Ready to have your mind blown by nature? 🌪️ From glowing waves and raining animals to fire that burns blue and lakes that literally disappear, some natural phenomena are so strange, you'd think they're straight out of a sci-fi movie. This video dives into the moments when the world said, “Wait… what just happened?” 😲 It's a wild ride through the most unexpected forces of nature that left scientists and eyewitnesses totally stunned. So if you're into the mysterious, the bizarre, or just love saying “Whoa,” this one’s for you. Hit play and prepare to question reality a little! Animation is created by Bright Side.
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This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
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FunTranscript
00:00So hey, take a look. This is our planet's crust, its outermost and thinnest layer.
00:05And here's the mantle. It's way thicker.
00:08And this is the core. Wait, what's happening here?
00:12Uh-oh. The core is leaking right into the mantle.
00:15Quickly, we gotta stop the leak.
00:17What do you mean it's been going on for millennia?
00:20Earth's core is actually a very intriguing thing overall.
00:24Its unique properties, ranging from housing a mysterious metal orb
00:28to being nearly as hot as the Sun's surface.
00:31Well, another one on this list of enegmas, apparently.
00:34Our planet's core is leaking gas. I can relate.
00:38Is it dangerous for us? Is it going to boom if somebody lights a match?
00:42Well, not really. All because this gas is a rare isotope called helium-3.
00:48Helium-3 is a version of helium with one neutron instead of the usual two.
00:53Most of helium-3 in the universe was created around the time of the Big Bang.
00:59So it's some pretty ancient stuff.
01:01As the solar system formed, this gas became trapped deep within Earth's core.
01:06Shielded from space collisions and other cosmic hullabaloo,
01:10it remained hidden in the planet's depths for billions of years.
01:14Now, we've known for quite some time that, occasionally,
01:17trace amounts of helium-3 escape to the surface.
01:20But no one has known the exact mechanism behind this leakage.
01:25Until recently, the breakthrough came with the discovery of exceptionally high ratios of helium-3
01:31and its more common counterpart, helium-4, in ancient lava flows on Baffin Island.
01:37This island is located in Canada's remote Arctic archipelago.
01:42The craziest thing is that these findings have the highest helium-3 ratios ever observed on dry land.
01:48The research revealed significant helium-3 levels.
01:52It might mean that the volatile elements from the solar nebula,
01:56that's the cloud of gas and dust that gave birth to our solar system,
02:00have remained in Earth's mantle since the earliest stages of the planet's formation.
02:05The discovery was made in lava flows that erupted around 60 million years ago,
02:10during the formation of a new seafloor, when Greenland and North America split apart.
02:15But hey, it was amicable!
02:16The research team, led by Forrest Horton from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,
02:23used advanced techniques to measure the helium trapped in olivine crystals within the rocks.
02:28These crystals formed before the magma erupted,
02:31which helped preserve the helium as it rose from deep inside the planet.
02:35The scientists found about 10 million helium-3 atoms per gram of olivine.
02:40That's a shockingly high concentration for Earth.
02:43You see, Earth's core acts as a reservoir for helium-3, storing it since the planet's formation.
02:50Over time, small amounts of this gas escape into the mantle through processes like mantle convection,
02:57as when the planet's rocky interior stirs and moves like boiling water.
03:02Magma plumes, which appear in the mantle and rise to the surface, carry helium-3 with them.
03:07When the magma erupts, most of the helium escapes into the atmosphere.
03:12However, some of it gets trapped in crystals within the lava.
03:16That's how scientists can later study its origin and movement.
03:20Now, let's follow the journey of helium-3 in the Baffin Island rocks.
03:24It began at least 100 million years ago.
03:28Mantle plumes carrying the helium likely took tens of millions of years to reach the surface.
03:33It means helium-3 has been leaking from Earth's core for millennia.
03:38It also means that our planet most likely formed in a solar nebula containing helium-3 and other noble gases.
03:46Baffin Island is an ideal location for studying Earth's deep interior.
03:50Its volcanic rocks are remnants of ancient lava flows that erupted when the North Atlantic began to open.
03:56The researchers traveled by helicopter to the remote island, which boasts towering cliffs, icebergs, and even polar bears.
04:05Local organizations helped the team access the area and ensured their safety during the expedition.
04:11The discovery of helium-3 leaking from the core raises new questions about what other elements might be stored deep within Earth.
04:19Could it be significant amounts of other light elements, such as carbon and hydrogen?
04:24These elements are critical for life and could provide further insights into the planet's habitability and evolution.
04:32For instance, the core's lighter-than-expected density might be explained by the presence of these elements.
04:38Plus, understanding the movement of helium-3 could also help track the behavior of other gases across the core-mantle boundary.
04:47But this isn't the only unexpected discovery about Earth's insides.
04:51Let's go to Turkey's Central Anatolian Plateau.
04:55There, Earth's crust seems to be slowly dripping into the planet's interior.
05:00This process, known as lithospheric dripping, is still shaping the surface geology of the region.
05:06Lithospheric dripping occurs when the lower part of Earth's crust, heated to a certain temperature, becomes viscous and begins to flow downward.
05:14Imagine a thick liquid, like honey or syrup, flowing into a bowl.
05:20Now you get it.
05:21Speaking of Earth, it's been happening over a long period of time.
05:25And as this material moves downward, it pulls the crust with it, causing the surface to sink.
05:32As a result, we see new depressions or basins.
05:35Once this gooey material detaches from the crust and sinks further into the mantle, the surface rebounds, causing the ground to rise.
05:45This cycle of sinking and rising is what creates the shifting landscape in regions like the Cogna Basin in the Central Anatolian Plateau.
05:54It is the very site where geophysicists observe signs of lithospheric dripping.
06:00The research team, led by Julia Anderson from the University of Toronto, first noticed unusual patterns in satellite data, including a circular feature in the region where the ground was sinking.
06:12After examining geophysical data beneath the surface, the team identified a seismic anomaly in the upper mantle and discovered a thickened crust beneath the Cogna Basin.
06:22All this points to the presence of dense material, like a result of lithospheric dripping.
06:29The team's model suggests that the Cogna Basin is currently in the later stages of this process.
06:35While the surrounding Central Anatolian Plateau has been uplifting over the past 10 million years, the Cogna Basin is sinking at a rate of about an inch per year.
06:45While this number might seem small, it is quite significant in a region that is otherwise rising.
06:51Earlier studies have shown that the Central Anatolian Plateau has risen for around a half-mile over the last 10 million years.
07:00It likely happened due to lithospheric dripping.
07:03However, the discovery of the Cogna Basin reveals that this process is not one time, but can occur multiple times in different regions.
07:12The initial drip that formed the Central Anatolian Plateau likely caused daughter events, which led to the formation of the Cogna Basin.
07:21To validate their model, the researchers conducted a cool lab experiment.
07:25It simulated the lithospheric drip process.
07:28So, they took a tank filled with a highly viscous silicone polymer, which acted as a proxy for Earth's lower mantle.
07:36They also used a mixture of modeling clay for the upper mantle and ceramic spheres in silica sand to simulate the crust.
07:44A dense seed was inserted into the upper mantle layer to initiate the drip.
07:49Over the next few days, the researchers observed that the drip descended slowly.
07:54Within 10 hours, it began to fall.
07:56By 50 hours, a secondary drip had started.
08:00The results confirmed that, even without horizontal movement in the crust, the dripping process caused the surface to sink, forming a depression similar to the Cogna Basin.
08:12This experiment has shown that lithospheric dripping can cause vertical deformations even without horizontal movements.
08:20Plus, it has proven that one event can trigger more drips that can change Earth's surface.
08:25This discovery helped scientists better understand how Earth's crust behaves over long periods of time, and how tectonic processes can affect the landscape.
08:35Now, how about a bonus fact?
08:38In 1692, Edmund Hallett, you know, that guy famous for Halley's Comet, you know, suggested that Earth might be hollow.
08:47He imagined layers beneath the crust with two concentric shells and a core about the size of mercury, all floating in glowing gas.
08:55He even went further, speculating that these inner layers could be inhabited.
08:59This wild idea inspired Jules Verne's famous novel, Journey to the Center of the Earth.
09:06Wow!
09:07Now, have you ever wondered about the longest time it rained non-stop?
09:12Even an hour of rain could be a big deal if you're hanging out in a dry spot like the Atacama Desert in South America.
09:19It can set a record for that place.
09:20But in super rainy spots, like the Amazon rainforest, having 40 days of rain in a row might not even turn heads.
09:29Interestingly, we only have rainfall records where people live and keep track.
09:33Many towns and cities skip the whole rain data collection thing.
09:37Plus, there are so many places on Earth where nobody lives, like rainforests or the open ocean.
09:43So our rainfall knowledge is a bit patchy.
09:46Now, if we were to talk about records, Hawaii has a couple.
09:50People there have some seriously long rainy days, especially on islands where winds come from the mountains.
09:57From 1939 to 40, they recorded 331 days in a row with measurable rainfall.
10:04If you're a person who likes to watch the rain at home with a cup of tea, this might sound ideal to you.
10:09But we need to see the sun at least occasionally.
10:13Getting some sun is good for your body and soul.
10:16Obviously, you get vitamin D.
10:18Just 5 to 15 minutes of sunlight a few times a week can make a real difference.
10:23And have you ever heard the phrase sunny disposition?
10:27Researchers found that people feel down when there's not much sun around.
10:31Sunny days make us happier.
10:33Sunshine boosts your serotonin, which fights off bad moods.
10:37That sunny serotonin isn't just for your mood.
10:40It also helps you sleep.
10:41And it's also a heart assistant.
10:43When the sun hits your skin, your body releases something called nitric oxide, which chills out your blood pressure.
10:51Healthy blood pressure means a healthier heart.
10:53Now, go tell that to the people who had to go through 881 consecutive days of rain.
10:59Yeah, the record was set almost three full years of rain.
11:03This happened from 1913 to 1916 in Hanunumumaki, Hawaii.
11:09It rained like there was no tomorrow because the region is a tropical rainforest.
11:14How do clouds make rain?
11:16Well, rain happens when damp air goes up into the sky and gets a bit chilly.
11:21As this air cools down, tiny water vapor molecules huddle up, forming super small droplets that look like a fluffy cloud team.
11:29Now, inside these clouds, things get playful.
11:32The air moving around can sometimes make these droplets bump into one another and get bigger.
11:38Then they can turn into ice crystals high up in the clouds where it's chilly.
11:42These little ice buddies get heavy enough to take a tumble down, melting in the rain on the way to the ground.
11:48Now, there isn't just one type of rain.
11:52Raindrops can come from all kinds of storms.
11:55Thunderstorms show up, make a splash, and then they're out.
11:58They can dump a ton of rain in no time.
12:01Other storms, like winter storms, are more laid bad.
12:04They stick around for days and dish out gentle rain or even snow if it's cold enough.
12:09Usually, the weather switches between moods.
12:12It's nature's way of balancing things out.
12:14After stormy weather, the sun comes out, the air dries up, and we get to enjoy some clear skies.
12:21But things can get interesting if you're in a place with mountains near the ocean.
12:25When moist air hits the mountains, it's forced to climb over them, creating rainfall lasting sometimes for weeks.
12:32What if I told you there was a time on Earth when rain fell continuously for 2 million years and completely reshaped the planet's destiny?
12:41At the end of the Permian era, around 234 million years ago – I wasn't around then, but I read about it – the Triassic period began, marked by the onset of an extended period of rainfall.
12:54This phenomenon is now called the Carnian-pluvial event.
12:58Well, that's what they decided to call it.
13:01Recent studies, supported by evidence, suggest that it didn't reshape the planet in that sense and that it was triggered by coal combustion.
13:08The rain wasn't continuous either.
13:11So we just debunked a myth here.
13:13Woohoo!
13:14Next, we have columnar jointing.
13:17This is the fancy term for groove patterns that form in lava flows, sills, dikes, and other rocky stuff.
13:25These lava creations come in all shapes and sizes.
13:28Most are seen as straight, parallel columns.
13:31Some have curves and varying widths.
13:33They can be as high as 1,181 inches.
13:37I'll save you the map.
13:39It's roughly 98 feet.
13:43The columns are formed by pressure and the cooling process.
13:47As lava becomes cooler, it shrinks and forms cracks.
13:51Once a crack starts, the lava moves around.
13:54These cracks expand to the surface of the flow.
13:56Water sneaks into the cooling lava, making it chill down fast starting from the surface, leaving its mark in those patterns.
14:03Devil's Postpile in California is a must-visit place if you want to see columnar jointing.
14:10But hey, they're found all around the world.
14:13Let's raise our heads to the sky to see something magical.
14:17Fire rainbows, also known as circumhorizontal arcs, look like flames dancing above the clouds.
14:23To see these eye-catching arcs, you need a special cloud type called cirrus clouds and the sun at least 58 degrees high in the sky.
14:32It's a VIP collaboration between sunlight and clouds.
14:36Let's break it down further.
14:38Take London, for instance.
14:39It's around 51 degrees north.
14:41Now, sorry Londoners, no fire rainbows for you.
14:44Now we move to deep waters to see underwater crop circles.
14:51These are giant circular patterns found in 1995 near the shores of southern Japan.
14:57Locals were baffled.
14:58They dubbed them mystery circles, as if the ocean had a secret talent for sand art.
15:03The mystery was solved in 2011.
15:06The unlikely artist turned out to be a tiny puffer fish, just 5 inches long.
15:11The researchers found out that males were on a mission, spending a solid 7 to 9 days building their circles by swimming in and out and using their fins to carve valleys into the sandy floor.
15:23They decorate the peaks of their creations with bits of shells and corals, turning their sandy canvases into masterpieces.
15:31Okay, they don't do it for the sake of art.
15:33The curious circles have a purpose.
15:35The sandy center of the circle serves as a nest.
15:38Male swimming moves mix things up, getting sand particles just where they need to be.
15:44When a lady puffer fish swims by, the male twirls and dances, swirling sand around.
15:50If she is impressed and thinks he is the one, she lays her eggs in the sandy heart of the circle.
15:56There you go!
15:58Another happy ending!
16:00Now, let's look at frost flowers.
16:02You might have seen thin sheets of ice that look like delicate petals and sometimes pop up from the stems of plants.
16:09The ice is about as thick as a credit card.
16:12It forms when the weather is cold outside.
16:14The soil is damp but not frozen, as well as plant stems.
16:18Not all plants produce these frost flowers, and the conditions must be just right.
16:24Here's how it happens.
16:25The water inside a plant's stem gets pulled up from the ground.
16:29When it freezes, it expands and cracks the stem vertically.
16:33As it hits the chilly air, it turns into ice.
16:36As more water gets pulled up through the crack, it keeps pushing out super thin layers of ice.
16:42Whether a frost flower looks like a narrow ribbon or a wider one depends on the length of the crack.
16:47And the way it curls and shapes itself into these petals is random.
16:52Or the reason might lie in the difference in friction along the sides of the crack.
16:56These frost flowers are unique and delicate, and they don't last long.
17:00They melt or just disappear quickly.
17:03To spot them, keep an eye out for tall grass, especially in places that don't get mowed much.
17:09Pay attention to purple ironweed, blackberries, and wing stems.
17:17Imagine sitting at home, drinking coffee, and watching a new episode of your favorite series.
17:22And suddenly, boom, crash! What's happened?
17:26Nothing terrible.
17:27Just a meteorite that has just crashed into your kitchen after breaking the roof.
17:31You might think this story is entirely made up.
17:33But that's what actually happened in New Jersey during the Eda Aquarid meteor shower,
17:37which is active from April 19th to May 28th and peaking on May 5th through 6th.
17:43The space rock itself was the size of a pork roll sandwich.
17:46It was also pitch black and weighed almost 4 pounds.
17:50It slammed through the roof and hit the wooden floor, ruining it.
17:54When the inhabitants of the house found the rock and touched it, it was still warm.
17:59Luckily, the thing wasn't radioactive, and there was no one at home at the time this intruder arrived.
18:03But the most shocking thing about this meteorite?
18:06Astronomers believe it might have come from a cosmic snowball traveling far, far away from Earth.
18:11To explain this, I'll have to tell you a bit more about the Eta Aquarid.
18:16This meteor shower is famous for its fast meteors, leaving long, glowing trails.
18:22It's produced by Comet Halley, completing its orbit around the sun every 76 years.
18:27The comet hasn't visited Earth since 1986 and won't come back until 2061.
18:33Right now, it's somewhere near the constellation of Hydra, which is more than 100 light years away from our planet.
18:38Every year, Earth has to pass through trails of debris left by the comet.
18:42They collide with our atmosphere, disintegrate, and create beautiful, colorful streaks in the night sky.
18:48And it happens every time Halley returns to the inner solar system.
18:52Its nucleus sheds a layer of ice and rock into space, and some of it reaches our planet.
18:57The central New Jersey authorities believe the meteorite that sneaked into the house originated from that meteor shower.
19:03But I feel that you might be pondering another question that confuses many people.
19:09What's the difference between all those space bodies?
19:12I mean, there are so many of them flying out there.
19:15Meteors.
19:17Meteorites.
19:18Asteroids.
19:19Comets.
19:20Ugh.
19:21Okay, let's figure it out together.
19:24An asteroid is a rocky body orbiting the sun.
19:27It's usually not very big and quite inactive.
19:30Comets are different.
19:31They're covered with ice that normally evaporates in sunlight, forming a coma, which is what a comet's atmosphere is called.
19:38This coma consists of dust and gas.
19:40A comet also has a tail that is made of dust and or gas, too.
19:44A meteoroid is a small part of a comet or asteroid that orbits the sun.
19:49If this meteoroid manages to sneak into Earth's atmosphere and vaporize there, it's a meteor.
19:55It's often called a shooting star.
19:57And finally, if a meteoroid manages to survive the passage through our planet's atmosphere and lands on Earth's surface, it becomes a meteorite.
20:05If you think such space guests are a rare occurrence, that's not exactly true.
20:11Every day, our planet is hit with more than 100 tons of sand-sized particles.
20:16About once a year, a large, car-sized asteroid enters Earth's atmosphere, turns into an impressive fireball, and burns, luckily, before reaching the surface of the planet.
20:26And every 2,000 years or so, a meteoroid the size of a soccer field hits Earth, causing a lot of damage.
20:33And now, imagine this.
20:35A huge, really ginormous asteroid is approaching our planet.
20:39There's no one on Earth to predict its appearance.
20:41Neither is there anyone to stop it.
20:43That's why soon, the asteroid crashes into the surface of Earth.
20:46The force of the collision is so powerful that the space visitor doesn't stop until it gets through the crust to a depth of several miles.
20:54The impact leaves a crater of more than 100 miles across.
20:58Thousands of cubic miles of solid rock instantly turn into vapor.
21:03The crash sets off a series of natural disasters that erase 75% of life on Earth.
21:07The creatures that were close enough to see the crash don't survive for longer than a few seconds.
21:12Even closer to the impact crater, the ground is covered with thousands of feet of hot ash, grit, and rubble.
21:19Several seconds later, everything from many miles around bursts into flames.
21:24It doesn't burn down within the next several minutes after the collision faces a different, even more terrifying fate.
21:30The asteroid causes a monstrous, largest-ever tsunami.
21:33A recent study claims that it was thousands of times more powerful than any wave people have ever seen.
21:39The tsunami was so devastating, it eroded seafloor sediments half a world away.
21:44The team of scientists even remodeled the events of the first 10 minutes after the impact.
21:48And the model showed that the asteroid had produced waves up to 30,000 times greater than one of the largest tsunamis people have ever recorded.
21:56The one in the Indian Ocean in 2004?
22:00You've probably already guessed that I'm talking about a real-life event.
22:04Namely, the asteroid collision that wiped dinosaurs off the face of the Earth.
22:08The Chicxulub asteroid, as we now know it, is believed to come from the outer reaches of the solar system.
22:14This space body was at least six miles across.
22:17It crashed into the shallow seawaters near the Yucatan Peninsula.
22:21The impact was so powerful that it left its signature on the face of the planet.
22:25In 2021, researchers found out that the collision had carved mega-ripples into Earth's crust in the region of modern-day central Louisiana.
22:34But such devastating events, when an object that large threatens Earth's inhabitants, happen very rarely once every few million years.
22:42Space rocks smaller than 80 feet usually burn up in the atmosphere of our planet, causing little to no damage.
22:47If a rocky meteoroid larger than 80 feet but smaller than half a mile across was to hit Earth, it would cause local damage to the impact area.
22:55As for a space rock with a diameter larger than half a mile, it'd likely have worldwide effects.
23:01And these space bodies aren't even the largest.
23:04For comparison, asteroids populating the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter can be as huge as 580 miles across.
23:11But you can breathe out.
23:13They're too far away.
23:15And don't pose any threat to our planet.
23:18All the time, our scientists keep learning more and more about hazardous asteroids and comets.
23:23They have even established a Planetary Defense Coordination Office, a.k.a. PDCO.
23:28It ensures that potentially hazardous objects get detected as early as possible.
23:33An object is considered potentially hazardous if its orbit is predicted to bring it within 5 million miles of Earth.
23:39It should also be large enough to reach the surface of our planet, over 100 feet across.
23:46Interestingly, a meteorite impact isn't the worst thing you need to worry about.
23:51Some scientists warn that the most dangerous thing is the shockwave produced by a meteor breaking apart in the atmosphere.
23:57For example, one meteor, which originally was an asteroid the size of a six-story building,
24:02entered our planet's atmosphere in February 2013 and broke apart 15 miles above the ground.
24:08This generated a shockwave that was equivalent to a ginormous explosion.
24:13An even larger space visitor was called the Tunguska meteorite.
24:17It was also 10 times more energetic.
24:19It broke into pieces over the Tunguska River in June 1908, flattening 500,000 acres of forest.
24:26If the meteorite hadn't been so huge, this event would have gone undetected because of the remote location where it all happened.
24:32So it's a good thing that 90 to 95% of meteors don't survive the fall through our planet's atmosphere.
24:39Only those that are made of stronger materials make it so far.
24:43Most meteorites, though, are thought to come from comets, which are way more fragile than asteroids.
24:48We should also consider the speed of a meteor.
24:53If one is approaching Earth at a slower speed, it's more likely to survive the collision with the atmosphere of our planet.
25:00It means that the meteor won't burn completely, and some of its remains will reach the ground.
25:05Hey, ever heard of a fire rainbow?
25:12Yeah, me neither.
25:13How about a circumhorizontal arc?
25:16Didn't think so, but just so you know, they're one and the same thing.
25:20At first glance, it looks like a painting, or like a rainbow-colored splash in the sky.
25:26Despite the name, they have nothing in common with either fire or rain.
25:30This phenomenon happens on rare occasions when the sun shines through a particular type of ice cloud formation.
25:38The rainbow halos are just as unique.
25:40Again, a specific type of ice crystals and clouds needs to be present for the surface of the Earth to bend light from the sun into a perfect ring.
25:50The same thing can happen with moonlight.
25:52The only difference will be that moon halos are usually white, and sun halos can be rainbow-colored.
25:58When visiting regions with high altitudes, you may be one of the lucky people to stumble upon penitentes.
26:06They're basically naturally formed ice spikes.
26:09For them to be formed, they need a really cold and elevated environment where the air is dry.
26:15The sunlight turns ice directly into vapor, rather than melting it into water.
26:20And that's why these blades of snow and ice start to pop up on the surface of the Earth.
26:24As cute as they may be, they can end up as tall as 15 feet.
26:30Now, what happens when small, individual droplets of lava meet the wind?
26:35Pele's hair, basically.
26:37Let me explain.
26:38The word pele comes from an ancient Hawaiian symbol for volcanoes.
26:43Whenever the wind picks up little drops of lava, it stretches them into hair-like strands,
26:49similar to the process of glass wire creation.
26:51These delicate strands can stretch as far as 6 feet.
26:56On rare occasions, it can rain without any clouds.
27:00But does it really?
27:01Let's look at the science behind this rare phenomenon.
27:05It's sometimes called a sun shower, just because it looks like the rain is falling straight from the sun.
27:11Let's be clear, though.
27:13There is no way rain can ever come down directly from a star.
27:16Rain clouds are at a bit of a distance from that specific location.
27:21With sun rays being angled, the clouds become out of sight.
27:25Add a little wind to blow the rain in your direction, and ta-da!
27:29You get sun showers.
27:32Located in Bolivia is a place called Salar de Juni.
27:36It's the largest salt flat in the world.
27:39It's also the home of half of the world's lithium,
27:41which is a crucial component for making batteries.
27:44But what else is so special about this place?
27:47Well, whenever the rain season comes,
27:50it turns this piece of flat land into a perfectly reflective mirror lake.
27:55What comes to your mind when you hear about the Blood Falls?
27:58A horror movie?
27:59Mwah!
28:00Well, they are merely a series of waterfalls located in one of the driest regions of Antarctica.
28:06They emerge from an underground lake filled with a special kind of bacteria.
28:10These little organisms use sulfates as fuel instead of sugars,
28:15which makes them very intriguing for scientists.
28:18The water contained in this lake is so full of iron that it basically just rusts when it meets the air.
28:24Hence, the reddish color of the waterfall, which also gives it its trademark name.
28:30Okay, we all know the song, but it's not really made up.
28:34There is actually such a thing called a desert rose.
28:37It's not a plant, though, but a unique form of the mineral gypsum.
28:41It develops in dry, sandy places that can occasionally flood.
28:45This constant switching between a wet and dry environment lets the gypsum crystals emerge between grains of sand,
28:52trapping them and forming a rose-like shape.
28:55Ever heard of the Eye of Sahara?
28:58Scientists are still trying to figure out how it was formed.
29:02You can only see it if you fly above it, but it's basically a naturally formed dome that dates back to approximately 100 million years ago.
29:11And no, I wasn't around then.
29:13It has a rough diameter of 25 miles and consists of a bunch of concentric rings.
29:18The biggest one, or the central area, measures about 19 miles in diameter.
29:24Astronauts were some of the first people to notice it, and it's been studied ever since.
29:29In fact, even to this day, when landing in Florida, they know they're almost home when they see the Eye of Sahara.
29:37One of the most beautifully colored trees in the world is located in the Philippines and Indonesia.
29:43It's called the Rainbow Eucalyptus.
29:46It got its name because of its bark that switches colors and peels away as the tree ages.
29:52The bright green bark is the youngest, as it contains a substance called chlorophyll, usually found in leaves.
29:59It then switches to purple and then to the color red.
30:02And finally, it turns brown as it grows and loses the chlorophyll.
30:07Now, don't be tricked into thinking that's a whole forest.
30:10It's one single tree.
30:12And no, it's not some sort of optical illusion, either.
30:16Let me explain.
30:17Underneath that soil, there is a complex network of roots that connects around 47,000 tree-like shapes you see above the ground.
30:27It's called the Quaking Aspen.
30:29Some of these trees are among the oldest and largest organisms in the world.
30:33Now, here's a good destination for all travelers.
30:37Or maybe not so good, after all.
30:39The most lightning-stricken area in the world, according to recent data released by NASA, is Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela.
30:48Out of all the days in a year, 300 of them feature thunderstorms in this location.
30:53What makes this area so unique, though, that storms happen so often?
30:58Well, it's because where cool mountain air meets the warm, moist breeze and generates electricity over the lake.
31:05The Eternal Flame Falls are located in upstate New York, near the Canadian border.
31:11In this region, there is a tiny waterfall with a big secret.
31:16A spark about 8 inches tall.
31:18Turns out there's a natural gas seat that provides fuel to the flame behind the waterfall.
31:23The waterfall provides enough coverage so that it stays lit pretty much every time.
31:29Hikers do enjoy to relight it if they see that it's been blown out.
31:33This phenomenon is actually quite common.
31:36But this one gained more popularity because it is younger than most.
31:40And it looks very good in pictures, let's be honest.
31:43I've heard of yellow sand, white sand, and even black sand here or there.
31:48But I've never heard of green beaches until now.
31:51Papakolia, also known as Green Sand Beach, is located in Hawaii and is one of the few beaches in the world that features green sand.
32:01The unique coloring comes from olivine rock that was formed when a nearby volcano erupted.
32:06Actually, in Hawaii, all the volcanoes are nearby.
32:10Move over, green sands, because some of the other beaches around the world can even glow at night.
32:16And it's completely natural.
32:18The culprit?
32:19A little thing called photoplankton, or microalgae, as they're sometimes called.
32:25They're basically little plants that contain chlorophyll and need sunlight in order to live and grow.
32:31Most photoplankton kinds are able to float in the upper part of the ocean, where the sunlight can still reach them beneath the water.
32:38When the photoplankton gets agitated by the movement of waves and currents, they emit light, which looks like some glow during the night.
32:47These special microorganisms are found on beaches in a lot of places around the world, such as the Maldives, Puerto Rico, and the Everglades.
32:56At the base of a mountain, located just outside of Afton, Wyoming, is a little river called the Intermittent Spring.
33:04There are only three of this kind in the whole world.
33:07But what makes this little string of water so mysterious?
33:11Well, the fact that it starts and stops every few minutes.
33:14Scientists have yet to pinpoint precisely why this happens.
33:17They speculate that it's basically just a siphon effect that happens deep within the ground that causes the river to just start and stop so often.
33:26Should you ever be interested in checking it out, be sure to do so in the late summer, as that's when the Intermittent Spring is most active.
33:35Do you see the irony here?
33:37You can only see the spring in the summer.
33:40Okay, I'm done.
33:42You're taking a stroll on a warm summer afternoon.
33:44The grass is green, the sun is in the sky, and suddenly, you feel yourself sinking.
33:50You begin to panic, but then immediately you bounce back up.
33:54You test your footing and jump slightly.
33:56The grass bounces with you, like a trampoline.
33:59This phenomenon is caused by soil liquefaction.
34:03Excess water from heavy rain or floods becomes trapped in the soil, causing it to be waterlogged.
34:08This makes the ground temporarily act like a giant waterbed.
34:11While it may be tempting to run and bounce on this springy grass, it's best to tread carefully.
34:18The grass could potentially break open, and if someone fell through, it would be incredibly tricky for them to get back out again.
34:26An erupting volcano is already a pretty terrifying sight, with clouds of dark smoke and flowing molten hot lava.
34:32What's even more terrifying is that they can produce lightning.
34:36Volcanic lightning is pretty hard to study, so scientists don't know exactly what causes it.
34:41A common theory is that during an eruption, the ash picks up so much friction that it creates a buildup of static electricity.
34:48This static electricity then triggers the volcanic lightning.
34:52A fire whirl, or fire tornado, is exactly what it sounds like.
34:56They occur when ground winds pick up flames and escalate the embers into a whirling force.
35:01These spinning columns of fire can reach up to 1,000 feet tall, but luckily, they only last for a couple of minutes.
35:08Fire tornadoes are pretty rare, but they can be extremely dangerous.
35:12In Tokyo in 1923, a large city-wide fire produced a gigantic fire tornado.
35:18The tornado lasted 15 minutes and devastated the city, causing significant damage and leaving 38,000 people injured.
35:25On a cold and cloudless winter night, you might have been lucky enough to witness colorful beams of blue and orange light reaching up towards the sky.
35:35These are called light pillars.
35:37They occur when light is reflected from tiny ice crystals that float about in the atmosphere.
35:42These pillars are more common in cold, northern countries like Canada or Russia.
35:46We've all seen the colorful rainbow arches that the sun produces.
35:51It's much rarer to see a rainbow light up in the sky, produced by the moon.
35:55This is called a moonbow.
35:57It's bright and colorful like a rainbow, and occurs when moonlight reflects off water droplets in the sky.
36:03Moonbows are incredibly rare, and can only occur in specific conditions.
36:07The moon must be very low, the sky has to be dark, and rain must fall directly opposite from the moon, to create this lunar rainbow.
36:14If you're taking a moonlit stroll along the beach at night, you might come across the strange phenomena of a bioluminescent beach.
36:23This occurs when a microorganism in the water called plankton are agitated by the movement of the waves and give off a bright blue color.
36:31These microorganisms tend to live in warmer waters, so you can find these luminescent beaches in places like the Maldives, Puerto Rico, and even Florida.
36:39In Antarctica, you'll find the famous Blood Falls.
36:44Blood-red colored water pours out of the Taylor Glacier from an underground lake.
36:48Scientists originally believed that the striking color was caused by a microorganism, similar to the luminescent beach's glowing plankton.
36:56But after further studies, it was discovered that the water has abnormally high levels of iron that oxidize and turn to rust the second they hit fresh air.
37:04In colder climates where lakes are frozen all year round, if you look pretty closely beneath the icy waters, you'll notice frozen bubbles trapped in the ice.
37:14These are small pockets of methane gas.
37:17Bacteria in the water feast on other organisms and digest them to produce methane.
37:22The methane turns into floating bubbles in the frozen water, trapped beneath layers of ice.
37:26Asperatus clouds are one of the rarest events in nature.
37:31This cloud formation consists of incredibly dark and storm-like waves of clouds.
37:35Although these clouds appear ominous and look like they carry a heavy storm, they usually dissipate without ever affecting the weather.
37:42These clouds most commonly appear in the Great Plains of the United States, but they haven't been observed since 2009.
37:49Despite being a famously harsh climate, the desert can produce some beautiful things, like desert roses.
37:56These are intricate rose-like formations of crystal clusters.
38:00The intense switch between dry and wet conditions forms the crystals, and traps grains of sand within them to give them their signature color.
38:10From afar, you could easily mistake a waterspout as a large tornado traveling over a body of water.
38:15In reality, waterspouts are a type of funnel-shaped cloud.
38:20They are rotating columns of cloud-filled wind, which often take on a darker color.
38:25Waterspouts are much weaker and smaller than tornadoes, and they aren't strong enough to suck anything into them.
38:30This phenomenon typically occurs in tropical climates, and they usually dissipate before reaching land.
38:37Lenticular clouds are flat clouds that lay on top of the other, looking like stacks of pancakes in the sky.
38:43They typically form in high altitudes where geographic features like mountains or tall buildings interrupt the airflow.
38:49Because of their unique shape, lenticular clouds have been suggested as an explanation for some UFO sightings.
38:56As our climate changes, new natural phenomena develop.
39:01One of these is exploding permafrost.
39:03The increasing temperature in arctic zones is causing the permafrost to melt.
39:07Just like in frozen lakes, bubbles of methane gas are trapped in the permafrost.
39:11As the permafrost begins to melt, the gas is released.
39:15This results in large explosions in the ground, which leave behind massive holes.
39:20The first case of this was reported in 2013, and several more have been reported since.
39:26When you think of icebergs, you usually think of a large chunk of pristine white ice.
39:31But in Antarctica, you find icebergs striped with colors of green, blue, yellow, and more.
39:37The different colors are caused due to the ice forming in special conditions.
39:41Green typically appears when water that is rich in algae freezes.
39:44Blue stripes are more often freshly frozen water.
39:47Other colors are typically caused by sediments of debris picked up by the water as it freezes.
39:54Nacreous clouds are some of the rarest clouds on the planet.
39:57They typically occur at high altitudes and are only visible within two hours after sunset.
40:02The clouds appear beautiful as they display light waves of various colors.
40:06But don't be fooled.
40:07These clouds are actually a pretty dangerous sight.
40:11Nacreous clouds are incredibly destructive to our atmosphere.
40:14Their presence encourages the chemical reaction that breaks down our ozone layer.
40:18The ozone layer is an essential shield protecting us from the sun's harmful rays.
40:23The more depleted it is, the more at risk we are of global warming.
40:26The last place you might expect to find a natural fire is in the middle of a waterfall.
40:33But it's more common than you think.
40:35In upstate New York, in the middle of a small running waterfall is an eternal flame around 8 inches tall.
40:41Beneath the waterfall is a natural gas seat.
40:43A low pressure of gas that escapes from underground into the Earth's atmosphere.
40:48The small fire is sheltered enough by rocks from the waterfall's spray to stay lit permanently.
40:53Typically, green sand isn't what you'd imagine when you think of tropical beaches.
40:59But in Hawaii, and other volcanic islands around the globe, you'll find beaches covered with dark green sand.
41:05This remarkable color is due to the erosion of olivine, a type of rock formed by nearby volcanic eruptions.
41:11Over the years, the rock slowly withers into sand and washes onto the shore, resulting in these strange colored beaches.
41:18Penitentes are fields of ice spikes, formed in high altitudes.
41:24These occur when sunlight beams directly onto ice, turning it into water vapor rather than melting them.
41:30The sunbeams vaporize small dimples in the snow's surface, resulting in sharp crystal-like formations.
41:36The spike can grow as tall as 15 feet.
41:39Mammotus clouds are some of the most unusual and distinctive formations of clouds.
41:44The clouds can extend over hundreds of miles and appear like the sky has been blanketed with cotton balls.
41:50The clouds themselves are harmless, but they often signify that a dangerous storm is nearby.
41:55So if you see them, head inside.
41:58A green flash sunset is a rare phenomenon that occurs briefly at sunset or sunrise,
42:04when the sun is almost entirely out of the sky.
42:07In the right conditions, onlookers can witness a distinct green flash, making the sun appear bright green.
42:13This is caused by sunlight reflecting off the Earth's atmosphere, causing the light to refract into different colors.
42:19The sun appears green, but really, it's just an optical illusion.
42:25That's it for today.
42:27So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
42:32Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the bright side.
42:35Let's keep an eye on the light.
42:36Let's go.
42:36Let's go.
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42:51Let's go.