The weird, wild, and amazing natural world

[Captain Seafort]

The startling thing is that many more and larger surprises like this are probably waiting to be found in the Earth's crust. Only the most miniscule fraction of the crust has been explored throughout history - we know far more about conditions at the edge of the solar system than we do about conditions even one mile under our own feet.

Given the bolshy characters who live down there, I don't think we want to know much more:

[Mikey]

I don't know what the hell a "bolshy" is, but that was funny.

[Vic]

Bolshy........commie, pinko, unless of course it has another wierd slang meaning where the good Captain lives.

[Tsukiyumi]

I thought it was an opera company. Meh, whatever.

[Lighthawk]

Named after peak-hooded New Mexican monks (lower right above), penitentes are dazzling naturally-forming ice blades that stick up at sharp angles toward the sun. Rarely found except at high altitudes, they can grow up taller than a human and form in vast fields. As ice melts in particular patterns, valleys formed by initial melts leave mountains in their wake. Strangely, these formations ultimately slow the melting process as the peaks cast shadows on the deeper surfaces below and allow for winds to blow over the peaks, cooling them.

[Tyyr]

I think tripping over your feet would be a really bad thing in that situation.

[Lighthawk]

Avoided by traditional pilots but loved by sailplane aviators, lenticular clouds are masses of cloud with strong internal uplift that can drive a motorless flyer to high elevations. Generally, lenticular clouds are formed as wind speeds up while moving around a large land object such as a mountain.

[Tsukiyumi]

Yeah, yeah.

Those are the ones UFOs create so we can't see them visually.

[IanKennedy]

Yeah, yeah.

Those are the ones UFOs create so we can't see them visually.

Yes, but the brighter captains make sure the cloud they hide in isn't an exact copy of their space ship. Pity we didn't get any pictures of those clouds.

[Mikey]

Agreed with Ian. I keep expecting a ramp to slide down, a doorway appear, and Michael Rennie to march out.

[Lighthawk]

Fire whirls (also known as fire devils or tornadoes) appear in or around raging fires when the right combination of climactic conditions is present. Fire whirls can be spawned by other natural events such as earthquakes and thunderstorms, and can be incredibly dangerous, in some cases spinning well out of the zone of a fire itself to cause devastation and death in a radius not even reached by heat or flame. Fire whirls have been known to be nearly a mile high, have wind speeds of over 100 miles per hour and to last for 20 or more minutes.

[mwhittington]

The "fire" waterfall of El Capitan is one of the most spectacular sights in Yosemite National Park. The spectacular view of the waterfall is created by the reflection of sunlight hitting the falling water at a specific angle. This rare sight can only be seen at a 2-week period towards the end of February. To photograph this rare event, photographers would often have to wait and endure years of patience in order to capture them. The reason is because its appearance depends on a few natural phenomenons occurring at the same time. First, is the formation of the waterfall - The water is formed by the melting of snow and ice at the top of the mountain. It melts between the month of December and January and by the end of February there might not have much snow left to melt. Second, is the specific angle of the sun ray hitting the falling water - The sun's position must be exactly at a particular spot in the sky. This occurs only in the month of February and at the short hours of dusk. If it is a day full of clouds or something blocking the sun, the effect won't show up. It coincides with the fact that the weather in the National Park at that time of the year is often volatile and unpredictable. It compounds the difficulty of getting these pictures.

[Tsukiyumi]

Awesome.

[Lighthawk]

Awesome.

Seconded

[Tyyr]

That's... wow. You could have told me it was lava and I'd have completely believed it.