the Spanish. The cities were built with utmost perfection without any metal tool. The stone structures found in jungle talks about the genius they were. The Mayas are a mystery in themselves as such great architecture doesn’t seem to belong to that era.
The underground world called Cenote are water bodies which will make a chill rn down your spine if you manage to walk down the narrow stairs that led to this vertical hole. Nothing in the world can be more bizarre than the sight you see when you get used to light under 20 feet.
Mount Roraima (Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana)
Since long before the arrival of European explorers, the mountain has held a special significance for the indigenous people of the region, and it is central to many of their myths and legends It is a pretty remarkable place. It is a tabletop mountain with sheer 400-metre high cliffs on all sides. There is only one ‘easy’ way up, on a natural staircase-like ramp on the Venezuelan side – to get up any other way takes and experienced rock climber. On the top of the mountain it rains almost every day, washing away most of the nutrients for plants to grow and creating a unique landscape on the bare sandstone surface.
LIBRARY
The library of Celsus, in Ephesus , Asia Minor (Anatolia, now Turkey ), was built in honor of Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus (completed in 135 AD) by Celsus' son, Gaius Julius Aquila (consul, 110 AD). Celsus had been consul in 92 AD, governor of Asia in 115 AD, and a wealthy and popular local citizen.
The library was built to store 12,000 scrolls and to serve as a monumental tomb for Celsus. It was unusual to be buried within a library or even within city limits, so this was a special honor for Celsus.
The building is important as one of few remaining examples of an ancient Roman-influenced library. It also shows that public libraries were built not only inRome itself but throughout the Roman Empire . In a massive restoration which is considered to be very true to the historic building, the front façade was rebuilt and now serves as a prime example of Roman public architecture. (The Library of Celsus may serve as a model for other, less well preserved, libraries elsewhere in the Empire, for it is possible that literary collections were housed in other Roman cities for the benefit of students as well as traveling Romans. Such libraries may also have housed collections of local documents of interest if they were not destroyed during the Roman conquest. Verulamium (St Albans) and Caesaromagus (Chelmsford
The edifice is a single hall that faces east toward the morning sun, as Vitruvius advised, to benefit early risers. The library is built on a platform, with nine steps the full width of the building leading up to three front entrances. The center entrance is larger than the two flanking ones, and all are adorned with windows above them. Flanking the entrances are four pairs of Ionic columns elevated on pedestals. A set of Corinthian columns stands directly above the first set, adding to the height of the building. The pairs of columns on the second level frame the windows as the columns on the first level frame the doors, and they also create niches that would have housed statues. It is thought there may have been a third set of columns, but today there are only two registers of columns.
This type of facade with inset frames and niches for statues is similar to that found in ancient Greek theaters (the stage building behind the orchestra, or skene) and is thus characterized as "scenographic".
The building's other sides are irrelevant architecturally because the library was flanked by buildings.
The inside of the building, not fully restored, was a single rectangular room (55 feet (17 m) wide by 36 feet (11 m) long) with a central apse framed by a large arch at the far wall. A statue of Celsus or of Athena, goddess of truth, stood in the apse, and Celsus' tomb lay directly below in a vaulted chamber. Along the other three sides were rectangular recesses that held cupboards and shelves for the 12,000 scrolls. Celsus was said to have left a legacy of 25,000 denarii to pay for the library's reading material.
The second and third levels could be reached via a set of stairs built into the walls to add support to the building and had similar niches for scrolls. The ceiling was flat, and there may have been a central square oculus to provide more light.
The style of the library, with its ornate, balanced, well-planned façade, reflects the Greek influence on Roman architecture. The building materials, brick, concrete, and mortared rubble, signify the new materials that came into use in the Roman Empire around the 2nd century C.E.
The building's façade was depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 20 million lira banknote of 2001-2005 and of the 20 new lira banknote of 2005-2009.
The building is important as one of few remaining examples of an ancient Roman-influenced library. It also shows that public libraries were built not only in
The edifice is a single hall that faces east toward the morning sun, as Vitruvius advised, to benefit early risers. The library is built on a platform, with nine steps the full width of the building leading up to three front entrances. The center entrance is larger than the two flanking ones, and all are adorned with windows above them. Flanking the entrances are four pairs of Ionic columns elevated on pedestals. A set of Corinthian columns stands directly above the first set, adding to the height of the building. The pairs of columns on the second level frame the windows as the columns on the first level frame the doors, and they also create niches that would have housed statues. It is thought there may have been a third set of columns, but today there are only two registers of columns.
This type of facade with inset frames and niches for statues is similar to that found in ancient Greek theaters (the stage building behind the orchestra, or skene) and is thus characterized as "scenographic".
The building's other sides are irrelevant architecturally because the library was flanked by buildings.
The inside of the building, not fully restored, was a single rectangular room (55 feet (17 m) wide by 36 feet (11 m) long) with a central apse framed by a large arch at the far wall. A statue of Celsus or of Athena, goddess of truth, stood in the apse, and Celsus' tomb lay directly below in a vaulted chamber. Along the other three sides were rectangular recesses that held cupboards and shelves for the 12,000 scrolls. Celsus was said to have left a legacy of 25,000 denarii to pay for the library's reading material.
The second and third levels could be reached via a set of stairs built into the walls to add support to the building and had similar niches for scrolls. The ceiling was flat, and there may have been a central square oculus to provide more light.
The style of the library, with its ornate, balanced, well-planned façade, reflects the Greek influence on Roman architecture. The building materials, brick, concrete, and mortared rubble, signify the new materials that came into use in the Roman Empire around the 2nd century C.E.
The building's façade was depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 20 million lira banknote of 2001-2005 and of the 20 new lira banknote of 2005-2009.
Scotra
A the junction of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean is the Socotra Archipelago, a place that has enjoyed its relative isolation since breaking away from Gondwana a hundred million years ago. This has let Mother Nature evolve in different ways. The UNESCO World Heritage Site is home to interesting flora—trees with blood-red sap, some with smelly, poisonous cucumbers, others that are bottle-shaped—nearly two hundred exotic birds, and seven hundred unique plants and animals found only in this archipelago. And to top it all off, the local language called Socotri, spoken by some 40,000 people living there, is as unique as the species found there.
Ajanta Caves
The caves are located just outside the
mutter-museum
Like watching creepy skeletons and bones hanging off from cupboards and shelves? Museum of Medical History Myuttera Mütter Museum
EYE OF AFRICA – MAURITANIA
Currently scientists believe that they know what caused this formation. Hey! It's a Ri chat structure ... whatever that really means. A more Bizarre theory is that it is the impact site of an ancient but very powerful bomb.
From space this mysterious depression in the Sahara Desert of Mauritania really does look like a human eye. The image to the left is the "pupil" but a visit to Google Earth zoomed out a little will reveal the cliffs that make up the rest of the eye. This natural phenomenon is actually a richat structure caused by the dome shaped symmetrical uplifting of underlying geology now made visible by millennia of erosion. Please note that this explanation is not wholly accepted by the scientific community. There still remain academics that believe it is the sight of a meteor impact and yet others still that believe it resembles the formations caused by underground nuclear blasts. By the way, we estimate that the detonation would have had to be in the gigaton range. Currently no country in the world has a weapon even close to this destructive yield.
Oradour-sur-Glane, France
Oradour-sur-Glan is a town in west-central France
HELL'S DOOR – TURKMENISTAN
It is most impressive at night and the glow from its flames can be seen miles away. The inside of the crater is black from carbon build up and the heat is so intense that it is only possible to stay near the edge for a few minutes.
Located in the Kara-Kum desert of Turkmenistan is the village of Darvaza
banaue-rice-terraces-715556
The Banaue Rice Terraces (Tagalog: Hagdan-hagdang Palayan ng Banawe) are 2000-year old terraces that were carved into the mountains of Ifugao in the Philippines
The Banaue Terraces are part of the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, ancient sprawling man-made structures from 2,000 to 6,000 years old. They are found in the provinces of Kalinga, Apayao, Benguet,Mountain Province
Locals to this day still plant rice and vegetables on the terraces, although more and more younger Ifugaos do not find farming appealing, often opting for the more lucrative hospitality industry generated by the Rice Terraces. The result is the gradual erosion of the characteristic "steps", which need constant reconstruction and care. In 2010 a further problem was drought, with the terraces drying up completely in March of that year.
The Banaue Terraces are part of the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, ancient sprawling man-made structures from 2,000 to 6,000 years old. They are found in the provinces of Kalinga, Apayao, Benguet,
Locals to this day still plant rice and vegetables on the terraces, although more and more younger Ifugaos do not find farming appealing, often opting for the more lucrative hospitality industry generated by the Rice Terraces. The result is the gradual erosion of the characteristic "steps", which need constant reconstruction and care. In 2010 a further problem was drought, with the terraces drying up completely in March of that year.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
strange-places-nyos
Lake Nyos - otherwise known as "The Lake that Killed." The outgassing of carbon dioxide was so large that it lowered the level of the lake by over a metre and turned the water to the colour of blood. 1,700 people died within two hours. This image is accredited to the USGS - United States
The real name of this place is Lake Nyos but the locals now call it “Killer Lake Cameroon
strange-places-blue-hole
The Great Blue Hole is located in the Light House Reef aproximately halfway between Long Caye and Sandbore Caye. It is about 60 miles east from the mainland of Belize
Found on both land and in the ocean throughout the
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