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Re: The weird, wild, and amazing natural world
Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2010 6:17 pm
by Captain Seafort
GrahamKennedy wrote: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:
Re: The weird, wild, and amazing natural world
Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 10:12 pm
by Mikey
I don't know what the hell a "bolshy" is, but that was funny.
Re: The weird, wild, and amazing natural world
Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 6:56 am
by Vic
Bolshy........commie, pinko, unless of course it has another wierd slang meaning where the good Captain lives.
Re: The weird, wild, and amazing natural world
Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 11:19 am
by Tsukiyumi
I thought it was an opera company. Meh, whatever.
Re: The weird, wild, and amazing natural world
Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 9:18 pm
by 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.
Re: The weird, wild, and amazing natural world
Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 1:07 pm
by Tyyr
I think tripping over your feet would be a really bad thing in that situation.
Re: The weird, wild, and amazing natural world
Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 4:23 am
by 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.
Re: The weird, wild, and amazing natural world
Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 7:32 am
by Tsukiyumi
Yeah, yeah.
Those are the ones UFOs create so we can't see them visually.
Re: The weird, wild, and amazing natural world
Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 2:45 pm
by IanKennedy
Tsukiyumi wrote: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.
Re: The weird, wild, and amazing natural world
Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 3:49 pm
by Mikey
Agreed with Ian. I keep expecting a ramp to slide down, a doorway appear, and Michael Rennie to march out.
Re: The weird, wild, and amazing natural world
Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 12:41 am
by 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.
Re: The weird, wild, and amazing natural world
Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 2:21 am
by mwhittington
Re: The weird, wild, and amazing natural world
Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 3:26 am
by Tsukiyumi
Awesome.
Re: The weird, wild, and amazing natural world
Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 2:32 pm
by Lighthawk
Tsukiyumi wrote:Awesome.
Seconded
Re: The weird, wild, and amazing natural world
Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 2:51 pm
by Tyyr
That's... wow. You could have told me it was lava and I'd have completely believed it.