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Transcript
00:00:00Haha, you come to sunny California and go for a hike in the Santa Lucia Mountains.
00:00:06There, you have a strange, unpleasant feeling, as if someone's watching you.
00:00:13You look around but don't see a single soul.
00:00:15That's when you glance at the tops of distant mountains in front of you, and your heart
00:00:19skips a beat.
00:00:21Up on the peaks, you can see the outline of a giant humanoid figure, arms stretched out
00:00:26with a magnificent full rainbow circling it.
00:00:30This mysterious figure is dressed in all black.
00:00:33You can't make out any facial expressions or detail, but you can see it moving.
00:00:38Then it vanishes right before your eyes.
00:00:41Congrats, you've just witnessed the Dark Watchers, a phenomenon that's been terrifying
00:00:46hikers in the California mountains for over 300 years.
00:00:51Even now, scientists can't give an exact explanation for this mysterious appearance.
00:00:56What we do know is, it's completely natural… probably.
00:01:00One theory claims that there are no silhouettes at all.
00:01:03The human brain just thinks up images created by shadows the clouds cast on the mountains.
00:01:09Over the centuries, people share stories about this legend, and their minds begin to show
00:01:14it, building recognizable images.
00:01:16The same can happen to you, like when you see the contours of a human face on a burnt
00:01:21piece of toast, or the shape of a dog in a passing cloud.
00:01:25The most accepted scientific explanation is what's called a Brocken Specter.
00:01:30It's when sunlight gets bent by drops of fog or clouds.
00:01:34That explains the rainbow surrounding these figures.
00:01:37As for the shadow, it's only your own being stretched and projected on the mountains before
00:01:43you.
00:01:44After all, these figures usually show up when the sun is behind the witness.
00:01:49Natural or not, the vanishing mysterious figure scared the wits out of you.
00:01:54So you head east and find yourself in the desert.
00:01:57The blazing sun beats down on your back.
00:01:59There's nothing for hundreds of miles around.
00:02:02Hard to believe this dry, lifeless plain was once the bottom of a lake.
00:02:07You notice a long trail in the sand, as if someone was pushing or pulling something really
00:02:12heavy across the ground.
00:02:14You follow the strange trail, and at the end you find… a single large stone.
00:02:19But why would anyone drag a heavy rock across the middle of the desert?
00:02:24Nothing touched the stone.
00:02:25It moved by itself.
00:02:27It's a phenomenon called sailing stones.
00:02:30Every winter, ice covers the ground here.
00:02:33When a strong enough wind blows, the stone starts to glide across the slippery surface.
00:02:39Once the ice melts, all that's left is a winding trail behind a single lonesome rock.
00:02:45For some relief from the scorching California sun, we head to Antarctica.
00:02:49Snow, ice, and more blinding sun.
00:02:52Yep, it's a desert too.
00:02:55The light is almost blinding.
00:02:56You squint, and off in the distance, you see something red sticking out from all the surrounding
00:03:02endless white.
00:03:03As you get closer, you realize it's a waterfall.
00:03:07An ominous red cascade flowing from the glacier.
00:03:11Splashes fly in all directions and stain the white snow.
00:03:14Don't worry, these so-called bloodfalls are nothing of the sort.
00:03:20Thousands of years ago, I wasn't around then, a glacier formed over a pond and blocked access
00:03:25to sunlight, heat, and oxygen.
00:03:27Then the pond managed to break through the glacier with a little trickle of water.
00:03:32When such salty water with high levels of iron meets oxygen, it creates that scarlet
00:03:37rust color.
00:03:38This is the only waterfall of its kind in the world.
00:03:42Now in the town of Taos, New Mexico, locals hear a strange hum every day.
00:03:48But not all of them.
00:03:49For some reason, only about 2% of the residents can hear the sound.
00:03:54Some theories propose it's caused by the location's unusual acoustics.
00:03:58Others put it down to some strange auditory hallucination or even something more sinister.
00:04:05Unexplainable sounds happen on other worlds as well.
00:04:09In 2020, the Mars rover recorded a strange hum coming from the Red Planet.
00:04:14It's a quiet, continuous drone that sometimes fluctuates because of Marsquakes.
00:04:20Back on Earth, we head to the warm rainforests of Southeast Asia.
00:04:24You see a tree that looks as if someone poured paint all over it.
00:04:28But the rainbow eucalyptus was painted by nature.
00:04:32Its unusual bark changes colors over time like a kaleidoscope.
00:04:36It starts off as a bright green shade, then red, orange, purple, and finally brown.
00:04:42Then the colorful cycle starts again.
00:04:45One of the biggest mysteries of nature is ball lightning.
00:04:48It's a glowing blue, orange, or yellow sphere that appears during a thunderstorm.
00:04:53Many witnesses say they hear a hissing sound and detect a strong odor with it.
00:04:58The first mention of ball lightning described it breaking through a window and disappearing.
00:05:03As with any mystery, scientists can't explain the exact cause.
00:05:07A popular theory is that ordinary lightning strikes the ground and causes a reaction between
00:05:12oxygen and vaporized soil elements.
00:05:15Ball lightning often occurs during earthquakes, when it usually takes the form of a blue flame
00:05:20coming out of the ground.
00:05:22The ball lightning phenomenon happens all over the world, but so far, no one's been
00:05:26able to snap a picture of it.
00:05:29There's an extremely unusual volcano in Java.
00:05:33If you go there at night, you'll see an electric blue flame burning from the ground,
00:05:37along with oozing bright blue lava.
00:05:40It's incredibly hot, but that's not actually lava.
00:05:44All this unusual blue is sulfur gas escaping from crevices in the volcano and catching
00:05:49on fire.
00:05:51It also condenses into a liquid form and looks like blue lava flowing down.
00:05:56As soon as you come to the Nambib desert, you immediately notice something very strange.
00:06:02Sprinkled among the dry grasslands are almost perfect circles of dirt where nothing grows.
00:06:08These massive polka dots are called fairy circles, and, you guessed it, nobody really
00:06:14knows what causes them.
00:06:15The likely culprit is termites eating the grass around their underground colony.
00:06:20Well, that could explain the circles' differing sizes.
00:06:23The bugs continue to eat as the colony expands outwards, but they stop before they encroach
00:06:29on a neighboring colony.
00:06:30The patches where you do see grass show a sort of boundary separating different termite
00:06:35populations, or so goes the theory.
00:06:39Heading down under to Australia's Lake Hillier, your eyes don't deceive you.
00:06:44Yes, that lake is bubblegum pink, and it's perfectly safe to swim in!
00:06:49The giant pink puddle is a salt lake, and it's not the only one of its kind in the
00:06:53world.
00:06:54Salt lakes are pink because of a kind of algae and other microorganisms living in them.
00:07:00They produce a red pigment to protect themselves from the sun.
00:07:03What's unique about Lake Hillier, though, is the water is still pink even if you scoop
00:07:08it up into a glass, and it remains bright pink all year round.
00:07:12The same can't be said about other pink lakes.
00:07:16Japan is home to one of the most famous active volcanoes in the world.
00:07:20It's special because it creates an incredible natural phenomenon – a dirty thunderstorm.
00:07:27The volcano regularly spews out a black cloud of smoke, ash, and lightning.
00:07:32During an ordinary storm, ice crystals collide with each other and cause discharge, creating
00:07:38lightning.
00:07:39In a dirty thunderstorm, particles of volcanic ash collide instead of ice.
00:07:45A peaceful night on the beach, the waves wash up on the shore and glow neon blue.
00:07:51But it's not the water that's glowing, it's the creatures living in it.
00:07:55This phenomenon is called bioluminescence.
00:07:58Plankton and algae release this glow when waves disturb them.
00:08:02And fish, squid, and crustaceans can emit neon light as well to lure prey.
00:08:08No time to walk along the shore enjoying the natural light show – hurry, we're heading
00:08:12out to open sea, there's no storm or wind at all!
00:08:16Which is why it's so surprising when you see a massive wave 5 stories high suddenly
00:08:21sweep across the calm waters.
00:08:23It nearly overturns your boat, but just as soon as it arrives, it vanishes in an instant.
00:08:30What was that?
00:08:32This unpredictable and still unexplained danger is called a rogue wave.
00:08:37One theory of how they form is from the sea's surface encountering a strong headwind.
00:08:42But remember, you didn't feel any wind blowing!
00:08:46Theory number 2, and the most accepted one, different waves combine to form one large
00:08:51one.
00:08:52It's something called kinetic vampirism.
00:08:55Under certain natural conditions, waves accumulate and exchange kinetic energy.
00:09:00Among all the waves, there will be one that absorbs the energy from the others like a
00:09:05vampire.
00:09:06When a lot of energy is accumulated, it releases itself in the form of a giant wave.
00:09:13Hey, ever heard of a fire rainbow?
00:09:17Yeah, me neither.
00:09:19How about a circumhorizontal arc?
00:09:21Didn't think so, but just so you know, they're one and the same thing.
00:09:26At first glance, it looks like a painting, or like a rainbow-colored splash in the sky.
00:09:31Despite the name, they have nothing in common with either fire or rain.
00:09:36This phenomenon happens on rare occasions when the sun shines through a particular type
00:09:41of ice cloud formation.
00:09:44The rainbow halos are just as unique.
00:09:46Again, a specific type of ice crystals and clouds needs to be present for the surface
00:09:51of the Earth to bend light from the sun into a perfect ring.
00:09:56The same thing can happen with moonlight.
00:09:58The only difference will be that moon halos are usually white, and sun halos can be rainbow-colored.
00:10:05When visiting regions with high altitudes, you may be one of the lucky people to stumble
00:10:10upon penitentes.
00:10:12They're basically naturally formed ice spikes.
00:10:15For them to be formed, they need a really cold and elevated environment where the air
00:10:19is dry.
00:10:20The sunlight turns ice directly into vapor, rather than melting it into water.
00:10:25And that's why these blades of snow and ice start to pop up on the surface of the
00:10:30Earth.
00:10:31As cute as they may be, they can end up as tall as 15 feet!
00:10:36What happens when small, individual droplets of lava meet the wind?
00:10:41Pele's hair, basically.
00:10:43Let me explain.
00:10:44The word Pele comes from an ancient Hawaiian symbol for volcanoes.
00:10:49Whenever the wind picks up little drops of lava, it stretches them into hair-like strands,
00:10:54similar to the process of glass wire creation.
00:10:58These delicate strands can stretch as far as 6 feet!
00:11:02On rare occasions, it can rain without any clouds.
00:11:06But does it really?
00:11:07Let's look at the science behind this rare phenomenon.
00:11:11It's sometimes called a sun shower, just because it looks like the rain is falling
00:11:15straight from the sun.
00:11:17Let's be clear, though.
00:11:18There is no way rain can ever come down directly from a star.
00:11:23Rain clouds are at a bit of a distance from that specific location.
00:11:27With sun rays being angled, the clouds become out of sight.
00:11:31Add a little wind to blow the rain in your direction, and ta-da!
00:11:35You get sun showers!
00:11:38Located in Bolivia is a place called Salar de Uyuni.
00:11:42It's the largest salt flat in the world.
00:11:44It's also the home of half of the world's lithium, which is a crucial component for
00:11:49making batteries.
00:11:50But what else is so special about this place?
00:11:53Well, whenever the rain season comes, it turns this piece of flat land into a perfectly reflective
00:11:59mirror lake.
00:12:01What comes to your mind when you hear about the Blood Falls?
00:12:04A horror movie?
00:12:05Well, they are merely a series of waterfalls located in one of the driest regions of Antarctica.
00:12:12They emerge from an underground lake filled with a special kind of bacteria.
00:12:17These little organisms use sulfates as fuel instead of sugars, which makes them very intriguing
00:12:22for scientists.
00:12:24The water contained in this lake is so full of iron that it basically just rusts when
00:12:29it meets the air.
00:12:30Hence, the reddish color of the waterfall, which also gives it its trademark name.
00:12:35Okay, we all know the song, but it's not really made up.
00:12:39There is actually such a thing called a desert rose.
00:12:43It's not a plant, though, but a unique form of the mineral gypsum.
00:12:47It develops in dry sandy places that can occasionally flood.
00:12:51This constant switching between a wet and dry environment lets the gypsum crystals emerge
00:12:56between grains of sand, trapping them and forming a rose-like shape.
00:13:02Ever heard of the Eye of Sahara?
00:13:04Scientists are still trying to figure out how it was formed.
00:13:08You can only see it if you fly above it, but it's basically a naturally formed dome
00:13:13that dates back to approximately 100 million years ago.
00:13:17And no, I wasn't around then.
00:13:19It has a rough diameter of 25 miles and consists of a bunch of concentric rings.
00:13:25The biggest one, or the central area, measures about 19 miles in diameter.
00:13:30Astronauts were some of the first people to notice it, and it's been studied ever since.
00:13:35In fact, even to this day, when landing in Florida, they know they're almost home when
00:13:40they see the Eye of Sahara.
00:13:43One of the most beautifully colored trees in the world is located in the Philippines
00:13:48and Indonesia.
00:13:49It's called the Rainbow Eucalyptus.
00:13:52It got its name because of its bark that switches colors and peels away as the tree ages.
00:13:58The bright green bark is the youngest, as it contains a substance called chlorophyll,
00:14:03usually found in leaves.
00:14:04It then switches to purple, and then to the color red.
00:14:08And finally, it turns brown as it grows and loses the chlorophyll.
00:14:12Now, don't be tricked into thinking that's a whole forest.
00:14:16It's one single tree.
00:14:18And no, it's not some sort of optical illusion either.
00:14:22Let me explain.
00:14:23Underneath that soil, there is a complex network of roots that connects around 47,000 tree-like
00:14:30shapes you see above the ground.
00:14:32It's called the Quaking Aspen.
00:14:35Some of these trees are among the oldest and largest organisms in the world.
00:14:39Now, here's a good destination for all travelers.
00:14:43Or maybe not so good, after all.
00:14:45The most lightning-stricken area in the world, according to recent data released by NASA,
00:14:51is Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela.
00:14:54Out of all the days in a year, 300 of them featured thunderstorms in this location.
00:14:59What makes this area so unique, though, that storms happen so often?
00:15:03Well, it's because where cool mountain air meets the warm moist breeze and generates
00:15:09electricity over the lake.
00:15:12The Eternal Flame Falls are located in upstate New York, near the Canadian border.
00:15:17In this region, there is a tiny waterfall with a big secret – a spark about 8 inches
00:15:23tall.
00:15:24Turns out there's a natural gas seep that provides fuel to the flame behind the waterfall.
00:15:29The waterfall provides enough coverage so that it stays lit pretty much every time.
00:15:35Hikers do enjoy to relight it if they see that it's been blown out.
00:15:39This phenomenon is actually quite common, but this one gained more popularity because
00:15:44it is younger than most.
00:15:46And it looks very good in pictures, let's be honest.
00:15:49I've heard of yellow sand, white sand, and even black sand here or there.
00:15:54But I've never heard of green beaches until now.
00:15:57Papakolia, also known as Green Sand Beach, is located in Hawaii and is one of the few
00:16:03beaches in the world that features green sand.
00:16:06The unique coloring comes from olivine rock that was formed when a nearby volcano erupted.
00:16:12Actually in Hawaii, all the volcanoes are nearby.
00:16:17Move over, green sands, because some of the other beaches around the world can even glow
00:16:21at night.
00:16:22And it's completely natural.
00:16:24The culprit?
00:16:25A little thing called photoplankton, or microalgae as they're sometimes called.
00:16:30They're basically little plants that contain chlorophyll and need sunlight in order to
00:16:35live and grow.
00:16:37Most photoplankton kinds are able to float in the upper part of the ocean, where the
00:16:42sunlight can still reach them beneath the water.
00:16:44When the photoplankton gets agitated by the movement of waves and currents, they emit
00:16:49light, which looks like some glow during the night.
00:16:53These special microorganisms are found on beaches in a lot of places around the world,
00:16:58such as the Maldives, Puerto Rico, and the Everglades.
00:17:03At the base of a mountain located just outside of Afton, Wyoming, is a little river called
00:17:08the Intermittent Spring.
00:17:10There are only 3 of this kind in the whole world, but what makes this little string of
00:17:15water so mysterious?
00:17:16Well, the fact that it starts and stops every few minutes.
00:17:20Scientists have yet to pinpoint precisely why this happens.
00:17:24They speculate that it's basically just a siphon effect that happens deep within the
00:17:28ground that causes the river to just start and stop so often.
00:17:32Should you ever be interested in checking it out, be sure to do so in the late summer,
00:17:37because that's when the Intermittent Spring is most active.
00:17:41Do you see the irony here?
00:17:43You can only see the spring in the summer?
00:17:45Okay, I'm done.
00:17:48Planet Earth is full of wondrous phenomena.
00:17:51I mean, can you imagine going for a midnight swim and suddenly finding yourself surrounded
00:17:56by a glowing blue haze?
00:17:58As if there were huge pillars of light coming out of the seabed directly toward the surface.
00:18:04This experience is rare, but it sure is magical.
00:18:07This chemical reaction is known as bioluminescence, and it can happen in different situations.
00:18:13One example is when tiny algae organisms migrate closer to the seashore.
00:18:18When these algaes are disturbed, they try to defend themselves by glowing, and it just
00:18:23happens to create the most beautiful spectacle.
00:18:26There's another place in the world where you can see a similar thing, but it's caused
00:18:30by a different creature.
00:18:32This place is in New Zealand.
00:18:34Hidden deep within the country's caves live glowworms.
00:18:38They're the larvae of medium-sized narrow beetles that happen to be luminescent.
00:18:43If you're lucky enough to tour these caves, you'll feel like floating inside an underground
00:18:48galaxy.
00:18:49Recently, a video of a super-rare phenomenon started circulating on the web.
00:18:54Take a quick look at it and see if you can make out what it is.
00:18:58Okay, it looks like a river, right?
00:19:00But it doesn't look as if any water is flowing there.
00:19:03When the Iraqis first saw this happening, they didn't know what it was, so they just
00:19:08called it the Sand River.
00:19:10It sure was a good guess, but a flowing river of sand would be something too out-of-this-world
00:19:15to be true.
00:19:16It turns out that what these people saw was more or less an optical illusion.
00:19:20It's not sand, but it's not exactly water either.
00:19:24Here's what happened.
00:19:26In arid environments, it's not so uncommon for hail to fall.
00:19:30And in the case of Sand River, what we actually see is thousands and thousands of floating
00:19:35hailstones.
00:19:36Oh, and if you don't know what hail is, it's frozen rain that pours down in the form
00:19:41of small pebbles of ice.
00:19:43That would be something to see.
00:19:45Say you're driving through the countryside and suddenly spot a mushroom-shaped cloud.
00:19:51Or maybe it's a spaceship of another civilization.
00:19:54You don't quite know what it is, but you do realize that it's huge.
00:19:58Should you continue driving toward it, or should you turn around and drive in the other
00:20:02direction?
00:20:03Well, you should know that a cloud like this indicates a huge thunderstorm is happening
00:20:08inside.
00:20:09And not just a storm, but a mesocyclone.
00:20:12A mesocyclone is a rotating updraft that can span several miles.
00:20:17It's usually accompanied by torrential rains and strong winds.
00:20:20So if I were you, I'd turn that car around and head in the opposite direction.
00:20:27You know, Thor, I guess he might live inside this next natural phenomenon.
00:20:31Sometimes when a volcano erupts, this process can be accompanied by huge thunderbolts.
00:20:37Scientists often refer to it as volcanic lightning.
00:20:40They're still debating why this thing occurs.
00:20:43One of their guesses is that when a volcano erupts, it projects positively charged debris
00:20:48into the atmosphere.
00:20:49These charges then react with the already present negative charges, which can produce
00:20:54a bolt of lightning.
00:20:55Cool, huh?
00:20:56The first time anyone witnessed something like this was during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius
00:21:01in 79 CE.
00:21:02Nah, it wasn't me.
00:21:04But here I am wondering, were there or were there not any sightings of Thor?
00:21:09Hey, sometimes when I work out too much, I get Thor.
00:21:13Now, all the way down in Senegal, Africa, we'll witness another unbelievable sight.
00:21:20Some 18 miles north of Dakar, the country's capital, there is a unique lake.
00:21:25Arriving there, you might imagine you're walking out of a spaceship and stepping on
00:21:29an unknown planet.
00:21:31After all, have you ever seen real-life pink water before?
00:21:35Lake Retba, or Lac Rose, as the locals call it, has become internationally famous for
00:21:40being vivid pink.
00:21:42And yes, you can swim there if you'd like to.
00:21:45But you should know that the water there is extremely salty.
00:21:48Lake Retba is known to be one of the world's saltiest lakes, with a saline level of over
00:21:5340%.
00:21:54And in case you're wondering why the water is pink, I assure you this has nothing to
00:21:59do with otherworldly factors.
00:22:02It's actually due to high levels of salt.
00:22:04The algae, Dunaliella salina, is responsible for the pink hue.
00:22:09These algae produce the red pigment that absorbs sunlight, giving the lake its striking pink
00:22:14color.
00:22:15But if you'd like to see the lake at its brightest, you should go there during the
00:22:18dry season, between November and June.
00:22:21During other months, rainwater dilutes the pigment, and the color of the lake becomes
00:22:26less distinct.
00:22:27Lake Retba has turned into a famous international attraction recently, because who wouldn't
00:22:32love a picture of them swimming in the pink water?
00:22:36You might have heard of the Aurora Borealis, aka the Northern Lights.
00:22:40This phenomenon has continued to mesmerize scientists and tourists alike ever since it
00:22:45was witnessed for the first time.
00:22:47Now to see it, you have to be pretty lucky.
00:22:49You'll need to travel to the extreme north or south points of our planet.
00:22:53And even then, you'll have to hunt this phenomenon down and hope the sky will put
00:22:58on a show for you.
00:22:59The Aurora Borealis is an extremely rare phenomenon.
00:23:03And although these greenish lights look delicate, they're actually the fruit of a rather rough
00:23:08event.
00:23:09This spectacular light show occurs when energized particles from the Sun slam into Earth's
00:23:14upper atmosphere.
00:23:15But it sure is a sight to behold, isn't it?
00:23:19Can you imagine a hill that never stops burning?
00:23:23Located in the Arctic region of Canada, the so-called Smoking Hills are an unmatched sight
00:23:28on our planet.
00:23:29And here, things get a little science-fiction-y, since some of the minerals found in these
00:23:34hills have only been discovered outside Earth, on the surface of Mars.
00:23:39The ground of the Smoking Hills has been releasing smoke for at least a couple hundred years
00:23:44non-stop.
00:23:46Researchers thought the area was home to an active volcano, but that wasn't the case.
00:23:51As science explains, the soil in the area is formed by sulfur and coal.
00:23:56And when these elements get in contact with oxygen, they spontaneously ignite, releasing
00:24:01constant smoke.
00:24:02I just want to warn you, don't get any touristy ideas.
00:24:06The environment is extremely hostile to people, the smoke is toxic, and its temperatures are
00:24:11dangerously high.
00:24:12So let's move on before smoke gets in our eyes.
00:24:15Hey, there's a song there!
00:24:18Have you ever heard of something called a natural snowball?
00:24:21This can be proof that nature is really perfect.
00:24:24In 2016, the beaches of the Gulf of Aam, a bay in the Arctic Ocean, filled up with rows
00:24:30and rows of giant snowballs, think balls measuring up to 3 feet across.
00:24:35This is a rare yet beautiful phenomenon that happens when smaller pieces of ice end up
00:24:40getting rolled by strong winds and water.
00:24:43The further they roll, the more ice they gather, and the more polished this ice becomes.
00:24:48Such snowballs end up as giant, perfectly shaped spheres.
00:24:51They look pretty amazing on their own, but hundreds of them together?
00:24:55Wow, think of it, you could have a snowball fight between giants!
00:24:59There are also some snowballs that turn into huge rolling doughnuts.
00:25:03This shape occurs only in perfect temperature conditions, when the snow is both hard and
00:25:08fluffy.
00:25:09The snowball begins rolling down, gathering more and more snow until, suddenly, its middle
00:25:14part collapses.
00:25:16This way, the snowball acquires its doughnut shape.
00:25:19Does it also taste as good as a doughnut?
00:25:21No.
00:25:22Now, let's say you go for a hike, but instead of blue skies, you see a huge cloud of fog.
00:25:29This may ruin your photo ops, but there's one thing you can hope for.
00:25:33Foggy days are perfect for a phenomenon known as the fog bow.
00:25:38Its other name is the white rainbow.
00:25:40It occurs because of the tiny size of water droplets that form the fog.
00:25:45They're even smaller than two thousandths of an inch.
00:25:47You know, teeny tiny.
00:25:49So instead of a multicolored rainbow, you get a transparent one with red outer edges
00:25:54and a bluish inner border.
00:25:56Cool.
00:25:57Floods, tornadoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, yikes.
00:26:03All these natural disasters can get extremely dangerous, but we're kind of familiar with
00:26:08them.
00:26:09But how about a natural disaster that has never happened before, but could occur any
00:26:14moment now?
00:26:17It might be a super-eruption.
00:26:19That's what happens when a super-volcano erupts.
00:26:22You might know that Yellowstone Park is located on top of a super-volcano.
00:26:27The last massive eruption there happened about 664,000 years ago, and the one before that
00:26:33approximately 1.3 million years ago.
00:26:37If we do the math, we'll understand that the next eruption might be due any time soon.
00:26:42There's no strong evidence that the super-volcano is waking up or preparing for an eruption,
00:26:48but what would it be like if it did happen?
00:26:51Months before the eruption, small-scale earthquakes would become more frequent and more powerful
00:26:56in the area.
00:26:58Not long before the eruption, the growing pressure would push up the ground over the
00:27:02volcano, creating a dome.
00:27:05Narrow cracks would open along the edges of this dome.
00:27:08The magma would then start rising toward the surface, and then the eruption would kick
00:27:13off.
00:27:14A massive column of lava and ash would shoot up into the air to a height of over 16 miles.
00:27:21The volcano would keep pumping ash for days on end.
00:27:24The air in that area would heat up to 570 degrees Fahrenheit.
00:27:29For all living creatures, ash fallout would be one of the most dangerous consequences
00:27:33of the eruption.
00:27:35Buildings and trees would start collapsing under the weight of this dense substance.
00:27:40It would only take a couple of days for a 10-foot layer of ash to cover the territory
00:27:44of about 50 miles around the center of the eruption.
00:27:48After the ash got into the stratosphere, the temperatures all over the world would start
00:27:53to drop.
00:27:54The eruption would also be rich in sulfur, and this element is an effective sunblocker.
00:28:00That's why it would soon get so cold that there would be no summer in the whole world
00:28:04for the next several years.
00:28:06The monsoon seasons would change.
00:28:09It would be hard for animals to find food and clean water.
00:28:13Well now, how about a gamma ray burst?
00:28:16You don't stumble across this kind of radiation in your everyday life.
00:28:20A gamma ray burst occurs when two neutron stars collide.
00:28:25The collapse of a massive star can produce it too.
00:28:28Gamma rays could present a serious danger to Earth.
00:28:32If a gamma ray burst happened close to our home planet, it could rip our ozone layer
00:28:36away.
00:28:37After that, we would be left unprotected from the sun's ultraviolet radiation.
00:28:42Plus, gamma rays could also produce ground ozone.
00:28:46This kind of ozone could seep into the ocean since it's water-soluble, and that would
00:28:51lead to a mass extinction of marine life.
00:28:54Plants wouldn't survive this disaster either.
00:28:58Now come to think of it, giant sinkholes could swallow entire communities.
00:29:03One of such sinkholes opened up in the city of New York.
00:29:06It pulled a parked van into the Earth.
00:29:09That happened in the summer of 2022.
00:29:12And it wasn't the only sinkhole to appear in that area.
00:29:16Local inhabitants reported about 4,000 sinkholes all over the city.
00:29:20This kind of problem is also very common in Florida, and it's much more serious than
00:29:25it may sound.
00:29:27Sinkholes open all of a sudden, pulling down everything and everyone that happens to be
00:29:32nearby.
00:29:33Sinkholes appear all over the world, which makes them a global problem.
00:29:37They're totally unpredictable and form without warning.
00:29:41Luckily, experts know what causes them.
00:29:44In some areas, there are vast areas of groundwater.
00:29:48But during droughts, this water dries up.
00:29:51This creates large empty caverns, and after heavy rains, the surface over such a cavern
00:29:56can collapse, creating a sinkhole within minutes.
00:30:01Now, what if we came across a wandering black hole?
00:30:06You might know that a black hole is a region in space where gravity is so powerful that
00:30:11not even light can escape its clutches.
00:30:14Luckily, the nearest one to us is 1,500 light-years away.
00:30:19Nothing to worry about, right?
00:30:21Until you find out about wandering black holes.
00:30:25Now things get definitely way creepier.
00:30:28If such a black hole entered the solar system, Earth would be doomed.
00:30:33We wouldn't stand a chance against this space monster.
00:30:35In 2012, 13 wandering black holes were spotted not so far away from our planet.
00:30:42But worry not, not far away in space terms means around 1 billion light-years away.
00:30:48So we've got some time left.
00:30:50Plus, the possibility of such a disaster is very, very low.
00:30:56Another natural disaster we haven't experienced yet is a mega-flood.
00:31:01It's never happened before, but the changes in climate do make for a risky potential.
00:31:06It could start, let's say, in California.
00:31:09This state experienced some really bad flooding in the past.
00:31:13One of such floods stretched up to 60 miles across and 300 miles long.
00:31:19If a similar disaster happened these days, it would cause $1 trillion worth of damage.
00:31:24It would also uproot millions of people.
00:31:29Now let's talk about a hypercane.
00:31:32Judging from the name, this natural disaster might get extreme.
00:31:36A hypercane is a theoretical hurricane of unsurpassed power.
00:31:41It would occur if the ocean became overheated as a result of climate change, or because
00:31:46of a massive volcanic eruption.
00:31:49In any case, these conditions could create a hurricane that would stretch way beyond
00:31:54the lower stratosphere.
00:31:56And as you may guess, regular hurricanes don't do that.
00:32:00The hypercane's speed would reach 500 miles per hour.
00:32:03The pressure inside would be low enough not to let the hypercane to wear out as quickly
00:32:08as other hurricanes.
00:32:10The hypercane could last for weeks on end.
00:32:13The worst thing?
00:32:14It could damage or even destroy part of Earth's ozone layer.
00:32:18And the hole could be the size of the entire North American continent.
00:32:24Now this disaster did happen before.
00:32:27About 66 million years ago, I bet you know what I'm hinting at.
00:32:32Yep, that very meteor that supposedly wiped out dinosaurs off the face of the Earth.
00:32:38This 7-mile-wide space visitor was traveling at 67,000 miles per hour.
00:32:44As a result of the collision, 75% of all life on the planet disappeared, and winter reigned
00:32:50on Earth for 18 months.
00:32:53Wanna know a secret?
00:32:55Meteors strike Earth all the time.
00:32:57Even more of them barely miss our planet.
00:33:00But it's also very hard to predict meteor strikes.
00:33:03Scientists miss a lot of them until they just nearly miss us.
00:33:07That's why experts are working on an early warning system that could prevent disasters.
00:33:12It could make meteor impacts less catastrophic, or at least allow people time to evacuate.
00:33:20It could also be our very own Sun that would be responsible for another natural disaster.
00:33:26I'm talking about a massive solar flare.
00:33:29On the scale of damage to society, few catastrophes can compare to this event.
00:33:35It wouldn't destroy buildings like a tsunami or an earthquake.
00:33:38Neither would it end lives in the same way a supervolcano or meteor would.
00:33:43But it would cripple our entire way of life by destroying the whole electronic infrastructure
00:33:49of Earth.
00:33:50The cost of this disaster would reach trillions of dollars.
00:33:54It'd cause other infrastructures to fail – communication, medicine, transportation,
00:33:59banking systems.
00:34:01Those would tumble like dominoes.
00:34:03And it would be incredibly hard to recover them.
00:34:06Earth would be left without electricity for years.
00:34:09There would be no electric light, no computers, no phones.
00:34:14Water supply systems would be out of order.
00:34:17There would be no food in supermarkets.
00:34:19There would be no electricity, and people wouldn't be able to reboot the already broken
00:34:24power grids.
00:34:25In 1859, people all over the world woke up in the middle of the night.
00:34:31It was as light as during the day.
00:34:33The skies were illuminated with auroras – red, green, purple.
00:34:38They appeared even in the regions where no one had seen them before, like the Bahamas,
00:34:43Jamaica, or Hawaii.
00:34:45Telegraphs got electrically charged, even though they were disconnected.
00:34:50In many areas, fires started.
00:34:52That was when technology barely existed.
00:34:55But imagine the avalanche of problems a solar flare could cause today.
00:35:01You're dozing off in your window seat on a plane.
00:35:08It's getting dark since it's almost 11 pm.
00:35:11Suddenly, something wakes you up.
00:35:13You glance out of the window and see a really strange phenomenon – something that creeps
00:35:17you up.
00:35:20There are bright red huge flashes illuminating the sky at a distance.
00:35:24They resemble some nightmarish jellyfish.
00:35:27Those are sprites, also called red sprites due to their color.
00:35:31They're also known as cloud-to-space lightning.
00:35:35These varied visual shapes flickering in the night sky are large-scale electric discharges,
00:35:40which is a clever word for a lightning strike.
00:35:43They occur high above thunderstorm clouds at altitudes of 30 to 56 miles.
00:35:48That's why you can see them so well from your plane window.
00:35:52The coolest thing about sprites is that they're positively charged lightning.
00:35:56This is a very rare type that makes up a mere 5% of all lightning strikes.
00:36:02People first spotted this phenomenon in 1886, and it was first photographed in 1989.
00:36:08In 2018, the legendary Niagara Falls, located at the border between New York State and Ontario,
00:36:15Canada, managed to surprise everyone.
00:36:18Visitors who came to admire the roaring waters found the falls frozen.
00:36:22Well, the waterfalls weren't frozen per se.
00:36:26This is impossible for a mass of flowing water that huge, but microscopic water droplets
00:36:31as well as the mist formed a crust of ice over the rushing water.
00:36:35It created an illusion that Niagara Falls was frozen all over.
00:36:39In reality, the water kept flowing beneath the ice.
00:36:44Imagine ponds filled with ice-cold water and covered with ice.
00:36:48Easy, huh?
00:36:50And now picture dozens of alligator snouts that are poking out of the ponds, still and
00:36:54frozen in ice.
00:36:56That's what you'd seen if you had visited the swamps of North Carolina at the beginning
00:37:00of 2018.
00:37:02Despite this terrifying picture, the animals were very much alive.
00:37:07That was a very special crocodile way to survive abnormally cold weather.
00:37:12Since their nostrils were above water, the animals could breathe.
00:37:15Meanwhile, their bodies were in a hibernation-like state.
00:37:18It allowed the animals to conserve energy and stay warm.
00:37:24In the winter of 2018, the inhabitants of the Sahara Desert, one of the driest and hottest
00:37:29places on the planet, woke up to discover a thick layer of snow covering the sand.
00:37:34In some places, its depth reached a staggering 15 inches.
00:37:39Meteorologists had an explanation for this exciting phenomenon.
00:37:42They said that cold pools of air combined with the precipitation of the most recent
00:37:46storm resulted in snowfall instead of rain.
00:37:51It happened in June 2009.
00:37:53People in some areas in Japan left their homes after a heavy downpour, only to find fish,
00:37:59frogs, and tadpoles everywhere.
00:38:02Fields, roads, lawns, and house roofs were littered with these creatures.
00:38:07One man even found 13 carp on and around his truck.
00:38:11No one knows for sure where this bizarre rain came from, but the most popular theory is
00:38:16that a powerful water spout picked up the animals.
00:38:20Then it carried them through the upper atmosphere and dropped them on the unsuspecting people
00:38:24below.
00:38:27In Australia, it sometimes rains spiders.
00:38:29That's because these creatures can balloon.
00:38:32It's a highly unusual way of traveling.
00:38:35A spider climbs to the very top of a tall tree or shrub, and then it spins several strands
00:38:41of silk which then help the spider to be carried away by the wind.
00:38:46It's not easy to spot ballooning spiders, but sometimes when the weather is especially
00:38:51damp and unpleasant, mass ballooning occurs.
00:38:55Millions of spiders set off on a journey to find another place with better conditions.
00:39:00It may look as if it's snowing outside, but no.
00:39:03Those are spiders drifting down to the ground.
00:39:08The world's longest lightning storms happen in Venezuela and can last for nine hours per
00:39:13day.
00:39:14The heart of the storm is over Lake Maracaibo, and the clouds tower way higher than your
00:39:18regular thunderstorm clouds.
00:39:21This natural phenomenon, also known as Catatumbo lightning, occurs during 140 to 160 nights
00:39:28a year and can produce up to 28 lightning strikes per minute.
00:39:33You've probably heard how they say that lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place.
00:39:37Well, Catatumbo lightning seems not to know about this rule.
00:39:41At least, it doesn't prevent storm clouds from gathering in the very same place year
00:39:45after year.
00:39:48Volcanic tornadoes are possibly one of the most terrifying natural phenomenon.
00:39:52When a volcano erupts, it spews red-hot rock and ash high into the atmosphere.
00:39:58And solid lava pieces and hot gases travel down the volcano's slope.
00:40:04When this flow is moving down, some of the trapped gases begin to rise and spin at the
00:40:09same time.
00:40:10They get squeezed by the surrounding air, which makes them spin faster and faster.
00:40:16That's how a volcanic tornado gets born.
00:40:19Luckily, this phenomenon has a very short lifespan.
00:40:24Even though the island of Newfoundland in Canada can't be called the warmest place on
00:40:28Earth, it's still not that cold.
00:40:31But imagine having to shovel snow in front of your house just several days before your
00:40:35summer vacation.
00:40:36Well, that's exactly what happened on the island in June 2018.
00:40:40A cold storm that came from the coast of Newfoundland covered several regions of the islands with
00:40:45a two-inch layer of snow.
00:40:47On top of that, the temperature broke all the records as well.
00:40:52During a Newfoundland summer, it's about 66 degrees on average, and 90 degrees on a very
00:40:57hot day.
00:40:58But that infamous June impressed people with only 37 degrees Fahrenheit in the morning.
00:41:04Brr!
00:41:07Morning glory clouds are extremely rare.
00:41:09They look like massive tubes stretching across the sky.
00:41:13They can snake for more than 600 miles, sitting relatively low.
00:41:18Most researchers agree that these clouds appear when an updraft squeezes through the cloud.
00:41:24This creates the signature rolling appearance.
00:41:26The cool air at the back of the cloud makes it sink downward.
00:41:31The best, but not the only place to see the morning glory is Australia's Gulf of Carpentaria.
00:41:37If you decide to travel there to see these clouds, choose a period from late September
00:41:42to early November.
00:41:45On March 19, 2018, the inhabitants of Alabama saw huge chunks of ice falling from the sky.
00:41:52It was the infamous hailstorm of Alabama which caused millions of dollars worth of damage.
00:41:58After the hailstorm, the place looked ruined.
00:42:01Broken shop windows, smashed car windshields, broken billboards, and holes in the roofs.
00:42:07But what made researchers really excited was a hailstone found near the town of Cullman,
00:42:13Alabama.
00:42:14This softball-sized monster was more than 5 inches across, setting a new state record.
00:42:21In 2012, the sky over Dorset, England turned first ominously dark, then yellow.
00:42:27After that, blue gelatinous balls started to fall to the ground.
00:42:31A local man was walking to his garage when he spotted something unusually bright among
00:42:36whitish hailstones.
00:42:38When researchers examined this jelly rain, they found out that the balls were made of
00:42:42the substance used in diapers or potting soil.
00:42:45It's used to absorb liquid.
00:42:47It's still unclear whether the balls fell from the sky or maybe the melting ice made
00:42:52a few already existing crystals expand in the blink of an eye.
00:42:57In March 2018, people in northern Nevada could see the rarest and most bizarre cloud ever,
00:43:03a horseshoe cloud.
00:43:05It sure looks bizarre and kinda scary, but meteorologists know that this interestingly
00:43:11shaped vortex happens when a flat cloud travels over a column of warm, rising air.
00:43:17This air creates the shape and adds some spin to the cloud's movements.
00:43:22Such clouds are very fleeting and usually last for only several minutes.
00:43:27Cylindrical snow donuts occur when a wind gust decides to play snowballs.
00:43:32It starts to roll some snow across a snowy area.
00:43:36If it was a real snowball, it would eventually become too heavy for the wind to move.
00:43:41But the center of a snow donut is hollowed out.
00:43:44This happens because its inner layer is too thin and gets blown away when the donut is
00:43:49formed.
00:43:50This makes it lighter than a regular snowball, that's why it also rolls further.
00:43:55Unfortunately, you can't just go and find snow donuts.
00:43:59They're rare because they appear in very precise conditions.
00:44:03Have you ever felt so happy that you were up on cloud nine?
00:44:09Well, in truth, they don't actually number these guys, but they're cool nonetheless.
00:44:14And I can show you super rare phenomena related to clouds.
00:44:18Hey what time is it?
00:44:20Hmm, I see Hector, so it must be 3pm.
00:44:23Umm, who is Hector?
00:44:25Oh, Hector isn't a person.
00:44:27It's a thundercloud cluster.
00:44:28It forms almost every afternoon from September to March over the Tiwi Islands in northern
00:44:34Australia.
00:44:35Since Hector has this constant timing, airline pilots and boat captains have used it as a
00:44:40navigational guide for decades.
00:44:42This is a unique thunderstorm, not just because it's very punctual, but also because it's
00:44:47one of the world's most consistently large thunderstorms.
00:44:51Hector the convector, yet sometimes referred to with an even cooler name, reaches heights
00:44:56of approximately 66,000 feet.
00:45:00What we see is vertical speed billowing white clouds.
00:45:03At the top of the clouds, we have an anvil or mushroom-shaped cloud, like a cherry on
00:45:08the top of a cake.
00:45:10By the way, this anvil can go up to thousands of feet high.
00:45:13So how is this thundercloud formed, and why does it only pop up in this specific location?
00:45:19Well, there are a couple of precise meteorological conditions for this.
00:45:24The Tiwi Islands play a big part in providing these elements.
00:45:28Both Bathurst Island on the west and Melville Island to the east have the perfect shape,
00:45:33size, and location for Hector to develop.
00:45:37The second reason is sea breezes, which carry moisture.
00:45:40They form over the islands, move from all sides, and finally meet in the middle, like
00:45:44the song.
00:45:46These converging winds need to go somewhere.
00:45:48They clash and then go up.
00:45:50Now here's the fun part.
00:45:52As the rising air column gets cooler with altitude, the water vapor condenses into liquid
00:45:57droplets and makes clouds.
00:45:59Sea breezes I mention here also happen to be tropical marine air.
00:46:04The tropical atmosphere is another vital element in forming Hector.
00:46:08This fella has an important duty related to the tropical monsoon rain.
00:46:12Hector is responsible for most of it.
00:46:15This airport on the Tiwi Islands has an average annual rainfall of around 80 inches.
00:46:21To put it in perspective, that's double what London or San Francisco get annually.
00:46:27Next we have polar stratospheric clouds, also known as nacreous clouds or mother-of-pearl
00:46:33clouds.
00:46:34I like the third name the best.
00:46:35They're mostly seen in the Antarctica and Arctic regions, but they can be spotted in
00:46:40places like Scotland, Scandinavia, and Alaska too.
00:46:45This type of cloud looks like an impressionist painter touched the sky with a brush.
00:46:50They appear as iridescent pastel shades in the sky around sunset.
00:46:55Nacreous clouds can be seen best during civil twilight, meaning when the sun is between
00:47:001 and 6 degrees under the horizon.
00:47:02They mostly form during winter, at around 49 to 82,000 feet high.
00:47:08Mother-of-pearl clouds can be harmful to the atmosphere.
00:47:11Their existence may lead to a chemical reaction that breaks down the ozone layer.
00:47:17Australia's other incredible wonder is Morning Glory cloud.
00:47:21It kinda looks like a giant rice ball floating in the sky.
00:47:24This rare phenomenon can be regularly seen in only one place in the world – the southern
00:47:30part of the Gulf of Carpentaria in Australia.
00:47:33Although Morning Glory can be observed in other parts of the world, you'll have better
00:47:37chances to see the Morning Glory cloud around September and October.
00:47:42This cloud bank says hello to Australians, often from only about 330 to 660 feet above
00:47:49the ground.
00:47:50It can be 620 miles long and can travel at speeds of up to 38 miles per hour.
00:47:56If I were there, I'd record a time-lapse of this cloud.
00:47:59What's cool is to see one of these fluffy clouds.
00:48:02What's even better is to see up to 10 consecutive roll clouds.
00:48:06That happened before, and can happen in the future too.
00:48:10Arcus cloud – it's another name for it – has been known since ancient times.
00:48:14Not just modern-day people noticed this unusual cloud formation.
00:48:18The local Garwa Aboriginal people gave it a special name.
00:48:22The Royal Australian Air Force pilots too reported seeing this Arcus cloud in 1942.
00:48:28Then various teams of scientists studied this phenomenon.
00:48:31Okay, but how is it formed?
00:48:34With the right atmospheric conditions.
00:48:36Duh!
00:48:37When the humidity in the area is high, it provides moisture.
00:48:41If we add strong sea breezes to the equation, we get the Morning Glory clouds.
00:48:45Well, well, what do we have here?
00:48:49Pyrocumulus cloud.
00:48:51They may form as a result of convection, started by heat from wildfires or volcanic activity.
00:48:57It's generated as a result of the intense heating of air near the surface, which causes
00:49:02convection and lifts the air mass to a stable point.
00:49:06Moisture present in the atmosphere and evaporated from vegetation or volcanic gases can condense
00:49:12on ash particles, leading to the formation of this cloud.
00:49:16Since it's generated by flames, it's also called flammagenetis.
00:49:22The next phenomenon is cloud bursts.
00:49:25You can think of these as giant balloons filled with water.
00:49:28When the balloon bursts, the water splashes.
00:49:31Similarly, here, cloud bursts make rapid precipitation.
00:49:35They depend on thunderstorms.
00:49:37A thunderstorm may come with strong uprushes of air.
00:49:40This blocks the condensing raindrops from falling to the ground.
00:49:44As a result, a huge amount of water may accumulate at upper levels.
00:49:48When the upper levels get saturated and too heavy, the accumulated water falls all at
00:49:53one time.
00:49:54Now, I wouldn't want to be around when the water dropped down.
00:49:58It would be like taking the world's shortest shower.
00:50:01Luckily, cloud bursts are most commonly seen in mountainous areas.
00:50:05Let me give you an example of how intense this one can get.
00:50:08A rainfall of nearly 2.5 inches in 3 minutes was recorded in Portobello, Panama in 1911.
00:50:16That is a lot of water dumped in a place all at once.
00:50:20Now we have a solo riding cloud.
00:50:23It can occur in different parts of the world.
00:50:26Here we see a picture taken at Burza, Turkey.
00:50:29This orange-tinted saucer-like cloud amazed and kind of scared people.
00:50:33We can relax, it was just a lenticular cloud.
00:50:37Think of this one as a pancake.
00:50:39Here clouds are stacked in linearly stratified layers.
00:50:43Normally, those layers remain separated.
00:50:46But if an obstacle, in this case Mount Ulladog, spans several layers, the air coming from
00:50:51beneath is forced to go up.
00:50:53Why?
00:50:54Well, that's because air that's closer to the ground holds more moisture.
00:50:59The moisture layer near the surface rises up with the air.
00:51:02The temperatures cool with altitude, and that air parcel is chilled down to its dew
00:51:07point as it ascends.
00:51:09Voila!
00:51:10The air becomes saturated and makes a cloud.
00:51:13This cloud doesn't last very long.
00:51:15Once the accumulated air has passed over the mountain or the obstacle, it comes down to
00:51:20its regular level.
00:51:22Poof!
00:51:23It warms up again and disappears.
00:51:25Keep in mind that wind is an important element here.
00:51:28In our case, this cloud formed near Mount Ulladog because strong winds were coming from
00:51:33the south because of low pressure over northern Italy.
00:51:36Hey, I should be a weatherman!
00:51:40Rainbows are mesmerizing by themselves.
00:51:42What if I tell you that nature has gifted us also with rainbow scarf clouds?
00:51:48World Meteorological Organization says that these kinds of clouds are called pileus clouds.
00:51:54But that's a boring name, so I won't use it.
00:51:56So the better-named rainbow scarf clouds are accessory clouds.
00:52:01This means that they're dependent on a larger cloud system to develop.
00:52:05Firstly, an accessory cloud enlarges horizontally, and then a shape like a cap above the top
00:52:11appears.
00:52:12This part is attached to the upper part of another cloud.
00:52:15These clouds don't last long, similar to a regular rainbow's time of appearance.
00:52:21The main cloud underneath eventually rises up and absorbs the rainbow cloud above.
00:52:26Farewell, you beautiful little thing, you!
00:52:29There are many other cloud formations that we could mention, such as fall streak hole
00:52:34or hole punch clouds.
00:52:35Do you ever see that the horizon is full of white clouds, but there's a hole to remind
00:52:40you of the blueness of the sky?
00:52:42It's like someone put their hand in there and spread the clouds!
00:52:45Well, as the song goes, we have just looked at clouds from both sides now.
00:52:50So what are some other natural wonders that fascinate you?
00:52:55Here's a way to read the weather.
00:52:57This unique cloud sometimes looks like a tornado, and sometimes it comes in wispy, finger-like
00:53:02shapes.
00:53:03In the second version, it forms at heights so low that it nearly touches the ground.
00:53:08If you see these formations in the sky, there's a chance that severe weather is close.
00:53:13These are called scud clouds, and seeing them means that you may soon face rain, hail, strong
00:53:18winds or lightning.
00:53:21Scud clouds themselves pose no threat and are merely a signal of upcoming bad weather.
00:53:26Want to know how these mesmerizing monsters come to life?
00:53:29Well, it's all about humidity, my friend.
00:53:31When rain is lurking around, warm and moist air gets pulled up into the sky.
00:53:36This is like the fuel for a rainstorm.
00:53:39As this air rises, it cools down to match the chilly temperatures in the upper atmosphere.
00:53:43The moisture, however, doesn't go anywhere and sticks around, leading to cloud formation
00:53:47through condensation.
00:53:49Now sometimes, the air doesn't wait until it reaches higher levels of the atmosphere
00:53:53to condense, so it becomes saturated just above the ground, and the condensation process
00:53:58begins even below the height of other clouds.
00:54:01As the air rises higher, it creates those cool, vertically-oriented scud clouds.
00:54:07Alright, let me introduce you to this little ice-sculpture-looking creature.
00:54:13The fronima is actually a parasite.
00:54:15This little thing has found a way to create its own mobile nursery for its offspring by
00:54:19taking over another sea creature, the salp.
00:54:23Now salps are these barrel-shaped, gelatinous blobs that drift around the ocean, minding
00:54:28their own business.
00:54:30But fronima's like, hey, I could use one of those as my ride.
00:54:35With its impressive front claws, a fronima carves out the insides of a salp to turn it
00:54:39into an empty barrel structure, climbs inside, and sails the seas.
00:54:45Studies have shown that the hollowed-out salp barrels still contain live cells, which help
00:54:50maintain the structure of the barrel and provide a sturdy home for the fronima.
00:54:55If you think this creature looks familiar, the movie Alien was inspired by it.
00:55:00Next up, we have blue dragons.
00:55:02These are stunning creatures that live in the water.
00:55:04They are like living works of art, except this art can also sting you and cause some
00:55:08serious discomfort.
00:55:10The blue glaucus, yep, they are also known by this name, is a type of mollusk or sea
00:55:14slug only about one inch long.
00:55:18It floats around on its back, looking all fancy with its brightly colored underbelly
00:55:22exposed to airborne predators.
00:55:24But don't be fooled by its dapper appearance because this little thing is venomous.
00:55:30So if you're ever lucky enough to see a blue glaucus in the wild, be sure to admire it
00:55:35from a safe distance.
00:55:38You're hiking in the wilderness, looking for a safe spot to set up camp.
00:55:42All you can hear are leaves and branches crackling under your footsteps.
00:55:46Some squirrels are running up a tree over there.
00:55:49But suddenly, something unexpected happens.
00:55:52You notice something weird in the distance in between the trees.
00:55:56It kind of looks like a concrete structure of some kind.
00:55:59Weird.
00:56:00At this point, you're at least 20 miles deep into the woods, and there are no nearby
00:56:04towns or villages, as far as you know.
00:56:08So you decide to go off the trail with your friends to get a closer look.
00:56:13But as you get nearer, you realize that it's leading to… nowhere.
00:56:17Hmm, what's it doing here, in the middle of literally nowhere?
00:56:22And it doesn't even lead to anything!
00:56:24You put on your Sherlock Holmes cap and investigate.
00:56:28No!
00:56:29Maybe there used to be an old house or mansion here that collapsed over the years, and the
00:56:33only thing left is a staircase?
00:56:36But weirdly enough, after circling the bizarre structure, you realize there's no trace
00:56:42of any ruins or even foundations.
00:56:45It's like someone just sliced a staircase off their house, cake-style, and plopped it
00:56:50here for no reason, okay?
00:56:54You and your friends aren't really into getting a whole lot closer.
00:56:57Something feels wrong.
00:56:59The longer you look at this weird structure, the more you feel a super creepy presence.
00:57:05Something tells you you should probably leave the area as fast as possible.
00:57:10As weird as this sounds, discoveries of random staircases, illogically found in the woods,
00:57:16are surprisingly common.
00:57:18Some are made of wood, others of brick or stone.
00:57:21Some look ancient, while others look like they were finished yesterday.
00:57:25The one thing they all have in common – they all lead to absolutely nowhere, and they're
00:57:30all found in super mysterious locations.
00:57:34One of the most famous ones is in Chesterfield, New Hampshire.
00:57:38A long, medieval-looking staircase, made of stones with Roman arches in the middle of
00:57:43the woods.
00:57:44It's believed to have been part of Madame Antoinette Sherry's castle.
00:57:48She was a big singer back in Paris.
00:57:51The castle dates back about 100 years, and it was later discovered again in 1962.
00:57:56This time, there was nothing but a staircase.
00:58:01Another mysterious ancient staircase dates back to 9,000 years ago.
00:58:05It's in a forest in Italy.
00:58:07It looks like a series of stairs that lead to a tiny platform at the top.
00:58:12Now why go through all the trouble of building the thing if it leads to… nowhere?
00:58:18Some scientists think it could've been some sort of ritual tower, but your guess is as
00:58:23good as theirs.
00:58:24There's an anomaly in the Indian Ocean, known as the Indian Ocean Geoid Low, or IOGL.
00:58:32It produces the largest distorting natural gravitational force in the world.
00:58:37Heavy mineral deposits, many deep-sea trenches, and magma reservoirs disturb the magnetic
00:58:43field in this area.
00:58:45Gravity changes in different places around the planet.
00:58:48It allows researchers to look for patterns and figure out what's happening beneath the
00:58:53surface.
00:58:54Higher gravity fields usually mean denser materials below, and vice versa.
00:59:00Some scientists believe that the anomaly might be a dent in the planet's mantle that is
00:59:04working its way up to the crust.
00:59:08The Niihau Island actually rejects the fruits of today's advancements.
00:59:13There are no cars in sight since the locals get around on foot or by bicycles.
00:59:18No wonder their legs have great definition.
00:59:21They thrive without running water, internet, or shops.
00:59:25The only school on the entire island is powered by solar energy with a backup generator.
00:59:31And what's awesome is that it's the only school in the state that's powered by the
00:59:35sun.
00:59:36Being a resident of the island, the local explains some ground rules the permanent residents
00:59:41must abide by.
00:59:43If they do break these rules, they can be evicted.
00:59:47Not far from Bangkok, in northeastern Thailand, there's a 75-million-year-old rock formation.
00:59:54These rocks look like three whales swimming together.
00:59:58The beautiful design created by nature became known as Three Whales Rock.
01:00:04Millions of years ago, this area was just a desert.
01:00:07But the land was changing.
01:00:08Gradually, sandstone got pulled apart by the movements of tectonic plates and erosion.
01:00:13That's how these spectacular formations were created.
01:00:18If you decide to explore this system of trails around Three Whales Rock, you'll find waterfalls
01:00:23and an abundance of fauna and flora there.
01:00:27Located on Gamal and Gaiden peninsulas, these expansive pit holes were discovered in 2014.
01:00:34They seem to be still changing and evolving.
01:00:36The pits grow wider, and people find them more often.
01:00:40Of course, there's no shortage of theories about how they appeared.
01:00:44Suggestions range from meteorite impacts to the activity of other civilizations.
01:00:49But the most common explanation is that methane gas reacted to water molecules after the planet's
01:00:55permafrost started to melt.
01:00:57This resulted in bubbles of methane bursting through the ice.
01:01:01The craters could be thousands of years old, but nobody knows for sure.
01:01:07You're driving to the state of New Mexico, to the small town of Taos.
01:01:12Two percent of the locals hear a strange buzzing in the air every day.
01:01:17Some residents believe the sound is somehow connected with technologies used by guests
01:01:22from other galaxies.
01:01:25Also there is a theory that something sinister lives in the town.
01:01:29They say Taos is cursed.
01:01:31An evil spirit or a phantom punishes people for something their ancestors did in the past.
01:01:37Scientists still can't explain the nature of this sound.
01:01:40Another theory says it's caused by unusual acoustics of the location, while others think
01:01:45the buzzing is a hallucination.
01:01:48Some can hear it because everybody talks about something, and our minds create an illusion
01:01:53of the sound that doesn't really exist.
01:01:56The sound isn't the same for everyone either.
01:01:58For some, it's a low hum.
01:02:00For others, it's more of a buzzing sound.
01:02:03But this is not the only place where you can hear the strange noises.
01:02:08It's called the hum, and people worldwide claim to have heard it.
01:02:12Some dwellers of a small village in Scotland describe it as a low, thick hum, while some
01:02:18residents of Florida heard a similar sound too.
01:02:22It's not exactly known where this phenomenon appeared, but the first time the media started
01:02:26talking about it was in the 1970s in England.
01:02:30Also, there are written records of a mysterious buzzing dating back almost 200 years.
01:02:36According to some estimates, only about 2% of people on the planet can hear the hum.
01:02:42Perhaps their ears pick up some low frequency waves, or the reason is something else entirely.
01:02:48Maybe, just maybe, they hear humming because the person doing it doesn't know the words
01:02:53to the song.
01:02:55Yeah, that joke is also 200 years old.
01:02:59A volcano in Indonesia spews bright blue lava and produces electric blue and purple flames.
01:03:06This phenomenon occurs because the volcano has some of the highest levels of sulfur in
01:03:11the world.
01:03:12You can also know you're near it by its foul stench.
01:03:16But I digress.
01:03:18And when sulfuric gases interact with scorching hot air and get lit by the molten lava, they
01:03:24turn blue.
01:03:25You can also find the world's largest acid lake inside this crater.
01:03:29Yup, it's a real stinker.
01:03:33Underwater rivers and lakes are called brine pools for a reason.
01:03:37High salinity makes the water in them denser than the seawater around.
01:03:42That's why it sinks to the bottom, forming rivers and lakes.
01:03:46Those have waves of their own, and these waves can sometimes lap up against the shorelines.
01:03:51If you went down there in a submarine, it would easily float on the surface of a brine
01:03:55pool.
01:03:56But without a submarine, swimming in such a lake would be too risky.
01:04:00They contain too much toxic methane and hydrogen sulfide.
01:04:04Yeah, I'd pass on that too.
01:04:06But hey, be my guest!
01:04:09Cave of Crystals in Mexico is home to the world's most unique crystal formations.
01:04:14Thanks to super-rare conditions in the cave, crystals there grow to unbelievable sizes.
01:04:20The air inside is incredibly humid.
01:04:22The water contains tons of minerals that boost the growth of the milky white giants.
01:04:28Some of them are longer than telephone poles.
01:04:31Cylindrical snow doughnuts occur when a wind gust starts to roll some snow across a snowy
01:04:37area, as if making a snowball.
01:04:40If it was a real thing, it would eventually become too heavy for the wind to move.
01:04:44But a snow doughnut's center is hollowed out.
01:04:47This happens because its inner layer is too thin and is blown away when the doughnut is
01:04:52formed.
01:04:53This makes the thing lighter than a snowball.
01:04:56That's also why it rolls further.
01:04:58Unfortunately, snow doughnuts are rare because they need very precise conditions to appear.
01:05:04The Danikil Depression in Ethiopia is probably one of the most bizarre-looking places you'll
01:05:10ever see.
01:05:11It's dotted with neon-colored hot springs, lava pools, and vast salt flats.
01:05:17But you've gotta be especially careful there.
01:05:19Toxic gases are swirling over hydrothermal fields.
01:05:23And many pools are super-acidic.
01:05:25So don't go swimming.
01:05:27Until at least 30 minutes after lunch.
01:05:30Just kidding.
01:05:31And finally, there's nothing mysterious about 28,000 rubber ducks found in the sea in 1992.
01:05:39That's when a ship transporting bath toys got lost in the ocean while traveling from
01:05:43Hong Kong to the US.
01:05:45Some of these ducks are still floating in the ocean several decades later.
01:05:50They've been spotted in South America, Alaska, Hawaii, and even Australia.
01:05:55And they make bath time lots of fun.
01:05:58Ooh, rubber ducky!
01:06:06You feel some rumbling from below.
01:06:08No, it's not your tummy.
01:06:10It's low and ominous.
01:06:12You look up and see strange lights hanging above the ground.
01:06:16They look like shimmering balls of light hovering high up in the sky.
01:06:20Your throat goes dry.
01:06:22And you gulp.
01:06:23That's what they call the earthquake lights.
01:06:26This phenomenon is poorly understood, but witnesses say they've seen it in different
01:06:30shapes and sizes.
01:06:32It could be in the form of light balls, sheet lightning, streamers, and a steady glow in
01:06:37the sky.
01:06:38Soon after, a strong earthquake follows.
01:06:41Scientists can't explain why those lights appear, and they don't always do either.
01:06:46Some believe that's a reaction of underground gases released into the atmosphere.
01:06:51Sure enough, an earthquake begins.
01:06:54But lucky you, it's not as strong as you expected.
01:06:57The ground is shaking, but you even manage to keep your balance.
01:07:01It stops as abruptly as it began, and you walk home.
01:07:05On the way home, you see a flash and hear a whip crack.
01:07:09Something has struck a lone tree near where you just stood.
01:07:12It's caught on fire, and there's a column of flames rising to the sky.
01:07:18Still no rain, and the pillar becomes taller and taller.
01:07:22Have you heard of such a thing as a fire tornado?
01:07:25These phenomena occur when the wind is caught in a circle close to the ground because of
01:07:30the difference in air pressure.
01:07:32Such mini-tornadoes are usually easy to notice.
01:07:35Small rubble, dust, sand, and leaves rise into the air and start flying in rapid circles.
01:07:41But then, if there's a source of fire nearby, the funnel can catch it and blow it stronger
01:07:47like bellows.
01:07:48The flames go round and round, reaching ever higher, and eventually creating a swirling
01:07:53blazing tower.
01:07:55Luckily, fire tornadoes are short-lived and don't normally cause much damage.
01:08:00But don't try to hide from the storm under that tree.
01:08:03You can find this unusual plant in Florida and in some parts of the Caribbean coast.
01:08:08Externally, it doesn't look special at all.
01:08:11A gray trunk, green leaves, and fruit similar to small apples.
01:08:15What you must remember is never to pluck these apples and never stand next to the tree, especially
01:08:21if it's raining.
01:08:23This is the Manchineel tree, which is considered the most dangerous in the world.
01:08:28Its trunk, bark, branches, and fruit contain poisonous juice.
01:08:33One drop of this corrosive acidic liquid can harm your skin…a lot.
01:08:38The tree can secrete this juice, and if you accidentally touch it, you risk burning your
01:08:42hand.
01:08:44When it rains, water droplets fall on the tree and mix with the poison.
01:08:49Water can also bounce off the bark and get on your skin.
01:08:53That's why you shouldn't stand nearby either.
01:08:55There are almost no other shrubs or mushrooms growing around.
01:08:59Animals avoid these trees, and people don't chop them and don't pluck the fruit.
01:09:04You can't make a bonfire from their branches.
01:09:07Burning wood emits poisonous smoke that can damage your eyes.
01:09:11Locals know this tree well, but tourists and travelers might accidentally get harmed.
01:09:16That's why most Manchineel trees are marked with paint or have a warning sign.
01:09:22In western Venezuela, locals living close to the Catatumbo River aren't afraid of
01:09:27lightning because they see it almost every single night.
01:09:31It starts at around 7 o'clock and doesn't stop until dawn.
01:09:35The everlasting Catatumbo lightning did once stop for a few months, from January to March
01:09:412010.
01:09:42It was probably due to drought, or maybe the charge ran out.
01:09:46In 1991, a scientist suggested that the phenomenon happens because of cold and warm air currents
01:09:52meeting in the area.
01:09:54Another theory is that the lightning could be due to the presence of uranium in the bedrock.
01:10:00Not all lightning happens inside clouds.
01:10:02There's a rare phenomenon called a dirty thunderstorm.
01:10:06The lightning happens above a volcano.
01:10:09The most famous is in Japan.
01:10:11It erupts almost every day and spits black clouds high into the air.
01:10:15So it's super scary volcano clouds plus lightning.
01:10:20Regular lightning happens during a storm, when ice crystals bump into each other.
01:10:25In a dirty thunderstorm, bits of volcanic ash collide, create friction, and spark up
01:10:30the sky.
01:10:32In the hottest and one of the driest places on Earth, Africa's Danakil Desert, temperatures
01:10:38often rise above 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
01:10:41The out-of-this-world landscape has many active volcanoes and geysers that spit out toxic
01:10:46gases like chlorine and sulfur.
01:10:49The vibrantly green, electric blue, and yellow waters are all rain and seawater warmed up
01:10:55by magma.
01:10:56One wrong step here and you'd be gone for good.
01:11:00This happened in June 2009.
01:11:03People in certain areas in Japan left their homes after a heavy downpour, only to find
01:11:08fish, frogs, and tadpoles everywhere.
01:11:11Fields, roads, lawns, and rooftops were littered with these aquatic creatures.
01:11:17One man was shocked to see 13 carp on and around his truck.
01:11:22Apparently, he stopped to count them.
01:11:24No one knows for sure where the bizarre rain came from, but the most popular theory claims
01:11:29that a powerful water spout picked up all these creatures.
01:11:32Then it carried them through the upper atmosphere and dropped the animals on the unsuspecting
01:11:37people below.
01:11:39And now, welcome to Abraham Lake in Canada.
01:11:42It's completely frozen.
01:11:44You step onto the transparent ice and look down at what lies beneath.
01:11:48No fish, just some mysterious frozen bubbles.
01:11:51They look like small clouds frozen in ice, or jellyfish who forgot to pack a winter jacket.
01:11:57There are thousands of these little bubbles made up of methane.
01:12:01But don't try to dig a hole in the ice to touch it.
01:12:04Methane is highly flammable.
01:12:06It's created by methane-producing bacteria that eats leaves, grass, insects, or any other
01:12:11organic stuff that gets into the lake.
01:12:14When the methane touches the frozen water, it turns into tens of thousands of frozen
01:12:18little balls.
01:12:20When the ice melts, they burst open and sizzle.
01:12:23Similar lakes can be found near some shores of the Arctic Ocean.
01:12:27There, the size of the bubbles can reach several times the size of hot air balloons.
01:12:32Beautiful for sure, but not exactly safe.
01:12:35The next shocking lake is in Indonesia, the island of Java.
01:12:40You come to a majestic volcano, overgrown with grass and trees.
01:12:45The volcano seems to be asleep, but smoke is pouring out of it.
01:12:50You climb to the summit.
01:12:51Exhausted, tired, sweaty, you're ready to cool off.
01:12:55Nice work, you made it to the top.
01:12:57You look into the mouth of the volcano.
01:12:59Hmm, no boiling lava, just a beautiful, bright, turquoise lake down there.
01:13:05It looks like an oasis.
01:13:06Perfect time for a refreshing dip.
01:13:08You run down and get ready to jump in, but that's not water, that's acid!
01:13:14Sulfurous gases get into the lake from under the volcano.
01:13:17The lake itself is full of metals.
01:13:20When the gases touch them, they form that beautiful turquoise water.
01:13:24I mean, acid.
01:13:25Better head back to the nearest village, rest, and come back at night when it's cooler.
01:13:30In the dark, the lake seems to glow.
01:13:33Right above it, you see light-filled, exploding little clouds.
01:13:37The sulfurous gases rise out of the lake, combine with the air, and flash bright blue.
01:13:43Still, don't get too close.
01:13:46The sea turns sinister red, and no living being can survive in it.
01:13:51Must be some dark magic.
01:13:53In fact, it's tiny algae that spread uncontrollably, giving the water this specific tint called
01:13:59the red tide.
01:14:00They have toxins that destroy sea mammals, birds, and turtles, as well as creatures that
01:14:05feed on them.
01:14:07For humans, contact with it ends in breathing problems or seafood poisoning.
01:14:13Sometimes even huge ships sink in the open seas for no visible reason.
01:14:17That reason is often the pockets of bubbles that underwater volcanoes produce even while
01:14:22they're sleeping.
01:14:23Those productive magma factories are hidden under 8,500 feet of water.
01:14:28When they wake up, they act just like land volcanoes, and they can cause destructive
01:14:33tsunamis.
01:14:35This tree looks like a bottle.
01:14:37No wonder it's called the bottle tree.
01:14:39It grows in Namibia and attracts many tourists.
01:14:43But don't get too close to the tree because it's one of the most dangerous on Earth.
01:14:48Milky juice flows inside the trunk.
01:14:50It's highly toxic to the human body.
01:14:53On the bright side, though, the trees have beautiful pink-white leaves with a red core.
01:14:58There's a tree growing in Western Australia that was once used as a prison.
01:15:02A cell for criminals existed inside the Boab prison tree for a long time.
01:15:07People were usually kept there temporarily just for one night.
01:15:11After that, they were taken to their final destination.
01:15:14The prison was built more than 1,500 years ago and has been perfectly preserved to this
01:15:19day.
01:15:21Tourists visiting this place can sneak a peek inside.
01:15:24You're in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, one of the driest places on Earth.
01:15:31This desert has a beautiful secret.
01:15:33Every 3 to 5 years, flowers pop up out of nowhere.
01:15:37It's so famous, it's also called the flowering desert.
01:15:41Seeds lie around in the ground just waiting for some rain.
01:15:45When the desert gets enough water, about 200 types of flowers sprout up.
01:15:50The yellow sands of the Atacama turn purple, white, green, and even pink.
01:15:55Another mystical phenomenon that can be seen in the desert is called a sand waterfall.
01:16:01When the wind brings a lot of sand to the edge of the canyon, it begins to fall down.
01:16:06Now amplify this effect 100 times, and you get a sand waterfall in Saudi Arabia.
01:16:12It really is like Niagara Falls, only there's not a drop of water.
01:16:16The locals say this phenomenon warns of an impending sandstorm.
01:16:21Fairy rings, also known as elf rings or pixie rings, are mysterious circles of mushrooms
01:16:27that appear in grasslands and forested areas.
01:16:30There's a lot of debate about why these fairy rings form a nearly perfect circle.
01:16:35Some superstitions claim that fairy dances would burn the ground, causing mushrooms to
01:16:40rapidly grow.
01:16:42In southern India, between July and September 2001, people witnessed one of the strangest
01:16:47weather phenomena in recorded history.
01:16:50The rain was red.
01:16:53What many would've thought to be a typical rainstorm left them shocked.
01:16:57The color was bright enough to stain clothes.
01:17:00There were other colors too, such as green, yellow, brown, and even black.
01:17:05In the middle of a monsoon, red rain started to fall, and so did periodically for several
01:17:10weeks.
01:17:11Researchers have found this unusual rain is stained either by dust or algae, so don't
01:17:17try to catch any on your tongue.
01:17:19Scientists aren't entirely sure how the algae got all the way up there.
01:17:23This does make events like this a little unsettling.
01:17:28People who live in rural central Norway, over the Hestalen Valley, can often witness floating
01:17:33lights of white, yellow, and red cross the sky.
01:17:37The lights appear both at day and night, and once back in the 80s, they were spotted 15-20
01:17:45times in a single week.
01:17:46The Hestalen lights can last just a few seconds, but sometimes they can last more than an hour.
01:17:52The lights move, seeming to float or even sway around.
01:17:56Some scientists believe that the reason for these lights is due to ionized iron dust.
01:18:02Others say it's a combination that includes sodium, oxygen, and hydrogen.
01:18:06Many people claim they're just misidentified aircrafts.
01:18:10Norway!
01:18:12Snow doughnuts are one of the rarest meteorological sights to see, with perfect weather conditions
01:18:17needed just to create them.
01:18:19Found in any snow-covered mountain area, like the Rocky Mountains, the wind, temperature,
01:18:24snow, ice, and moisture all have to work together for us to see these phenomenal rings.
01:18:30A thin layer of wet snow on the ground.
01:18:33Under that layer, ice or powdered snow.
01:18:36Then a strong enough breeze to roll the doughnut down a hill, just like a snowball.
01:18:41Once it stops rolling, it can be the size of a baseball or as large as a car tire.
01:18:47It all depends on how strong the wind is.
01:18:49A newly formed snow doughnut won't stay around for very long, so hurry up with that
01:18:53camera and watch your head!
01:18:56Can you believe there's another place on Earth with its own ecosystem and atmosphere,
01:19:01similar to another planet?
01:19:03Well, start believing!
01:19:05Movil Cave, located in southeastern Romania, remained closed in complete darkness for a
01:19:10whopping 5.5 million years.
01:19:13It wasn't until workers discovered the cave, when they were looking for a place to build,
01:19:18that anyone learned about it.
01:19:20Scientists carved out an opening to the cave and found that a completely sustained ecosystem
01:19:25was thriving inside.
01:19:27As a pathway was carved through the rock past numerous tunnels, scientists found a lake
01:19:32of sulfuric water that stank like rotten eggs.
01:19:36The air was filled with hydrogen sulfide and had 100 times more carbon dioxide than
01:19:41Earth's atmosphere contains.
01:19:43Needless to say, this air is completely toxic.
01:19:46What's even crazier is that a whole ecosystem has been existing in this cave, with 33 species
01:19:52that can't be found anywhere else on Earth.
01:19:55This cave gives us a glimpse of what could possibly exist on other planets with completely
01:20:00different atmospheres.
01:20:02How it managed to exist on Earth all this time without anyone knowing is rather unbelievable,
01:20:08isn't it?
01:20:09Now check these trees out.
01:20:11They're called Indian rubber trees.
01:20:13Their strong roots grow not underground, but on the surface.
01:20:17With the help of special frames and fasteners, people have learned to control how these roots
01:20:22grow.
01:20:23Let's say a tree is next to a small pit.
01:20:25You need to make a bridge from one end of this pit to the other.
01:20:29You direct the growing tree roots in the needed direction.
01:20:33Over time, the roots penetrate the ground and strengthen under endless downpours.
01:20:38It takes about 15 years to create one bridge.
01:20:42Here's another amazing tree called the Tree of Life.
01:20:45It grows in Bahrain's desert.
01:20:47The tree has been standing on top of this sandy hill for more than 400 years, surrounded
01:20:51by miles of sand.
01:20:53It's extremely hot here, and there's no moisture.
01:20:56Despite this, the tree has green leaves, and it continues to grow.
01:21:01So far, scientists haven't figured out yet how the tree gets moisture and nutrients.
01:21:06There are only places with oil deposits around.
01:21:09Locals think the tree is sacred.
01:21:11After all, it demonstrates the magic of life and the power of nature.
01:21:16Some experts are sure it's all about the roots.
01:21:19They go so deep that they can reach underground sources of water.
01:21:24So there you are.
01:21:25You've been driving for hours through the night.
01:21:28You didn't have any chance to sleep, so your mind is hanging by a thread.
01:21:32You stop the car and go out to stretch your limbs.
01:21:36And then you look up into the sky and see a beautiful sunrise.
01:21:40Whoa, wait, there are three suns in the sky.
01:21:43You rub your eyes, but nope, there are still three bright stars in the sky.
01:21:48No, our home star hasn't been torn into three pieces, nor has it been visited by two
01:21:54other stars.
01:21:55This is called a sun dog.
01:21:57It occurs mostly during severe frosts.
01:22:00Small ice crystals in the sky bend the light.
01:22:03As a result, you may see three bright spots in the sky instead of just one.
01:22:08This phenomenon is officially called a halo.
01:22:11Usually it's just a circle around the sun.
01:22:14You can even see a halo at night, too.
01:22:16Just look at a street lamp, and you'll see a bright circle around it.
01:22:20Sometimes, a halo can take on a fancier shape.
01:22:23If there's a lot of ice in the air, the light is warped even more.
01:22:27Just like in a room with a dozen mirrors.
01:22:30Then the halo can take on the shape of a human eye.
01:22:34Because of this phenomenon, a false dawn can also occur.
01:22:38While you're looking at the horizon, the dawn begins, and the edge of the sun appears.
01:22:43A little bit more, and wait, the sun starts to just dissolve in the sky.
01:22:49After a few moments, it's dark again.
01:22:52And only a minute later, the real sun shows its face.
01:22:55It was the same light curvature effect you saw before with the three suns.
01:23:00Only now, the light is curved vertically, not horizontally.
01:23:04And instead of the real sun, its reflection in ice crystals in the sky appeared.
01:23:09But the sunrise with three stars on the horizon is actually real.
01:23:13Not on Earth, though, but 340 light-years away.
01:23:18There's a star system at the center of which lurks a star almost twice the size of the
01:23:23sun.
01:23:24And there are two smaller stars orbiting around this giant.
01:23:27This strange world has a planet too.
01:23:30Sunsets and dawns there really happen with three stars.
01:23:33If you brought your significant other to a park bench to watch a sunset here, your date
01:23:38would go just fine.
01:23:41Whatever that means.
01:23:43Perhaps since we're talking about the most baffling natural phenomena, it would be a
01:23:46crime not to mention snow in a desert.
01:23:50Yep, in the winter of 2018, the inhabitants of the Sahara Desert, one of the driest and
01:23:55hottest places on this planet, woke up to discover a thick blanket of snow covering
01:24:01the sand.
01:24:02In some places, the layer of snow enveloping the dunes reached a staggering 15 inches.
01:24:08Meteorologists, however, had an explanation for this exciting phenomenon.
01:24:13They stated that cold pools of air, combined with the precipitation from the most recent
01:24:18storm, resulted in a snowfall instead of rain.
01:24:21So what do you do in that case?
01:24:23Build snow camels?
01:24:25One hump or two.
01:24:28Rocks rolling down the slopes of a rumbling volcano, pushing other bigger rocks on their
01:24:34way, and eventually tumbling down into the ocean in a humongous cascade, causing a wave
01:24:40the height of which the world's never seen before.
01:24:43This is what might happen if the Halina Slump of the Hawaiian Big Island falls off into
01:24:48the water.
01:24:49The Kilauea Volcano is far from dormant.
01:24:52The latest eruption occurred in 2018.
01:24:55Its eruptions are usually accompanied by earthquakes of different magnitudes, and with each quake,
01:25:00the magma rocks on the slopes of the volcano shift down.
01:25:05These rock formations are called slumps, and the Halina Slump is the most notorious of
01:25:09them all.
01:25:10In 1868, the shift of this slump caused a tidal wave rising as tall as 60 feet.
01:25:17But what's most troubling is that some 110,000 years ago, a landslide here led to one of
01:25:23the most powerful earthquakes ever, which, in turn, led to a mega-tsunami of over a thousand
01:25:29feet in height.
01:25:31Scientists are worried that such an event may repeat in the future.
01:25:34If that happens, the wave might engulf the whole of Hawaii and easily reach both North
01:25:39and South American coasts.
01:25:41Geologists are quick to reassure, though, that a landslide like this is unlikely to
01:25:46occur anytime soon.
01:25:47It's just too early for that.
01:25:50But when it finally does, the consequences will be catastrophic.
01:25:54Have a nice day!
01:25:56Yellowstone National Park in the Western USA is world-famous for its dazzling views, and
01:26:02especially the colorful Grand Prismatic Spring at its very heart.
01:26:06But we should all stay aware that Yellowstone is, first and foremost, an enormous caldera
01:26:12– basically, a slumbering supervolcano.
01:26:15The difference between a regular volcano, like Kilauea from earlier, and a supervolcano
01:26:21is that the latter is thousands of times more powerful.
01:26:24Imagine an eruption spewing tons of huge rock and rivers of hot lava, pumping out clouds
01:26:30of ash that make countries stop air travel for weeks.
01:26:33And now multiply all of this by a thousand.
01:26:37This is what a Yellowstone eruption would look like.
01:26:40At first, a huge area in the middle of the National Park would shake, crumble, and then
01:26:45blast upwards in a megaton explosion.
01:26:48Lava flows and magma rocks would cover the area of about 40 square miles – roughly
01:26:53half of Washington, D.C.
01:26:55But the greatest danger is the volcanic ash.
01:26:58The ashen plume would rise miles above and get carried by the wind in every direction.
01:27:04Since the eruption would be far from ordinary, the spread and damage would also be much greater
01:27:09than usual.
01:27:10The ash is thick and heavy, so it would cover a vast area in a blanket, destroying crops
01:27:16and even buildings.
01:27:17Worse still, it would spread in the air and block out the sun, leading to a drastic drop
01:27:23in temperature and an artificial winter.
01:27:26Even regular volcanoes can lower temperatures worldwide by a few degrees.
01:27:30A supervolcano may potentially cause a new ice age.
01:27:34Luckily, the chances of Yellowstone's supervolcano erupting in the near future, or at all, are
01:27:40extremely low.
01:27:41There have been only three of those in the history of Earth, and there's no evidence
01:27:45such a disaster should repeat.
01:27:48Scientists estimate the probability at 0.00014%, which is lower than the chances of an asteroid
01:27:55wiping us all out.
01:27:57Speaking of which…
01:27:59If dinosaurs could talk, and were at least still alive for that matter, they'd tell
01:28:03you that asteroid threat is as real as it gets.
01:28:07Scientists at NASA say they've tracked 90% of all near-Earth asteroids of significant
01:28:12size, and none of them are a matter of any concern.
01:28:15But there are still the other 10% in the great unknown.
01:28:19What's more, asteroids can change their line of flight because of the pull of other
01:28:24celestial bodies and eventually turn our way.
01:28:28Lucky us!
01:28:29Now, if an asteroid big enough, like a mile across, hits the Earth, it will first cause
01:28:34an explosion powerful enough to erase a dozen big cities in a matter of seconds.
01:28:40Then the impact will raise a cloud of dust and debris that will block out the Sun, just
01:28:44like the ash cloud from a volcano, and cause a centuries-long winter on the whole planet.
01:28:50Even if it falls into the ocean, which is more likely, a resulting wave will rise several
01:28:55miles high, washing coastal cities off the face of the planet.
01:28:59But at least there won't be a new ice age.
01:29:02Although scientists are pretty sure there's no such threat in the near future, it can't
01:29:06be ruled out completely, and humanity needs at least 5 years to prepare for this event.
01:29:12If a big near-Earth asteroid suddenly changes its course and turns right toward our planet,
01:29:17we won't stand a chance against it.
01:29:19Disaster movie, anyone?
01:29:21A much more probable calamity, though, rests right beneath our feet.
01:29:26It's the San Andreas Fault in California.
01:29:28The fault has been ready for rupture for years now, and scientists estimate that an earthquake
01:29:33along this line is likely to occur in the next three decades.
01:29:38And when it happens, it won't be nice.
01:29:40They expect a magnitude of 8.0, which is comparable to some of the most devastating quakes in
01:29:46history.
01:29:47It's all the more dangerous since California is home to some of the most populated cities
01:29:52in the western U.S., including Los Angeles and San Francisco.
01:29:56High-rise buildings are common there, and they're particularly vulnerable against
01:30:00underground shakes.
01:30:02The San Andreas earthquake might cause a whole lot of damage both to cities and countryside.
01:30:08In the worst-case scenario, the ground might break apart, destroying buildings, farms,
01:30:13and changing the landscape altogether.
01:30:15Still, scientists believe that the probability of such a quake is only 7% for the next 30
01:30:22years.
01:30:23So there's a rather big chance, um, 93%, that we'll never see that in our lifetime.
01:30:29Yet there's another earthquake hazard not so far away from the previous one.
01:30:34The megathrust in Chile.
01:30:36The country sits right above the subduction zone, an area where two tectonic plates meet
01:30:42and go one beneath the other.
01:30:44At the place of their meeting, stress has accumulated because of their continuous movement,
01:30:49and once that strain is too much, a major earthquake occurs.
01:30:53Chile has experienced a lot of quakes in the recent years, and scientists are worried those
01:30:58might be preparing the area for a really big one.
01:31:02They believe a great earthquake is due to happen before the end of the century, and
01:31:06it might be devastating to the coastal area.
01:31:09Even smaller quakes cause tsunamis that flooded the West Coast, and a huge one like that is
01:31:14likely to raise a wave of incredible height.
01:31:18On the bright side, Chile now knows to prepare in advance for the coming natural disasters,
01:31:23and geologists are pretty sure people will be able to evacuate before the earthquake
01:31:28strikes.
01:31:29In September of 1859, astronomer Richard Carrington was looking at the Sun and suddenly saw a
01:31:36bright flare on its surface.
01:31:38He made a note of it in his records, but only realized how important it was a couple of
01:31:43days later.
01:31:44The energy from that flare reached Earth and struck it directly, causing northern lights
01:31:49to appear above Cuba and burning telegraph lines all around the world.
01:31:54This was dubbed the Carrington event, and it was a solar storm.
01:31:59Such storms hit the Earth fairly often, but none of them were so powerful as the Carrington
01:32:04event, neither before nor after.
01:32:07But in 2012, astronomers registered a similar solar flare whose energy nearly hit our planet
01:32:14once again.
01:32:15If it had been just a week earlier, we'd have been in big trouble.
01:32:18Today, humanity relies on electricity in almost every aspect of life, and a powerful solar
01:32:24storm would mess with the electromagnetic field of Earth a lot.
01:32:28All electric appliances would either shut down or short-circuit, and huge transformers
01:32:34powering basically everything would go out of order for good.
01:32:38It would take years to repair them, and the cost of such a massive blackout would count
01:32:42in trillions of dollars.
01:32:44The worst of it is that science is almost unable to predict solar storms, and even if
01:32:49we could know about them in advance, we'd be powerless to stop them.
01:32:54The flare happens in a matter of seconds, and it takes about 8 minutes for the particles
01:32:58to reach the Earth's atmosphere, causing the disturbance.
01:33:01The power outage would come a bit later, in a day or so, when a massive cloud of plasma
01:33:06gets to our planet.
01:33:08At the moment, there's no protection against solar flares, and the chances of one powerful
01:33:13enough to cut all of our electricity in the next few years are quite high – about 12%.
01:33:19The only good thing about all this is that we now know of such a possibility and can
01:33:24at least prepare in advance.
01:33:26Hey, don't forget to pack some underwear and socks – you'll always need those!
01:33:32If there were cataclysms on Earth every 5 minutes, living conditions on our planet would
01:33:37be almost the same as 4.5 billion years ago.
01:33:42Back then, seas and oceans boiled, lightning struck everywhere, tectonic plates changed
01:33:48their shape, lava flowed from volcanoes, and worse, no Internet.
01:33:54The Earth resembled a vast boiling cauldron where life was gradually being created.
01:33:59If it starts to boil again, this cauldron could destroy almost all life on the planet.
01:34:04Hmm, consecutive cataclysms – won't hurt to pretend.
01:34:08Let's imagine, shall we?
01:34:10Good morning!
01:34:11You wake up in a small underground bunker.
01:34:14The seismic sensor indicates that a 7-point earthquake will start in a few minutes.
01:34:19You pack a huge waterproof backpack and go upstairs.
01:34:23The underground bunker is protected from seismic activity – it moves with the ground, so
01:34:28you're safe here.
01:34:29But you need to leave the shelter because supplies are low.
01:34:33Also, yesterday, you picked up a radio signal telling all survivors to go south immediately.
01:34:39The coordinates they gave aren't far from your location.
01:34:42You have to hurry, though, before the landscape changes again.
01:34:46You open the hatch and find yourself in the middle of the desert.
01:34:49The sun is almost invisible beyond the gray sky.
01:34:53The ground is shaking, but you're not afraid.
01:34:56There are no houses or buildings, nothing to fall on you.
01:34:59You keep your balance perfectly, and the earthquake doesn't knock you off your feet.
01:35:03It's like jumping on a trampoline.
01:35:05The only danger is the deep chasms in the ground, but you can easily jump over them.
01:35:11After such an extreme morning warm-up, you decide to have breakfast.
01:35:15You take a tin can out of your backpack.
01:35:18You have a few minutes before the next disaster, so you eat and remember how your great-grandfather
01:35:23told you how all this started.
01:35:26Before all of this, the planet was divided into territories called countries.
01:35:30Millions of people lived in them, and then something terrible happened.
01:35:34The tectonic plates started to move, and the air temperature and atmospheric pressure began
01:35:39to rapidly change.
01:35:41In one day, earthquakes destroyed entire cities.
01:35:45Tsunamis and floods washed away the remaining ruins.
01:35:49Volcanic ash blocked the passage of sunlight, forest fires destroyed almost all vegetation,
01:35:55and eruptions poisoned the air.
01:35:57Only a few people managed to adapt to such harsh conditions, and you are a lucky duck
01:36:02to be one of them.
01:36:04As you finish your breakfast, you're distracted by another ground tremor.
01:36:08Time to move on!
01:36:09Many people travel around the world alone, as they consider it a safer way of life.
01:36:14Some people form small communes, but no one ever stays in one place for too long.
01:36:20Your whole life is in motion, but you don't panic.
01:36:23One of the main rules during natural disasters is to remain calm, so all survivors have steel
01:36:28nerves and excellent physical training.
01:36:31You run a few miles south and suddenly smell something strange.
01:36:36You put on a gas mask.
01:36:38The earthquake has created a limnic eruption.
01:36:41Natural carbon dioxide is released from the ground to the surface.
01:36:45You feel comfortable in a gas mask, but can't run fast while wearing it.
01:36:50Far up ahead, you see a green forest, a rare place that was not affected by fires.
01:36:55You take off the gas mask and go to the tree to take shelter in the shade from the scorching
01:37:00sun.
01:37:01This green area is rich in vegetation.
01:37:04Colorful flowers, strawberries, and many other berries grow here.
01:37:08But you're concerned.
01:37:10Such fertile land comes from being near volcanoes.
01:37:13It spews underground magma rich in vitamins and minerals, so vegetation grows.
01:37:19You can see a high mountain in the distance.
01:37:21This is the volcano.
01:37:23An underground push occurs again and provokes an eruption.
01:37:27You gather strawberries and run away from this place as far as possible.
01:37:32Lava pours from the volcano's mouth and makes a fire in the forest.
01:37:36You unhook a folding scooter with a motor from your backpack and drive away from the
01:37:41fiery mountain as fast as you can.
01:37:44The sky is covered with volcanic ash.
01:37:46But this is not for long.
01:37:48A strong wind flows, grows with each passing second.
01:37:51You realize a hurricane is moving in your direction.
01:37:55You take out a small shovel and dig a hole in the ground.
01:37:58The soil is dry, but you have enough strength to dig a small ravine in a couple of minutes.
01:38:04You dive into the shelter and cover yourself with a protective tent.
01:38:08The hurricane blows the volcanic ash in different directions, and the air becomes clear again.
01:38:13But the fire doesn't stop.
01:38:15The wind spreads through the forest.
01:38:17You get out of the ravine and put on the gas mask again.
01:38:20There's a lot of smoke around, and it's unbearably hot.
01:38:24You know the hurricane couldn't just appear without any reason.
01:38:28Hurricanes are formed when warm, moist air collides with the sea surface and rises to
01:38:32the sky, so there's water nearby.
01:38:35Great, because you're thirsty and want to cool down.
01:38:38A loud sound erupts behind you.
01:38:41You turn around.
01:38:42A massive wave of water approaches the fire.
01:38:46In a panic, you take your life jacket out of your backpack, remove your gas mask, and
01:38:50put on a diving mask and fins.
01:38:53The wave blows you off your feet, but you don't drown.
01:38:57Over the years of survival, you have learned to swim very well.
01:39:01You grab a passing tree and wait patiently for the flood to be replaced by another natural
01:39:06disaster.
01:39:07For 5 minutes, you sail under a black stormy sky that sparkles with lightning.
01:39:13Despite the waves, you try to row south.
01:39:16It's getting pretty cold.
01:39:17You finally see the shore.
01:39:19But this is not land, but ice.
01:39:22A strong wind brought a cold cyclone, which caused a fast temperature change.
01:39:28It's like you're in Antarctica.
01:39:30Snow and blizzards are all around.
01:39:32It's freezing, but you take out a thin space blanket made from foil and walk slowly south.
01:39:38Under your clothes, you put crumpled paper, bubble wrap, pieces of cotton.
01:39:43All this also helps to warm your body.
01:39:45Along the way, you collect several bottles of snow to melt later.
01:39:50Icicles form on your face, and you can't see because of the snowstorm.
01:39:54Suddenly, the snow begins to squish under your feet.
01:39:58The ice melts and turns into water.
01:40:00A hot stream of air blows into your face.
01:40:03You find yourself on hard, dry ground, looking up at the sky, then at your watch.
01:40:09Five minutes pass, and the sky is again covered with black clouds.
01:40:14You take a metal plate out of your backpack and cover your head with it.
01:40:18A few seconds later, you are hit by heavy rain and hail.
01:40:22Giant balls of ice knock on the metal shield, but you go calmly and even with a smile on
01:40:27your face.
01:40:28The ground becomes wet and loose from icy rocks.
01:40:32When the hail ends, you pull out all the heat-insulating materials from under your
01:40:36clothes and hide them in your backpack.
01:40:39Then you lay out a few long spokes of steel.
01:40:43The spokes are wrapped with copper wire.
01:40:45You connect the spokes to each other, making one long antenna.
01:40:49You stick it in the ground and run away.
01:40:52After the hail from the rain clouds, lightning strikes the ground.
01:40:56More precisely, it hits the lightning rod you've just built.
01:41:00You wait for the storm to end, then take the lightning rod apart and return it to your
01:41:04backpack.
01:41:05An intense heat begins.
01:41:07You drink some melted snow and break your way through the desert.
01:41:11The Earth trembles, and your adventure begins again.
01:41:15Earthquakes, carbon dioxide, fires, floods, snowfall, tsunamis, lightning, and again and
01:41:21again and again.
01:41:23With the help of a compass, you continue your journey and reach your goal a few months later.
01:41:28You see a long antenna sticking out of the ground.
01:41:32This is a placemark for entering an underground city.
01:41:35The city is built from dozens of massive bunkers connected to each other by tunnels.
01:41:40The city walls don't allow radiation to pass through, and they don't bend from daily earthquakes.
01:41:47People learn to extract energy from the ground.
01:41:49The Earth's core gives heat.
01:41:51This heat boils water, then steam is formed, and electricity is created at special stations.
01:41:57People get water from underground lakes and rivers.
01:42:01Instead of the sun, ultraviolet lamps are installed everywhere, which provide people
01:42:05and plants with necessary light.
01:42:08Natural disasters happen on Earth every 5 minutes.
01:42:12But humanity still has a lot of space underground.
01:42:17In Russia, on the shores of the Baltic Sea, there's an enigmatic national park.
01:42:22The Dancing Forest is a place that no scientist has managed to explain so far.
01:42:27The pine trees of the forest are all crooked and twisted into loops and spirals.
01:42:32The forest didn't appear until the early 60s, when the pines were planted in order
01:42:36to make the sand dune in that area more stable.
01:42:40One theory is that it's the unstable sand that made the trees twist in such a way.
01:42:45Other theories for the crooked trees are strong winds, or even supernatural powers.
01:42:50Some people say the forest is a place where positive and negative energies meet, twisting
01:42:55the trees.
01:42:56The legend says that if a person climbs through one of the rings of a tree, it'll add an
01:43:01extra year to this person's life, or they'll be granted a wish.
01:43:05I like that one.
01:43:07Speaking of bizarre trees, and I was, one grows in the region of Piedmont, Italy.
01:43:12There, a cherry tree grows on the top of a mulberry tree.
01:43:16The strange thing is that both trees are perfectly healthy.
01:43:22A continuous storm at Saturn's north pole has an odd shape – a hexagon.
01:43:27This is probably because of the gradient of the winds.
01:43:31The total length of this cloud pattern is 9,000 miles, which is about 1,200 miles longer
01:43:36than the Earth's diameter.
01:43:38The hexagon has been observed for many years, but it gets even more mysterious because it
01:43:43changes color too.
01:43:45It used to be turquoise, but it has recently shifted to a golden color.
01:43:50The reason for the color change is that the pole gets exposed to sunlight as the seasons
01:43:55change.
01:43:58Rain isn't unusual for Oakville, Washington.
01:44:01However, this one still doesn't have any solid scientific explanation.
01:44:05Instead of common raindrops, people watched translucent jelly-like blobs fall from the
01:44:11skies.
01:44:12These blobs covered about 20 square miles.
01:44:15Those who got really close to the rain experienced flu-like symptoms.
01:44:19What were the blobs?
01:44:21Researchers claim that the blobs contain human white blood cells.
01:44:25Later tests showed no presence of nuclei.
01:44:28Some people claim the blobs might've been evaporated jellyfish resulting in rain.
01:44:33Or maybe even waste from a commercial plane.
01:44:38Walking rocks, also known as sailing rocks, move across the Death Valley National Park
01:44:43in California without any external intervention, leaving long trails in the dirt and sand along
01:44:49their way.
01:44:51Various time-lapse footages of the moving rocks have been taken.
01:44:55Scientists even installed GPS navigators on some of the rocks, and it showed that the
01:44:59rocks move at a considerable speed.
01:45:02Some researchers believe that the movement is due to thin sheets of ice that form overnight
01:45:07at freezing temperatures in the valley, letting the rocks move until it melts during the day.
01:45:13Or there was a Rolling Stones concert.
01:45:16Nah.
01:45:18The Batageka Crater in Siberia looks like a doorway to the underworld.
01:45:24It's about a half-mile long and over 280 feet deep, but it never stops growing.
01:45:30As it gets deeper, it exposes more underground layers.
01:45:33The layers show what our planet looked like thousands of years ago, as the slumps reveal
01:45:38the used-to-be climates.
01:45:40The crater appeared back in the 60s, and it all started with rapid deforestation.
01:45:45Trees no longer cast shade on the ground, and it got hotter.
01:45:49The permafrost melted, resulting in the crater formation.
01:45:54The throbbing hum in Taos, New Mexico, has driven locals wild since the 1990s.
01:46:05The low-frequency hum deprives people of sleep and depletes their energy.
01:46:10Even though scientists have tried to find the source of the hum, they still haven't
01:46:14pinpointed its origin.
01:46:16Different variations of the hum have also been heard in the UK, Australia, Canada, and
01:46:21other areas of the US.
01:46:23Luckily, only about 2% of the world's population can hear it.
01:46:27The hums have been blamed on mechanical devices, multiple disturbances of auditory systems,
01:46:33and even animals.
01:46:34The West Seattle hum, for example, was blamed on toadfish.
01:46:40Fairy rings, also known as elf rings or pixie rings, are mysterious rings of mushrooms that
01:46:46appear in grasslands and forested areas.
01:46:49There's a lot of debate about why these fungi form a nearly perfect circle.
01:46:54Some superstitions claim that fairy dances would burn the ground, causing mushrooms to
01:46:58rapidly grow.
01:47:01In Costa Rica, there's an assortment of about 300 spherical stone balls.
01:47:07Some people call them las bolas, which is simply the balls in English.
01:47:11These stones have an almost perfect round shape.
01:47:14Some of them are huge, weighing up to 16 tons each.
01:47:17They're also made of different materials – gabbro, limestone, and sandstone.
01:47:22They're considered to have been put in straight lines in front of the chief's houses, but
01:47:27there's no precise information of their origin.
01:47:30Some myths claim that these stones originated in Atlantis.
01:47:37If you ever travel to the Mekong River in late October, you have a chance of seeing
01:47:41glowing balls rising from the water and beelining up into the air.
01:47:46Locals call these glowing balls the Naga fireballs.
01:47:50The size of the lights vary.
01:47:51The reddish balls can be as tiny as a spark and as large as a basketball.
01:47:56There can be dozens to thousands of balls a night.
01:48:00Scientists don't have any solid explanation for why it happens, but it could be due to
01:48:04flammable gases released by the marshy environment.
01:48:07Some superstitious locals are sure it's all because of a giant serpent living in the
01:48:12Mekong.
01:48:14Great balls of fire!
01:48:18In Minnesota, on the north shore of Lake Superior, there's a park known for the Devil's Kettle.
01:48:24This is a waterfall that splits in two.
01:48:26One part of the river continues, while the other part disappears into a hole in the ground.
01:48:32Whatever object you throw into the Devil's Kettle won't reappear.
01:48:36Scientists still haven't fully explained where the water that drops into the hole goes.
01:48:40Devil's Kettle is considered to be unsafe for people because it's nearly impossible
01:48:45to trace the flow.
01:48:46Yeah, not a place to go tubing.
01:48:50Grunions are fish known for their bizarre mating ritual.
01:48:54The females climb out of the water and onto the shore.
01:48:57They dig their tails into the sand in order to lay eggs.
01:49:00The legs stay hidden in the sand, waiting.
01:49:03Ten days later, the high tide comes, washing the newly hatched young to the sea.
01:49:09Scientists still can't give any solid explanation for this way of breeding.
01:49:15People who live in rural central Norway, over the Hestalen Valley, can often witness floating
01:49:21lights of white, yellow, and red cross the sky.
01:49:24The lights appear both at day and night, and once back in the 80s, they were spotted 15
01:49:30to 20 times in a single week.
01:49:32The Hestalen lights can last just a few seconds, but sometimes they can last more than an hour.
01:49:38The lights move, seeming to float or even sway around.
01:49:42Some scientists believe that the reason for these lights is due to ionized iron dust.
01:49:47Others say it's combustion that includes sodium, oxygen, and hydrogen.
01:49:52Many people claim they're just misidentified aircrafts.
01:49:57Yellowstone Park has a famous boiling lake, but it's not the world's only place of boiling
01:50:02water.
01:50:03Deep in the Amazon, there's the 4-mile Chenet-Timpishka River that's always hot.
01:50:09The name means boiled by the sun.
01:50:11Well, it's not exactly boiling, but it can reach 196°F – enough to cook pasta!
01:50:18Ooh, let's try that!
01:50:21The lowest temperature in these waters is about 113°F.
01:50:24This river still can't be scientifically explained because it would require close proximity
01:50:29to a volcano for the water to reach such temperatures.
01:50:33However, the closest volcano is 400 miles away.
01:50:37But there could be a fault between the Earth that could explain this phenomenon.
01:50:43In western Venezuela, locals living close to the Catatumbo River aren't afraid of lightning
01:50:49because they see it almost every single night.
01:50:52It starts at around 7 o'clock and doesn't stop until dawn.
01:50:56The everlasting Catatumbo lightning did once stop for a few months, from January to March
01:51:012010.
01:51:03It was probably due to drought, or maybe the charge ran out.
01:51:07In 1991, a scientist suggested that the phenomenon happens because of cold and warm air currents
01:51:13meeting in the area.
01:51:15Another theory is that the lightning could be due to the presence of uranium in the bedrock.
01:51:20Speaking of lightning, I got a bolt!
01:51:22Bye!
01:51:27Venus has more volcanoes than any other planet in the Solar System – more than 1,600!
01:51:34And a day on Venus, measured by how long it takes to rotate once on its axis, takes longer
01:51:39than the time it takes to complete a full orbit of the Sun.
01:51:43Wow!
01:51:44And that's just Monday!
01:51:45An extreme greenhouse effect warms the planet's surface up to 870°F – hot enough to melt
01:51:52lead!
01:51:53Winds there reach the speed of 450 mph in the middle cloud layer – faster than the
01:51:58speediest tornadoes on our planet!
01:52:01The pressure on Venus' surface is 90 times higher than that at sea level on Earth.
01:52:05What a great place for a vacation, huh?
01:52:08And recently, this incredible place has become even more intriguing.
01:52:13In the toxic Venusian atmosphere, there's something that might mean the existence of
01:52:18life.
01:52:19Unfortunately, scientists haven't had a chance to collect any microbe specimens or
01:52:23snap any pictures of life there.
01:52:25But they've discovered a chemical called phosphine, and it's a big deal.
01:52:32If it's not some previously unknown chemistry that produces the gas, then there must be
01:52:36a kind of microbial life involved in the process.
01:52:41Phosphine is made up of three atoms of hydrogen and one atom of phosphorus.
01:52:45This gas is toxic to any normal life form that needs oxygen, including us humans.
01:52:51On our planet, phosphine can be found in places with no or little oxygen, for example, marshes
01:52:57and swamps.
01:52:58The gas is created by complex mixtures of bacteria living there.
01:53:02It can also be produced industrially.
01:53:05The weirdest thing is that phosphine isn't supposed to be in Venus' atmosphere at all.
01:53:10This gas needs precise pressure and temperature and tons of hydrogen to form.
01:53:15It wouldn't be all that surprising to find it on Saturn or Jupiter, the famous gas giants.
01:53:21But on Venus?
01:53:22Totally unexpected.
01:53:23There's no way phosphine can be produced naturally on this planet.
01:53:28Tiny amounts of it can be created during volcanic eruptions, lightning storms, minerals blown
01:53:33up to the surface, or meteorites entering Venus' atmosphere.
01:53:38It's not nearly enough to explain what the astronomers have observed.
01:53:42It would only make one ten-thousandth of the phosphine the telescopes saw.
01:53:46But let's start from the very beginning.
01:53:48In 2017, a group of scientists led by Jane Greaves from Cardiff University started to
01:53:54use the James Clerk Maxwell Radio Telescope in Hawaii as a mouthful.
01:54:00The main idea was to search for phosphine gas.
01:54:02It would be a sign of life on Venus.
01:54:05When the data came back, and the researchers analyzed it, they were shocked!
01:54:09The phosphine signal was powerful.
01:54:11The team checked the results several times.
01:54:14They wanted to make sure no other substance mimicked the presence of phosphine gas.
01:54:19So now, does it mean there's life on Venus?
01:54:22Not necessarily.
01:54:24If this gas is created by some mysterious organisms, it's a big question how they
01:54:28survive on Venus.
01:54:30On our planet, some microbes can thrive in the environments with the acidity of 5%, but
01:54:35no more.
01:54:36On Venus, though, clouds are almost entirely made of acid.
01:54:41And even though they have a rather pleasant temperature of 86°F, these clouds contain
01:54:46more than 90% of sulfuric acid.
01:54:49DNA, amino acids, proteins, life components on Earth would be dissolved there in the blink
01:54:55of an eye.
01:54:56The surface of the planet is too hot for any kind of complex molecules to make up life.
01:55:01The Venusian atmosphere is almost 50 times as dry as the driest place on our home planet.
01:55:08There's a theory that microbes might hide in scarce water droplets floating in the atmosphere,
01:55:13but it hasn't been proved yet.
01:55:15Right now, the research team's waiting for more telescope time.
01:55:18They're going to look for other gases associated with life.
01:55:22But even if they find more evidence, life forms on Venus will be made up of building
01:55:27blocks absolutely different than those on Earth.
01:55:30Or they might be protected by a sulfuric acid-resistant shell.
01:55:34It can be made of such substances as sulfur, wax, graphite, or something else we can't
01:55:41imagine.
01:55:42Of course, some experts question the idea of life on Venus.
01:55:45They think the gas might be produced during some geologic or atmospheric processes happening
01:55:50on the planet.
01:55:52But the supporters of both theories agree on one thing – the discovery is extraordinary.
01:55:57Interestingly, astronomers have always tried to find signs of life on giant planets'
01:56:03icy moons, or even closer, on Mars.
01:56:06But they've never seriously considered Venus.
01:56:09If additional telescope observations and future space missions confirm that phosphine is produced
01:56:15by living organisms, we can be in for a bunch of exciting surprises.
01:56:20Often people would know of a planet with an alien biosphere – well, alien to us – and
01:56:26this planet would be just next door to Earth.
01:56:29Speaking of visiting Venus, though, would it be possible for people to land on this
01:56:34planet?
01:56:35After all, robots are already tooling around the red planet's surface.
01:56:39On the pro side, Venus is closer to Earth than Mars, but it also has much harsher conditions.
01:56:45The planet is hotter than Mercury, even though Venus is almost double the distance from the
01:56:49Sun.
01:56:50The temperatures are higher than the melting point of many metals.
01:56:54And some of them, like lead or bismuth, can fall as snow on the highest mountain peaks.
01:56:59If you set foot on the planet, you'll find nothing but barren rock.
01:57:04Giant basaltic plains are littered with volcanoes and mountains.
01:57:08In some places, the surface melts because of the heat underneath.
01:57:11After it releases some of it, the rock solidifies again.
01:57:15If people ever go to this planet, they will most likely build floating cities in the clouds
01:57:20of Venus' atmosphere.
01:57:22At about 31 miles above the surface, the conditions, like the pressure and gravity, are similar
01:57:28to those on Earth.
01:57:30The temperature is rather manageable, too, at around 167 degrees Fahrenheit.
01:57:35Think Death Valley, California on a really hot day.
01:57:38The atmospheric pressure is half of what we have at sea level on our planet.
01:57:43If you went outside, you'd be fine without a pressure suit.
01:57:46The pressure you'd feel would be the same as at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.
01:57:50Plus, this colony would be protected from the Sun's radiation better than one on Mars.
01:57:57If the atmosphere was the mission's final destination, landing a spacecraft, or rather
01:58:02making it hover in the air, would look very different.
01:58:05The idea is to use an airship in the upper atmosphere for long periods of time.
01:58:10The airship, wrapped in an aeroshell, would enter the planet's atmosphere at a speed
01:58:15of 24,000 feet per second.
01:58:18In the next 7 minutes, its speed would drop to around 1,500 feet per second.
01:58:23After that, a huge parachute would open.
01:58:26It would slow the spacecraft down even more.
01:58:28And then things would get a bit hectic.
01:58:31The aeroshell, not needed anymore, would drop away.
01:58:34The airship would then inflate itself, all the while hurtling through the atmosphere
01:58:39toward the planet's surface.
01:58:41Its speed would be at least 330 feet per second.
01:58:44It would get larger and larger, and its drag and lift would increase.
01:58:48Soon, the parachute wouldn't be needed anymore.
01:58:51The crew would get rid of it, and the airship would fill with air completely.
01:58:56If everything went as planned, it would stop 30 miles above Venus' surface.
01:59:01After that, the airship would travel around the planet.
01:59:04It would be moved by the wind, which can reach a speed of 220 miles per hour at the
01:59:09top of the cloud layer.
01:59:11If you decided to move closer to the surface, though, you'd have to be extremely careful.
01:59:15The wind in the middle layer can get twice faster.
01:59:19The airship could be filled with a breathable mixture of hydrogen and oxygen gases.
01:59:24Such a combination would be less dense than the Venusian atmosphere.
01:59:28It would provide the needed buoyancy, you know, to stay up there.
01:59:32Venus is famous for its super-dense clouds.
01:59:35These clouds make the planet shine bright enough to be seen from Earth.
01:59:38Venus reflects more than 75% of the light that comes from the Sun.
01:59:43This reflective cloud layer exists thanks to a haze of sulfuric acid droplets in the
01:59:48atmosphere.
01:59:49And they gather exactly at the height where the airship would float.
01:59:53Luckily, people already have a method to overcome the problem of acidity.
01:59:58A few materials, for example, Teflon and some types of plastic, have an amazing acidic resistance.
02:00:04They could protect the outsides of the ship.
02:00:07So let's say you needed to work on a platform outside.
02:00:10Then you'd be able to do it, wearing only a chemical hazard suit and carrying necessary
02:00:15oxygen supply.
02:00:16Ooh, sounds like fun, huh?
02:00:18Yeah, me neither.
02:00:20White Clouds
02:00:26This region between Florida and the Bahamas is a famous place for studying various marine
02:00:31life.
02:00:32However, there's a mysterious phenomenon that happens here each year, the reasons for
02:00:37which scientists have yet to figure out.
02:00:40At times, people can see these white clouds appearing on the surface of the water.
02:00:45In technical terms, this occurrence is called a whiting event.
02:00:51With the information they have so far, scientists believe that the white patches may contain
02:00:56particles that are rich in carbon.
02:00:58The Bahama Islands do sit on a big platform of carbon, which stays hidden under the water.
02:01:05Another suggested theory for these unusual clouds is that maybe they're caused by blooms
02:01:10of tiny plants in the water.
02:01:13Scientists have even tried to use pictures taken from above by NASA to at least try to
02:01:17understand the movement of these water vapors.
02:01:21They've figured out that the size of the white patches seems to change with the seasons,
02:01:26with the biggest patches happening from March to May and October to December.
02:01:31The average size of a white patch is about 0.9 square miles.
02:01:36On a clear day, satellite pictures show about 24 patches.
02:01:41Other studies show that these events happen more often in places with considerable amounts
02:01:46of sediments at the bottom of the ocean.
02:01:48It's also possible that some ocean conditions make dirt and minerals float in the water.
02:01:55However, from 2011 to 2015, the patches in the ocean suddenly became almost four times
02:02:03larger.
02:02:04But by 2019, they had shrunk back down.
02:02:07It made scientists believe that there might be a 10-year cycle of sorts happening here,
02:02:13but they're not sure what causes it.
02:02:15They've also noticed a connection between the ocean's pH, salinity, winds, and currents.
02:02:21But for now, the data doesn't make a lot of sense.
02:02:26It's not the only secret Earth's oceans keep from us.
02:02:29Have you ever wondered about the deepest part of the ocean?
02:02:32It's known as the Mariana Trench, and it's believed to be around 6.8 miles deep, making
02:02:38it five times deeper than the Grand Canyon.
02:02:41The trench was first studied in 1875 with the help of a weighted rope.
02:02:46And in 2012, a Canadian film director reached its bottom using the Deep Sea Challenger's
02:02:52submersible vessel.
02:02:55The Mariana Trench is home to some of the most bizarre creatures on the planet, like
02:03:00the Dumbo Octopus, Sea Cucumber, and Goblin Shark.
02:03:04The trench takes its name from the nearby Mariana Islands, named in honor of Spanish
02:03:09Queen Mariana of Austria.
02:03:13It may be the deepest part of the ocean these days, but there's a lot we still don't know
02:03:17about the depths of our planet's waters.
02:03:20One such intriguing phenomenon is called Phantom Bottoms.
02:03:24In the 1940s, when sonar became standard equipment, ships and submarines started to
02:03:30detect unexpected signals from areas where no movement should technically exist.
02:03:37It turned out that these signals were coming from a layer consisting of jellyfish, shrimp,
02:03:42and other deep-sea creatures.
02:03:44They rise to the surface at night to feed.
02:03:47Interestingly, these creatures move in a calculated manner, grouping together by species.
02:03:54It's still a mystery to scientists how they managed to do that and why.
02:03:58It was once believed that animals only grouped this way to avoid predators, but the reasons
02:04:03behind the formation of these fake seabeds remain unknown.
02:04:08Recently, the scientific community has acknowledged the existence of a fifth ocean, called the
02:04:15Southern Ocean.
02:04:17This ocean is bordered by three of the four original oceans and encircles Antarctica and
02:04:22the Lower Hemisphere.
02:04:23With its borders touching Australia, Southern Africa, and South America, it's a unique ocean
02:04:29attracting attention and sparking curiosity with its secrets and the creatures it might
02:04:34hold.
02:04:37Rumors of a monstrous creature in these waters have been circulating for some time, and recent
02:04:42research has provided video evidence of strange blob-like fish.
02:04:47The creatures were identified as the sea cucumber with the nickname, the Headless Chicken Monster.
02:04:53Although this species has been known since the late 1800s, there's very little information
02:04:58about it, including its count, behavior, and reproductive habits.
02:05:04There are also areas in the world where the ocean literally sparkles.
02:05:08It's not because of the water per se, but because of numerous creatures that have the
02:05:13ability to emit light, known as bioluminescence.
02:05:17This is pretty common among aquatic creatures, with three-quarters of all underwater life
02:05:22being capable of this.
02:05:25Bioluminescence can be found anywhere, from the surface to deep within the sea, even as
02:05:29deep as 2.5 miles!
02:05:33These creatures use light for various purposes, for example, for communicating with their
02:05:38own species, attracting prey, or scaring predators away.
02:05:43The science behind bioluminescence involves the use of three chemicals, luciferin, luciferase,
02:05:50and oxygen.
02:05:51This process was first discovered by a French biologist named Raphael Dubois in 1887.
02:05:58If you want to know the difference between real bioluminescence and artificially created
02:06:03light, look for neon blue, green, or red sparkles spread over a large area in the ocean.
02:06:10This can create a captivating and magical effect, much like glitter or stars in the
02:06:15sky.
02:06:16And it's often because of squid, small crustaceans, and algae found in shallow waters.
02:06:24Have you ever heard a strange noise in the middle of the night?
02:06:27Now imagine that, but in the middle of the ocean!
02:06:31There are a few bizarre sounds that have been heard and recorded, like the bloop and julia.
02:06:38Most experts think they come from big things, like icebergs scraping the ocean floor.
02:06:44But what if that's not the answer?
02:06:48In 1997, scientists were listening to underwater volcano noises in the Pacific using underwater
02:06:54microphones called hydrophones.
02:06:56One day, they heard a very loud and strange sound that was different from anything they
02:07:01had heard before.
02:07:03They called the sound the bloop.
02:07:05They couldn't figure out what was making this sound and thought it could be coming from
02:07:09a secret underwater mission, ship engines, whales, or an unknown sea creature.
02:07:17Years went by, and researchers continued to try and find the source of the bloop by putting
02:07:22hydrophones closer to Antarctica.
02:07:24In 2005, they finally discovered that the bloop was caused by icebergs breaking off
02:07:31glaciers and falling into the ocean.
02:07:34This phenomenon is called an ice quake.
02:07:37With Earth's overall temperature rising each year, ice quakes are happening more often,
02:07:42causing glaciers to crack and melt into the ocean.
02:07:45Then, on March 1st, 1999, a loud noise was again heard underwater in the Pacific.
02:07:53The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration thought it was probably an
02:07:57iceberg breaking too, but the sound was different.
02:08:01This led some people to think the noise came from a sea monster named Julia.
02:08:07Some thought it was a new unknown species, while others believed it was a known creature
02:08:12like a whale or a giant squid.
02:08:15Some even thought it could be a prehistoric animal.
02:08:18To this day, there's no proof that any of these theories are true.
02:08:23Then there's a story of an island that was swallowed whole by the ocean.
02:08:28It was called Bermeja, and it was a tiny and uninhabited island located at the northwest
02:08:34of the Yucatan Peninsula.
02:08:36Just a century ago, it was known to be located in the Gulf of Mexico, but now it's vanished,
02:08:42leaving everyone puzzled.
02:08:45In the past, Bermeja was frequently depicted on maps created by Spanish explorers during
02:08:50the 16th and 17th centuries.
02:08:53Although its location and name varied slightly, no one ever doubted it existed.
02:08:58However, starting from the 18th century, the island's presence on maps started to fade
02:09:04until it finally disappeared completely.
02:09:08So what could have happened to it?
02:09:10Three official investigations were conducted in 2009 with the help of the most advanced
02:09:15technology, but Bermeja remained a mystery.
02:09:19Could it be possible that the island never existed and was simply a fabrication created
02:09:23by early explorers to deceive their rivals?
02:09:27Some people believe that countries made maps with inaccuracies to prevent their enemies
02:09:31from using them.
02:09:33Bermeja could have been one of such fake islands.
02:09:36Other scientists disagree.
02:09:38They claim that there are documents with precise descriptions of Bermeja's existence.
02:09:42They firmly believe the island did exist, but in a different location.

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