If Nature Shows You This, Consider Yourself Rare

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Fun
Transcript
00:00:00 Ah, beautiful!
00:00:03 You're walking with your friend and look up at the sky.
00:00:06 The sun looks a bit different today, like it has some kind of ring around it, a rainbow
00:00:11 type thing.
00:00:12 "Hey, look at that!" your friend pulls his head up out of his phone.
00:00:17 You shouldn't look directly into the "Stop everything!" he says.
00:00:21 It's a sun halo, we need to find shelter now, unless you have the world's biggest
00:00:25 umbrella on you!
00:00:27 A sun's halo is nature's sign that there's a snow or rain storm on its way.
00:00:32 It's caused by clouds that are made of bazillions of small ice crystals, flying around 20,000
00:00:38 feet.
00:00:39 Sunlight goes through those crystals, which causes the light to split and refract, like
00:00:44 when there's a rainbow.
00:00:45 Now, don't look at the sun halo directly.
00:00:47 It's gonna be tempting because it's not something you see every day.
00:00:51 Plus, it's really beautiful.
00:00:53 But ultraviolet light can burn the exposed tissue of your retina and cause serious damage.
00:00:59 So not worth it.
00:01:00 Grab some sunglasses, and you're good to go.
00:01:03 This phenomenon lasts about 40 minutes.
00:01:06 These clouds are the same ones that can cause a spooky ring around the Moon at night sometimes.
00:01:11 Nature sends early signs of disasters in many ways.
00:01:15 J-shaped trees means there's a landslide coming.
00:01:19 As the ground is moving slowly, the trees grow into the super-selfiable shape.
00:01:24 Try to find a flat area and avoid going near any trees, unless you have superhuman strength.
00:01:31 You're on a nice walk on the beach.
00:01:33 Sand, sun, not a cloud in the sky.
00:01:36 Then out of nowhere, you see the ocean going back away from the shore.
00:01:41 Suddenly, you can even see bits of coral, small fish, and other random small sea animals.
00:01:47 That's a good sign to leave.
00:01:48 There might be a tsunami on the way.
00:01:51 A tsunami is formed when there's an earthquake underwater, and it can hit the coast at 500
00:01:56 mph.
00:01:57 It's mostly a Pacific Ocean thing, but why risk it?
00:02:02 If there's a channel of choppy water on the beach, stay away.
00:02:06 There might be a rip current under the surface that can be extremely dangerous.
00:02:11 Sometimes waves hit the shore in a weird way, which forms these rip currents.
00:02:16 You might see a strange gap in the waves, or you might notice random bits of seaweed
00:02:21 going in all different directions.
00:02:23 If you don't ever find yourself caught in a rip current, try to stay afloat and don't
00:02:28 waste your energy swimming against the current.
00:02:31 Yell out for help and try to float your way along the beach.
00:02:35 Once you break out of the channel, swim diagonally to the shore.
00:02:39 If you find yourself in the ocean and see a group of sharks swimming, ok, this scenario
00:02:44 doesn't sound good either way.
00:02:46 Well, the good news is, they're not necessarily coming for you.
00:02:50 The bad news?
00:02:51 The sharks might be trying to escape from a huge tropical storm or even a hurricane.
00:02:57 Sharks can sense these things, so when nature gets angry, they group together and swim deep
00:03:02 under the surface to get to safety.
00:03:05 You probably shouldn't follow them.
00:03:07 Good luck!
00:03:08 The golden rule since ancient times – follow the animals.
00:03:11 Insects, rats, and snakes leave their homes a couple of days before really big earthquakes.
00:03:18 Scientists can't track or really explain how they know it's coming.
00:03:22 It seems animals really can sense earthquakes.
00:03:25 Maybe because they feel those smaller initial shock waves that we don't even notice.
00:03:31 What if you see animals running towards you?
00:03:33 That could mean you're about to get eaten for breakfast!
00:03:37 Or it means there's a wildfire behind them.
00:03:40 Amphibians like frogs, toads, and salamanders try to protect themselves by burrowing down
00:03:45 into the ground, and others just run.
00:03:48 Before you start running alongside them, check to see if you can see smoke.
00:03:52 You don't want to sprint flat out for nothing.
00:03:55 Well, it's not just animals.
00:03:58 We can spot warning signs too.
00:04:00 For example, if you notice your hair suddenly starts to stand on end and your jewelry starts
00:04:06 to buzz, take shelter right away.
00:04:09 Lightning might be about to strike somewhere nearby.
00:04:12 If you're outside and can't run into a house, make sure not to stand near any tall
00:04:18 structures.
00:04:19 Lie flat on the ground.
00:04:20 Be near water.
00:04:22 Seek shelter under an isolated tree or stand in an open space.
00:04:27 And don't stand on top of the Empire State Building.
00:04:29 That thing gets zapped hundreds of times a year.
00:04:33 Do you like skiing?
00:04:34 It's all fun and games until all you can see is white.
00:04:38 Avalanches can move up to 80 mph, so watch for some warning signs.
00:04:43 Does it feel hollow when you walk in the snow?
00:04:45 Are there cracks around your feet?
00:04:48 Can you see a huge avalanche coming?
00:04:50 Time to go!
00:04:52 Sometimes a storm mixes its blue light with the red light from the sun, and you get a
00:04:57 pretty impressive green.
00:04:59 Enjoy it from a safe distance, preferably indoors.
00:05:02 A super tall thundercloud usually means you're about to get smashed by hail, or worse, a
00:05:09 tornado.
00:05:10 Find cover somewhere, like in an underground parking lot or a basement.
00:05:14 It might be a bit embarrassing if you're wrong, though.
00:05:17 Okay, we know volcanoes can be dangerous.
00:05:21 But the lakes near them?
00:05:23 Is anything not a sign of danger?
00:05:25 Lakes that are near something boiling hot that never cools (so, volcanoes) are like
00:05:30 wildly shaken soda cans, just about to burst.
00:05:35 The magma that's underground actually pushes carbon dioxide into the bottom of the lake,
00:05:40 and that gas stays there, waiting.
00:05:42 Then, even something boring like rain can disturb the lake a little too much and bam!
00:05:49 Or boom!
00:05:50 You get the picture.
00:05:51 Diving, swimming, snorkeling – the sea can be amazing, but it's pretty unpredictable.
00:05:58 When two wave currents run into each other, they can create a cross-sea.
00:06:03 It looks pretty cool from far away, but it can be really dangerous for swimmers, surfers,
00:06:07 or even ships.
00:06:08 There's a strong current roaming around under the surface.
00:06:12 You're walking on the beach (apparently, every good story starts like this) and all
00:06:16 of a sudden, oooh, a cave!
00:06:19 How cool is this?
00:06:20 You should probably go in there, explore a bit, and… no.
00:06:24 If there's a full moon out, you might not be able to get out of that cave.
00:06:28 A full moon affects the tide and makes it lower than usual.
00:06:33 That cave might be more accessible, but instead of an exciting adventure, you could end up
00:06:38 trapped in there until the next full moon.
00:06:41 Bring a big lunch A wall cloud is one of those things you're
00:06:45 both excited and scared to see.
00:06:49 Scared because you don't know what it is.
00:06:51 And because, well, how often do you see something like that?
00:06:55 Whatever you feel, tell your legs to start running!
00:06:59 During a thunderstorm, these wall clouds sit lower than anything else and can be up to
00:07:03 5 miles long.
00:07:05 And if they start spinning, well, Dorothy ended up in Oz.
00:07:09 Who knows where you'll end up!
00:07:11 It's 2009 in Italy.
00:07:14 A man was hanging out in his kitchen.
00:07:16 Then he saw some flickering lights.
00:07:18 He knew just what to do.
00:07:20 He moved his family to a safe place.
00:07:23 A couple of seconds later, a massive earthquake hit the whole region.
00:07:27 His family survived thanks to his quick reaction.
00:07:30 He knew these flickering lights were actually a sign of an upcoming earthquake.
00:07:35 People had been seeing these mysterious lights for ages.
00:07:39 Some thought it was some kind of sign coming from space.
00:07:43 Scientists never used to take them seriously.
00:07:45 But after the invention of photography, more and more evidence of these strange lights
00:07:49 appeared.
00:07:50 Soon, they realized the connection.
00:07:52 The lights appear, and pretty soon, the earthquake hits.
00:07:56 After a bit of digging around, they actually found some records of these earthquake lights
00:08:01 from hundreds of years ago.
00:08:03 There were bluish flames coming out of the ground right before an earthquake.
00:08:07 Creepy.
00:08:08 Oh, ocean, come on, not you again!
00:08:12 Okay, but just one more.
00:08:14 If you see the ocean's turned all reddish-brown, don't go in the water or anywhere near it.
00:08:20 This red tide is caused by toxic algae and is something you can find all over the world.
00:08:26 That toxic algae can be there even if the ocean's a normal color.
00:08:30 Getting that stuff all over you can cause some health issues.
00:08:33 Rinse yourself off in fresh water as fast as you can.
00:08:37 You know, they even wrote a holiday song about it!
00:08:41 Algae home for Christmas!
00:08:43 Not really.
00:08:46 Hello distinguished guests and welcome to Aquarium Bright!
00:08:50 Here you will get to see the most dangerous sea and ocean creatures.
00:08:53 But don't let what I said mislead you.
00:08:55 It's very well possible for you to come across one of these underwater animals during a walk
00:09:00 on the beach.
00:09:02 So take a look at them carefully now and you might just avoid a disaster.
00:09:08 Is it fish or is it stone?
00:09:11 What you're looking at is commonly known as the stonefish, but its fancier names include
00:09:16 the doornorn and the sinansia.
00:09:19 If you're into diving and observing the underwater, you might already have come across
00:09:23 one without noticing.
00:09:25 Its appearance makes it almost impossible to distinguish it from a real stone due to
00:09:30 its grey coloration and mottled appearance.
00:09:33 Especially if you're wearing fogged snorkel goggles.
00:09:36 So you better pay attention because otherwise the consequences can be unfortunate since
00:09:41 stonefish are the most venomous fish known.
00:09:44 Although some types of stonefishes are known to live in rivers, and most of them are found
00:09:48 in coral reefs near the tropical Pacific and Indian oceans.
00:09:53 Their needle-like dorsal fin spines stick up when they're disturbed or threatened and
00:09:57 inject the poison they contain.
00:10:00 The most common reason why stonefish stings occur is swimmers stepping on them without
00:10:04 realizing it.
00:10:05 However, you don't need to be in the water to get stung.
00:10:09 Since they can survive out of the water for up to 24 hours, you'll have to watch where
00:10:13 you step when you're at the beach as well.
00:10:15 Those who got stung by stonefish describe their experience to be extremely distressing.
00:10:21 Their venom can result in infection and in some cases it is known to cause shock and
00:10:26 paralysis.
00:10:27 It might come as a bit of a shock, but despite its bad reputation, stonefish is edible if
00:10:33 it's prepared properly.
00:10:35 When the fish is heated, its venom breaks down.
00:10:38 And if the dorsal fins, which are the main source of its venom, are removed, raw stonefish
00:10:42 is served as part of sashimi too.
00:10:46 This creature might look like it came out of a science fiction movie, but it's very
00:10:50 much real.
00:10:51 Say hello to the blue-ringed octopuses.
00:10:54 Don't be deceived by their small size, which can range between 5 to 8 inches including
00:10:59 their arms, because they're packed with venom to cause great damage to as many as 26 people
00:11:05 within minutes.
00:11:07 Just like stonefishes, blue-ringed octopuses are found in the Pacific and Indian Oceans,
00:11:12 from Japan to Australia.
00:11:14 They typically live on coral reefs and rocky areas of the sea floor.
00:11:19 Some may also be found in tide pools, seagrass, and algal beds.
00:11:24 Blue-ringed octopuses are not aggressive in nature.
00:11:27 When they're not seeking food such as crabs or shrimps, or searching for a mate, they
00:11:31 often hide in marine debris, shells, or crevices.
00:11:35 It's only if they're provoked, cornered, or handled that they get dangerous to humans.
00:11:40 When they're threatened, they turn bright yellow or blue iridescent rings appear all
00:11:45 over their body as a warning display towards the potential predators.
00:11:50 Their bites usually come unnoticed, so you might not be able to realize you're bitten
00:11:54 until it's too late.
00:11:56 The venom of a blue-ringed octopus can cause dizziness and loss of senses and motor skills,
00:12:01 and ultimately paralysis.
00:12:04 So better try to keep your hands to yourself and back away in a hurry if you see one.
00:12:09 Nope, it's not a flower bouquet, so don't try to pick and smell one of those pink tube-like
00:12:15 things.
00:12:16 What's standing before your eyes is a marine animal called a flower urchin.
00:12:21 It may look gorgeous, but don't let the looks deceive you.
00:12:24 It was named the most dangerous sea urchin in the 2014 Guinness World Records.
00:12:29 Flower urchins inhabit the tropical areas of the Indo-West Pacific and are found among
00:12:34 coral reefs, rocks, sand, and seagrass terrains at depths of 0 to 295 feet.
00:12:42 The most noticeable feature of them is their pedicularia, which are claw-shaped defensive
00:12:47 organs that are also found in sea stars.
00:12:50 What makes flower urchins differ from any other sea urchin is the fact that their pedicularia
00:12:55 is, as the name suggests, flower-like and usually pinkish-white to yellowish-white in
00:13:00 color with a central purple dot.
00:13:03 Hidden underneath those flowers, they possess short and blunt spines.
00:13:08 Although many sea urchins deliver their venom through such spines, flower urchins deliver
00:13:13 their venom through their pedicularia, or flowers.
00:13:17 If they're undisturbed, the tips of these flowers are usually expanded into round, cup-like
00:13:22 shapes.
00:13:23 On their surface, they possess tiny sensors with which they can detect threats, and once
00:13:28 they contact such threats, these flowers immediately snap shut and start injecting venom.
00:13:34 What's weird is that the little claws of the flowers can sometimes break off from their
00:13:39 stalks, stick to the point of contact, and continue injecting venom for hours into whoever
00:13:44 touched it.
00:13:46 Yeesh!
00:13:48 Looks like a giant puddle of melted strawberry ice cream, right?
00:13:52 You wish!
00:13:53 It's a lion's mane jellyfish, which is also called giant jellyfish, arctic red jellyfish,
00:13:59 or hairy jelly.
00:14:01 They're known to prefer cool water, that's why they can mostly be found in the Arctic,
00:14:06 northern Atlantic, and northern Pacific Oceans.
00:14:09 But it's possible to spot them around the British Isles or in the Scandinavian waters
00:14:14 too.
00:14:15 Lion's mane jellyfish are one of the largest known species of jellyfish.
00:14:20 They get their name from their long, flowing, hair-like tentacles and can reach lengths
00:14:25 up to 10 feet.
00:14:27 And although the average bell diameter of a lion's mane jellyfish is around 20 inches,
00:14:32 they can sometimes attain a diameter of over 7 feet!
00:14:36 The largest lion's mane jellyfish recorded was seen in 1865 off the coast of Massachusetts.
00:14:43 It was measured to have tentacles around 125 feet long and a diameter of 7 feet.
00:14:50 To help you picture it, this is longer than a blue whale!
00:14:54 Lion's mane jellyfish hunt by extending their tentacles outward and creating a trap
00:14:58 to catch their food.
00:15:00 Since they have around 1,200 stinging tentacles, the fish would have to be extremely lucky
00:15:06 to be able to escape them.
00:15:08 The sting of a lion's mane jellyfish is usually not life-threatening, but you would
00:15:13 still want to avoid swimming into its tentacles because it can be very painful to humans.
00:15:18 And if you see one washed up on the beach, better not touch it because it can still deliver
00:15:22 a sting long after they've been on the shore.
00:15:25 Fun fact, the lion's mane jellyfish appears in the Sherlock Holmes story, "The Adventure
00:15:30 of the Lion's Mane" as a suspect.
00:15:33 But don't worry, we won't give you any spoilers!
00:15:37 The last marine animal you're seeing now is a sea snake, and yes, they are different
00:15:42 from eels.
00:15:43 There are 69 identified species of sea snakes, most of them can be found in the tropical
00:15:49 and subtropical waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and they have been around for millions
00:15:55 of years.
00:15:56 To make things easier, scientists have separated all different species of sea snakes into two
00:16:01 categories, true sea snakes and sea kraits.
00:16:06 Whereas true sea snakes spend almost all their time at sea, sea kraits can spend some time
00:16:11 on land as well.
00:16:13 If you see a snake on the beach, you can tell whether it's a land or sea snake by looking
00:16:18 at its tail.
00:16:19 If it's paddle-like, then that's a sea snake you got there, but make sure to keep
00:16:24 your distance in both cases.
00:16:26 All sea snakes need to surface regularly to breathe since they have no gills.
00:16:31 That's why you can come across one while swimming.
00:16:34 If that happens, you better swim away as fast as you can because most sea snakes have more
00:16:38 venom than the average cobra or rattlesnake.
00:16:41 However, since they only attack if provoked, bites are quite rare.
00:16:47 One more cool fact about sea snakes, they are the only reptiles to give birth in the
00:16:52 oceans.
00:16:53 The majority of sea snakes keep the eggs within themselves and give birth to nearly fully
00:16:57 formed snakes while swimming.
00:17:00 That's except for the yellow-lipped sea krait though.
00:17:02 They come onto land to lay eggs of their little ones.
00:17:05 Remember the stonefish from the beginning of our tour?
00:17:08 They're hunted by sea snakes.
00:17:10 Blame the food chain!
00:17:12 The Baltic Sea Anomaly In 2011, a diving team came down to the bottom
00:17:17 of the northern part of the Baltic Sea.
00:17:19 They went on a treasure hunt, but what they came upon was a pretty weird object.
00:17:25 When they took photos and showed them to others, many believed it was a sunken spaceship of
00:17:30 another civilization.
00:17:33 Other people thought that some natural causes formed the object, but the metals inside the
00:17:38 structure definitely couldn't have been formed naturally.
00:17:41 Now, some scientists even believe it was something that appeared way back in the Ice Age.
00:17:48 Maybe it was even a meteorite that ended up trapped under ice back then.
00:17:54 A maelstrom is a whirlpool, some sort of a powerful rotational current that forms when
00:18:00 two currents collide and create a circular vortex.
00:18:04 Even fearless Vikings were afraid of maelstroms because those were forces so powerful that
00:18:09 they could sink large ships.
00:18:11 These whirlpools remain dangerous even today, but luckily not for big modern ships that
00:18:17 are large enough to withstand the power of maelstroms.
00:18:21 But a cruise ship that gets into a maelstrom usually faces massive waves that can rock
00:18:26 even big vessels from side to side pretty intensely.
00:18:31 A maelstrom can be so strong it can turn into some sort of an underwater black hole.
00:18:37 Yep, black holes are not only present in the cold expanse of space, you can find them here
00:18:43 on our home planet too, swirling in the oceans.
00:18:46 They're similar to those in space since they're compacted so tightly that nothing they trap
00:18:51 can escape.
00:18:55 Underwater black holes often span up to 93 miles in diameter, and if you got into one
00:19:00 of those, you probably wouldn't even know it.
00:19:04 These black holes act like vortices, but because of their size, even professionals can hardly
00:19:09 see their boundaries.
00:19:12 Here's something relaxing.
00:19:14 Next time you go to the beach, pay attention, and maybe you'll see an optical phenomenon
00:19:19 called the green flash.
00:19:21 You can see it shortly after sunset or right before sunrise.
00:19:26 It occurs when the sun is almost completely below the horizon, while its rim, the upper
00:19:31 one, is still visible.
00:19:34 For just a second or two, that upper edge of the sun will appear green.
00:19:39 It's because you're looking at the sun through thicker parts of the atmosphere as it's moving
00:19:43 down in the sky.
00:19:45 As it's dipping below the horizon, light refracts, or bends, in the atmosphere and gets dispersed.
00:19:54 Wait for a clear day with no clouds or haze on the horizon to see this phenomenon better.
00:20:01 You've been looking forward to a nice swim, only to realize that the water in the ocean
00:20:05 is red?
00:20:07 Better avoid going in.
00:20:09 Florida is known for its red tides.
00:20:12 It occurs when the concentration of specific microscopic algae is higher than normal.
00:20:19 Thousands of species of algae in marine and fresh waters are mostly harmless to animals
00:20:24 and humans.
00:20:25 They even help us, since they're an important source of oxygen.
00:20:29 But some, like the algae that makes the ocean red, can be extremely dangerous for marine
00:20:35 animals like sea turtles, fish, and seabirds.
00:20:40 This kind can grow out of control and produce neurotoxins harmful to humans, especially
00:20:46 those who have some respiratory issues.
00:20:49 Such people should avoid red tide areas, especially when winds are strong enough to push the algae
00:20:54 toward the shore.
00:20:57 Volcanoes can spew poisonous gas, ash, and red-hot lava.
00:21:02 Those are the most obvious dangers most of us already know about.
00:21:05 But submarine volcanoes can be very tricky in their own way.
00:21:09 Sometimes, when they're located in shallow waters, they reveal their presence by blasting
00:21:14 debris of rock and steam high above the surface.
00:21:19 Since submarine volcanoes are surrounded by an unlimited supply of water, they can behave
00:21:24 differently from those on land.
00:21:26 When they erupt, seawater gets into active submarine vents.
00:21:32 Lava can be spreading across a shallow seafloor, or sometimes even flowing into the sea from
00:21:38 land volcanoes.
00:21:39 When in water, it may cool down so quickly that it shatters into rubble and sand.
00:21:45 So, there are large amounts of volcanic debris left there.
00:21:48 You know those popular black sand beaches in Hawaii?
00:21:52 That's how they formed.
00:21:56 Hot lava and powerful eruptions certainly don't sound safe.
00:21:59 But submarine volcanoes in deeper waters are equally dangerous, even though they're not
00:22:04 necessarily erupting.
00:22:06 They produce pockets of bubbles.
00:22:08 These bubbles reduce the density of the surrounding waters, which can even sink ships.
00:22:15 The worst thing is that when you look at the surface of the ocean, you can't understand
00:22:20 something's wrong.
00:22:21 But at the same time, tiny bubbles are there, causing ships to lose buoyancy and with very
00:22:27 little warning.
00:22:30 Across sea is a rare phenomenon, beautiful to observe, but also very dangerous.
00:22:36 That's when you see square waves, which are more common in shallow parts of the ocean.
00:22:41 That's something you can often see in France or on certain beaches of Tel Aviv.
00:22:46 But it can also happen in many coastal areas across the world.
00:22:52 A cross-sea occurs when two wave patterns travel at oblique angles.
00:22:57 They form this checkerboard-like pattern.
00:22:59 It mostly happens when two swells meet, or when a swell pushes waves in one direction
00:23:04 while a strong wind pushes them in another.
00:23:09 These square waves can be dangerous for swimmers and boaters.
00:23:13 The waves produced by strong ocean currents can be pretty unpredictable and tall, sometimes
00:23:18 up to almost 10 feet.
00:23:20 This phenomenon is sometimes called "white walls."
00:23:23 These waves can be so powerful that they can turn over even big boats.
00:23:28 If you fill a clear glass with some ocean water and take a closer look, you'll see
00:23:34 it's full of very small particles.
00:23:37 Seawater contains dissolved salts, fats, algae, proteins, detergents, and other bits of artificial
00:23:44 and organic matter.
00:23:47 If you shake that glass, you'll see tiny bubbles forming on its surface.
00:23:51 That's how sea foam forms when waves and winds agitate the ocean.
00:23:56 When you see thick sea foam, algal blooms might have caused it.
00:24:00 When big blooms of algae fall apart in the sea, large amounts of that matter move in
00:24:05 the direction of dry land.
00:24:08 Most kinds of sea foam aren't dangerous to humans.
00:24:12 But when blooms of algae fall apart, it can have a negative impact on both the environment
00:24:17 and people.
00:24:18 For example, when sea foam bubbles pop, the toxins they contain get released into the
00:24:23 air and they can irritate your eyes or cause some other health issues.
00:24:30 You can see a tidal bore in the areas where a river empties into a sea or an ocean.
00:24:36 It's a powerful tide that goes against the current and pushes up the river.
00:24:41 A tidal bore falls into a category of something called the surge, which is a sudden change
00:24:46 in depth.
00:24:47 A tidal bore is a positive surge, which means it pushes up a river, making it much deeper.
00:24:53 A negative surge is when the river suddenly becomes very shallow.
00:24:59 You won't see tidal bores everywhere.
00:25:01 The river must be fairly shallow with a narrow outlet to the sea.
00:25:05 The place where the sea and the river meet must be flat and wide.
00:25:09 Also, the area between low and high tide must be at least 20 feet across.
00:25:16 Of course, there are some exceptions, like the Amazon River, the world's largest one.
00:25:22 The mouth of the Amazon is not narrow, but the river experiences tidal bores.
00:25:27 That's because its mouth is shallow and has many sandbars and low-lying islands.
00:25:33 The tidal bore is so strong there that the river doesn't even have a delta.
00:25:38 Its sediment goes directly into the Atlantic Ocean, where fast-moving currents take it
00:25:42 away.
00:25:43 A tidal bore is often unpredictable and can be extremely rough.
00:25:48 In many cases, it changes the color of the river from greenish or blue to brown.
00:25:54 It can damage vegetation or even tear trees out of the ground.
00:25:58 So recreation sports like kayaking and river surfing can be hazardous in these areas.
00:26:06 Even if you just want to take a look at a tidal bore, be careful.
00:26:10 Tidal waves can sweep over lookout points and drag whatever or whoever is there into
00:26:15 the churning river.
00:26:16 So, you notice anything weird?
00:26:20 Recently there have been alarming changes in the water levels in different parts of
00:26:24 Yellowstone Lake.
00:26:25 At the same moment, the water level can be rising on one side of the lake and falling
00:26:31 on the other.
00:26:32 It looks as if the lake basin gets lifted by some underground forces.
00:26:37 Can it be a sign of a looming disaster?
00:26:40 Geysers, mudpods and hot springs turn Yellowstone National Park into some extraterrestrial world.
00:26:47 And all these wonders are fueled by a mighty supervolcano.
00:26:52 Supervolcanoes produce supereruptions.
00:26:54 When it happens, they launch more than 240 cubic miles of ash, molten rock and hot gases
00:27:00 up into the air.
00:27:01 To make it easier to imagine, four supereruptions could fill the Grand Canyon to the brim.
00:27:07 The Yellowstone Giant was thought to be responsible for at least three enormous eruptions and
00:27:13 countless smaller ones.
00:27:14 In that region, the volcanic deposits are scattered over tens of thousands of miles.
00:27:20 Scientists believe they had been created by many weak eruptions.
00:27:24 But after doing more research, experts found out these deposits had been left by two previously
00:27:30 unknown supereruptions.
00:27:32 Those probably took place about 9 and 8.7 million years ago.
00:27:37 This discovery means that the area around the Yellowstone volcano used to face a supereruption
00:27:42 every half a million years.
00:27:44 But over the last 3 million years, the hotspot has seen only two supereruptions.
00:27:50 It makes scientists believe these catastrophic events are slowing down.
00:27:54 Or just maybe one is overdue.
00:27:57 Anyway, if the Yellowstone supervolcano went off with as much power as it had 2.1 million
00:28:03 years ago, it would spit out more than 588 cubic miles of boiling lava.
00:28:10 That's more than 4,500 times the volume of Sydney Harbor.
00:28:15 That's a lot of lava!
00:28:17 Whether it's likely to happen or not is another question.
00:28:20 There's no doubt that something is going on with the volcano.
00:28:24 The water level changes in Yellowstone Lake mean the caldera is lifting under the surface.
00:28:30 And the caldera is what's left over after a volcano erupts and then collapses.
00:28:35 The Yellowstone caldera is not just going up, creating a dome-shaped uplift.
00:28:40 It also moves up and down in a kind of breathing motion.
00:28:44 It might be because the magma is seeping into the crust.
00:28:48 Or because this magma is heating up the Yellowstone hydrothermal system, making it expand and
00:28:54 raise the crust.
00:28:56 Yellowstone has the status of an active volcano.
00:28:59 Its volcanic explosivity index is 8 out of 10.
00:29:03 Such a high number means that if this volcano erupted, it would be an apocalyptic event.
00:29:10 Right before the disaster, the ground around the national park would lift.
00:29:14 Geothermal pools and geysers would heat up to boiling temperatures and get more acidic
00:29:19 than usual.
00:29:20 The magma would start to rise toward the surface.
00:29:24 At some point, the rock roof of the magma chamber wouldn't be able to resist anymore,
00:29:29 and the explosion would kick off.
00:29:31 A massive column of lava and ash would shoot up to a height of over 16 miles.
00:29:37 After that, the volcano would keep pumping ash for days on end.
00:29:41 The mixture of lava, ash, and gas would be hotter than 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit.
00:29:47 It would travel through the area at a speed of 300 miles per hour, faster than a racing
00:29:51 car.
00:29:52 The air near the center of the eruption would heat up to 570 degrees Fahrenheit.
00:29:58 One of the most dangerous consequences would be ash fallout.
00:30:02 Volcanic ash can turn into glassy cement within seconds after being inhaled and getting in
00:30:07 the lungs.
00:30:08 People and animals would have problems with breathing.
00:30:11 Okay, so that's an understatement, just so you know.
00:30:14 Buildings would start to collapse under the weight of this dense substance.
00:30:18 It would take just several days until a 10-foot layer of ash covered the territory of about
00:30:24 50 miles around the center of the eruption.
00:30:27 After the ash got into the stratosphere, the temperatures all over the world would start
00:30:31 to drop.
00:30:32 If the eruption was rich in sulfur, an effective sun blocker, it would get so cold there would
00:30:38 be no summer in the entire world for the next several years.
00:30:42 The monsoon seasons would change.
00:30:44 Agriculture would face serious problems.
00:30:47 There would be issues with food supplies.
00:30:50 Over the past 50 years, the Yellowstone caldera has risen almost two feet.
00:30:55 It shouldn't alarm you, though.
00:30:57 Experts are sure it's a natural behavior for Yellowstone.
00:31:00 Periods of dome-shaped uplift are followed by the caldera lowering.
00:31:05 Scientists think the supervolcano doesn't present any danger at the moment.
00:31:09 For an eruption to happen, the magma inside has to be at least 50% molten.
00:31:15 With Yellowstone, this number is just 5-15%.
00:31:19 The probability of the eruption is 1 in 730,000.
00:31:23 Safe to say it's a long shot.
00:31:26 Even better, a recent study made the researchers believe the hotspot might be in a state of
00:31:31 decline right now.
00:31:33 Even despite all the breathing and dome-raising activity.
00:31:36 Still, there have been tons of discussions about what people could do to prevent the
00:31:41 disastrous super-eruption from happening.
00:31:44 Even the most popular, and seemingly effective idea, was to cool the Yellowstone supervolcano
00:31:50 down.
00:31:51 Unfortunately, there's a catch.
00:31:53 The volcano leaks out only 70% of the heat which comes from its magma-filled chambers.
00:31:59 But the rest of the heat stays inside.
00:32:02 As soon as it reaches a particular threshold, the volcano erupts.
00:32:06 If it was possible to extract at least 35% of the Yellowstone volcano's heat, the eruption
00:32:12 could be avoided.
00:32:13 The cooler the magma is, the thicker and stickier it gets.
00:32:17 It stops being so fluid and doesn't try to get out to the surface anymore.
00:32:22 After considering these facts, NASA scientists came up with a plan.
00:32:26 They suggested drilling a 6 miles deep well and pumping down cold, pressurized water.
00:32:32 The temperature of the water that would get back to the surface would be approximately
00:32:36 662 degrees Fahrenheit.
00:32:39 This way, the heat would be gradually extracted from the volcano.
00:32:44 And if a geothermal plant was built on the site, it would generate plenty of electric
00:32:48 power.
00:32:49 It would be very simple to produce, and its price would be very alluring – about 10
00:32:54 cents per kilowatt-hour.
00:32:55 At first glance, it was an amazing idea.
00:32:59 But sometime later, it started to receive a lot of criticism.
00:33:03 Imagine drilling through the Earth's crust, getting deeper and deeper, and then wham bam,
00:33:09 you hit a hypothermal pocket.
00:33:11 Uh-oh, get ready for a catastrophe!
00:33:14 This can release gases that are likely to cause a series of super-powerful explosions.
00:33:19 In the worst-case scenario, it may even trigger a full-scale volcanic eruption.
00:33:24 Now, you already know about its catastrophic outcomes – from fountains of lava and avalanches
00:33:30 of molten rocks to climate changes all over the globe.
00:33:34 Yeah, not good.
00:33:36 Or let's say you're drilling a well to deliver cold water to the volcano.
00:33:41 And then you suddenly hit its magma chamber.
00:33:44 In this case, instead of cooling the giant down, you'll make the top of the magma chamber
00:33:48 much more fragile than it used to be.
00:33:51 And the whole construction will be at risk of collapsing at any moment.
00:33:55 And don't forget that your drilling may also release toxic gases.
00:33:59 They often accumulate at the top of the reservoir with magma.
00:34:03 Can it get any worse?
00:34:04 Well, yes, it can.
00:34:06 The whole process would stretch for more than 16,000 years.
00:34:10 This method is too risky to cool the volcano down as fast as people would probably want.
00:34:16 And scientists aren't even 100% sure that when the cooling system construction is finished,
00:34:22 the volcano will stay cold for at least another 100 years.
00:34:26 And last but not least, the project of making the Yellowstone supervolcano a bit cooler
00:34:31 would cost a mind-boggling $3.5 billion.
00:34:35 A huge price for something that might not work out altogether.
00:34:39 Oh, by the way, Yellowstone isn't the only volcano that has a lava dome that's lifting
00:34:44 at the moment.
00:34:45 Lava domes are created when magma gets to the surface and then gathers around the vent.
00:34:51 Scientists have found one of those inside an underwater volcano in Japan.
00:34:56 This dome is more than 2,000 feet high and more than 6 miles wide.
00:35:01 Even though the Japanese supervolcano seems to be sleeping, experts don't let their guard
00:35:06 down.
00:35:07 A volcanic system can go from being calm and docile to teetering on the edge of an eruption
00:35:12 in the blink of an eye.
00:35:15 Another massive dome is growing in the central Andes, on top of the planet's largest active
00:35:20 magma store.
00:35:21 The Altiplano Puna Plateau – there's a tongue twister – and where the dome was
00:35:26 found is the second highest plateau in the world, and the dome itself is more than half
00:35:31 a mile tall.
00:35:33 You might wonder how come experts have known nothing about this enormous uplift until recently.
00:35:39 The answer is simple.
00:35:40 It was hidden within the plateau.
00:35:43 It's an arid region littered with volcanoes, and it stretches for thousands of miles.
00:35:47 Yep, another case of hiding in plain sight.
00:35:53 In 1991, somewhere in the lush jungles of central Vietnam, a local logger found a mysterious
00:36:01 hole among the foliage and bushes.
00:36:04 He looked in there and felt a strong wind blowing into his face.
00:36:09 Then he heard a strange sound from the cave depths and realized that it was the sound
00:36:13 of a river.
00:36:15 The logger didn't check the cave, but decided to go back there with a flashlight and a rope.
00:36:20 When he returned, he couldn't find the cave anywhere.
00:36:23 He spent a few years searching for it.
00:36:25 Finally, in the 2000s, the logger managed to locate it again.
00:36:30 In 2009, he brought scientists to this place.
00:36:33 They found out the cave, called Sundong, is the largest in the world.
00:36:38 There's so much space here that you'll hear a long echo if you shout.
00:36:42 Sundong's main passage reaches 660 feet in height in some places, which is more than
00:36:48 half as tall as the Empire State Building.
00:36:50 The area of the cave is so huge that an entire New York City block with 40-story skyscrapers
00:36:57 would fit in there.
00:36:58 There's a deep underground labyrinth under the jungles of Vietnam, hiding three of the
00:37:02 largest caves in the world, and Sundong is number one on this list.
00:37:08 The vast space inside is filled with various plants, unique microclimates, and different
00:37:13 landscapes.
00:37:14 There's a real jungle growing underground.
00:37:16 It became possible thanks to the collapsed ceiling in some places.
00:37:21 It lets sunlight penetrate there from above.
00:37:24 There are huge stalactites 250 feet high on the ceilings and walls, which is more than
00:37:29 the length of a passenger Boeing.
00:37:31 They've been here between hundreds of thousands and millions of years.
00:37:36 Some limestone deposits are more than 450 million years old.
00:37:40 It means they've existed since the time long before the dinosaurs.
00:37:44 Besides the jungle, there are also many rivers in the cave.
00:37:48 They were formed because of rainwater coming down from holes in the ceiling.
00:37:52 These rivers are smooth and fast, like slides in a water park.
00:37:56 But riding them isn't the best idea, since they can carry you into one of those long
00:38:01 labyrinths that the cave is full of.
00:38:04 And we still don't know where they're going.
00:38:06 You may find yourself in another unknown part of the cave.
00:38:10 This is what happened in 2018.
00:38:12 Three divers accidentally discovered new areas in Sundong.
00:38:16 The cave turned out to be much bigger than everyone thought.
00:38:20 They dove into one of the cave's lakes and reached a depth of 256 feet.
00:38:25 At the bottom, they found a separate tunnel.
00:38:28 Divers lowered a fishing line with a lead weight there and found out that this place
00:38:33 reaches a depth of 394 feet.
00:38:36 And the tunnel is more than half a mile long.
00:38:39 We still don't know the exact size of the tunnel.
00:38:42 Sundong also connects to another huge cave.
00:38:46 There are lots of things you can see in Sundong besides underground labyrinths and rivers.
00:38:50 You can find spacious ruins with lakes, and you can walk for hours along dark mountain
00:38:56 corridors.
00:38:57 This place is strikingly beautiful, but dangerous at the same time.
00:39:01 And the coolest thing is that you can take a walk here.
00:39:04 Since 2013, Sundong Cave has been open to tourists.
00:39:09 It's not just an easy walk to take some selfies, though.
00:39:12 The expedition to the cave lasts for several days.
00:39:15 For the first day and a half, you'll explore the third largest cave in the world.
00:39:20 And only after that, you'll reach Sundong.
00:39:23 The path will take you through rivers, dense jungles, mountains, and rocks.
00:39:28 You can meet many exotic birds, monkeys, and other animals.
00:39:33 And according to many people, the way to the cave is even more impressive than the cave
00:39:38 itself.
00:39:39 When you reach your destination, you'll spend the next few days exploring Sundong.
00:39:44 Together with other tourists, professional guides, and porters, you'll be sleeping in
00:39:48 tents in different places in the cave every day.
00:39:52 You'll see some stunning landscapes and, get ready for this, 400 million year old majestic
00:39:58 fossils.
00:39:59 There are also dark rooms with lakes that are good for swimming.
00:40:03 Such adventurous expeditions become more popular every year.
00:40:07 People who visited the cave call it the most amazing place they've ever seen.
00:40:14 Another amazing cave is located in Indonesia, on the island of Flores.
00:40:19 It's quite small, but holds amazing things inside.
00:40:22 In 2003, a group of scientists discovered ancient artifacts here, including fossils
00:40:27 of primitive tools, such as sharpened stones.
00:40:31 Scientists realized that hundreds of thousands of years ago, this place was home to our distant
00:40:36 ancestors.
00:40:37 Then, they found a very unusual female skeleton.
00:40:41 That woman was only three and a half feet tall.
00:40:44 This is the height of the waistline of an average adult person.
00:40:47 That woman had no problems with her spine or with the development of her bones, though.
00:40:52 This and other skeletons found in the cave belong to some unknown human ancestors.
00:40:58 Scientists called this species Homo floresiensis, or simply, Hobbit.
00:41:03 The woman's weight was about 35 to 79 pounds.
00:41:07 Analysis of the skull and bones showed she was about 30 years old.
00:41:12 Hobbits probably lived on Earth between 190,000 and 50,000 years ago.
00:41:17 There's a chance they met the ancestors of modern humans.
00:41:21 The next cave is in Turkey.
00:41:23 Imagine that you live in an old house and decide to make some repairs.
00:41:27 You throw all the old stuff out of the rooms.
00:41:30 The last place to sort out is your basement.
00:41:32 You've hardly ever visited it and have no idea what's hidden there.
00:41:36 But it's pretty spacious, so you decide to turn it into a room.
00:41:39 You tear down the wall and discover the entrance to the cave.
00:41:44 This is a tunnel that leads underground.
00:41:46 You walk through the cave and see a real underground city.
00:41:50 This happened in Turkey in 1963.
00:41:54 One of the locals discovered a secret passage to a lost city in his basement.
00:41:59 About 20,000 people could live there.
00:42:01 There was enough space for livestock and food supplies.
00:42:05 It's not just a maze of tunnels.
00:42:07 There's a chapel, a school, stables, kitchens, walls, and other signs of civilization.
00:42:12 The city was built in the Byzantine era, in the years 780 through 1180.
00:42:18 It's not the only one down there and is connected to many underground tunnels and towns that
00:42:23 stretch for several miles.
00:42:26 Let's finish our journey in the strangest and most frightening cave.
00:42:31 We're going to the southeast of Romania, near the Black Sea.
00:42:34 Here, on a desolate wide plain, you can find a hole.
00:42:38 This is a tunnel leading deep underground.
00:42:41 The air inside the cave has high levels of hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide.
00:42:47 Under normal conditions, the air we breathe contains around 20% oxygen, but it's only
00:42:52 10% here.
00:42:54 You won't be able to breathe freely without an oxygen tank.
00:42:57 The water and air here are poisoned.
00:43:00 No animals are able to live in such conditions, at least the ones we know about.
00:43:05 And this cave is filled with 48 species of living organisms, 33 of which are new unknown
00:43:11 species.
00:43:12 Creeping things that live here can scare you, especially if you're afraid of bugs.
00:43:18 Strange white snails and white spiders are crawling along the walls.
00:43:22 An unknown species of leeches and transparent shrimp are swimming in the water.
00:43:27 White millipedes with huge mustaches are creeping on the ground.
00:43:31 Here you can also meet an unknown kind of scorpion with a transparent white body that
00:43:36 doesn't look like any other kind of scorpion.
00:43:39 Nothing here looks like ordinary animals at all.
00:43:42 All creatures in the cave are white or transparent.
00:43:46 They don't have eyes, but they have long paws and antennae whiskers that help to navigate
00:43:51 in space.
00:43:52 Plants can't live here without sunlight and clean air.
00:43:55 This means that oxygen isn't produced in this place.
00:43:58 So how do these creatures manage to survive?
00:44:01 The answer is in the water.
00:44:04 The surface of the lake and puddles here is covered with strangely moving foam.
00:44:09 This substance is a living organism.
00:44:12 It consists of a billion bacteria called autotrophs.
00:44:16 Ordinary plants absorb carbon dioxide and use photosynthesis to produce oxygen.
00:44:21 This cave is filled with carbon dioxide.
00:44:24 Photosynthetic organisms absorb it and secrete tiny food particles.
00:44:28 Bacteria feed on these particles.
00:44:30 Larger organisms then feed on those bacteria and so on.
00:44:34 In the end, there's enough food for everyone.
00:44:37 This process is called chemosynthesis.
00:44:40 It's like photosynthesis, but uses water instead of sunlight in its chemical reactions.
00:44:45 In this cave, evolution has created a completely unique biological system separate from the
00:44:51 rest of the world.
00:44:56 Back in 2018, the biggest active underwater eruption ever happened.
00:45:00 At least, the one that we could officially record.
00:45:04 Scientists followed earthquakes that struck the area in the western Indian Ocean off Madagascar.
00:45:10 Between 2018 and 2021, over 11,000 earthquakes struck a small island called Mayan between
00:45:17 Madagascar and Mozambique.
00:45:19 The strongest one had a magnitude of 5.9.
00:45:23 Until then, this area had been pretty peaceful.
00:45:26 There had only been 2 earthquakes recorded over 50 years.
00:45:30 Along with regular earthquakes, there were also some unusual seismic hums, like earthquakes
00:45:36 at pretty low frequencies, forming deep underground.
00:45:39 People couldn't feel those hums at the surface, but researchers around the world discovered
00:45:44 them and realized they were related to volcanic activity no one actually noticed coming.
00:45:50 Something strange happened.
00:45:52 That underwater eruption created a giant skyscraper-sized volcano.
00:45:57 This new underwater volcano turned out to be around 1.5 times the height of One World
00:46:02 Trade Center in New York, and almost 10 times bigger than the Statue of Liberty.
00:46:07 The area where it appeared had been explored in 2014, but it was almost flat, peaceful,
00:46:14 and empty back then.
00:46:15 Now there is an actual volcano nearly 8,500 feet below sea level.
00:46:21 The volcano gets its magma from a super-profound reservoir located nearly 34 miles underground.
00:46:28 It's the deepest reservoir of volcanic magma that we know about.
00:46:33 The Earth has layers, and the middle one is kinda chunky.
00:46:37 It's very much like peanut-caramel filling many chocolates have.
00:46:41 Research shows there are probably hunks of oceanic crust deep inside the Earth's liquid
00:46:46 mantle.
00:46:47 They're stuck there, creating large lumps in something that was supposed to be a smooth
00:46:52 layer.
00:46:53 Our planet has a rigid outer layer.
00:46:55 It includes a hot upper mantle and cracked crust.
00:46:59 The hot mantle moves and churns all the time, making the crust at the surface move too.
00:47:05 This way, the oceanic crust dives into the depths and makes huge magma plumes go up toward
00:47:11 the planet's surface.
00:47:13 Scientists even found an ancient piece of the Pacific Ocean hundreds of miles underneath
00:47:17 China.
00:47:19 Those are the old remains of the Pacific seabed from long ago, and they were pulled downward
00:47:24 below Earth's surface into the mantle transition zone.
00:47:28 This rocky slab that used to be at the bottom of the ocean is made of the crust and some
00:47:33 solid parts of the upper mantle.
00:47:36 Most of the volcanic activity on our planet happens where we don't even see it – under
00:47:41 the surface of the ocean.
00:47:43 About 70% of all volcanic activity happens in the oceans, and mostly in the area of the
00:47:49 South Pacific, with over 1,100 volcanoes squeezed into that area.
00:47:54 Coastal cliffs, mountain changes, soils, and sediments that line valleys – these are
00:48:00 only a small portion of the rocks on our planet.
00:48:03 Others hide so much more deep down below the Earth's surface.
00:48:07 In between the Earth's surface and its core is the mantle.
00:48:10 It's a warm, thick layer of rocks that moves and flows constantly.
00:48:15 Some hundreds of miles below, there's a place where diamonds grow.
00:48:19 As they form, they go through high temperatures and pressure, after which they eventually
00:48:24 freeze.
00:48:25 That way, when they arrive at the surface, scientists can explore their structure, find
00:48:30 out how they formed, and understand better what's going on in the depths of our planet.
00:48:35 Thanks to diamonds, they realize the mantle was very wet, and it possibly contained much
00:48:40 more water than all the oceans on Earth.
00:48:44 Our planet is eating up its own oceans.
00:48:47 As its tectonic plates move, dive, and go beneath one another, they drag huge amounts
00:48:52 of water into the Earth's interior.
00:48:55 The water beneath the surface of our planet can help with developing magma and lubricate
00:49:00 faults, which actually makes earthquakes more likely to happen.
00:49:04 Water is actually stored in the minerals.
00:49:07 It gets incorporated into the planet's crust when new oceanic plates form.
00:49:11 They go through the process of bending and cracking as they grind under other plates,
00:49:16 and huge amounts of water then go deep into the crust and mantle.
00:49:21 Scientists research an area that's 18 miles under the surface.
00:49:25 They realize these zones pull 3 billion teragrams, which is more than 2 billion pounds.
00:49:32 Any ocean is like a whole new world.
00:49:34 There are incredible sceneries below the surface.
00:49:38 Magnificent waterfalls, lakes, and rivers.
00:49:40 There are thick layers of salt beneath the seafloor, and rivers and lakes form because
00:49:45 seawater goes through those layers and dissolves them, creating something that resembles pools.
00:49:51 The dissolved salt makes the surrounding water denser.
00:49:55 That water then settles there, which eventually forms underwater lakes or rivers.
00:50:00 But there are also mountain chains, trenches, canyons.
00:50:04 There's a canyon in the Bering Sea with more than 8,500 feet of vertical relief.
00:50:10 This makes the Grand Canyon look way smaller than it is, since the underwater canyon is
00:50:15 nearly 2,500 feet deeper.
00:50:18 Deep parts of the ocean are really cold.
00:50:21 The temperature of the water can be about 40 degrees, but at the bottom, water can get
00:50:26 boiling hot.
00:50:28 There are hydrothermal vents in the seafloor.
00:50:31 Those are the hot springs located at the edges of tectonic plates.
00:50:35 The water they release can reach a temperature of up to 750 degrees Fahrenheit.
00:50:40 But the pressure at such depths is very intense.
00:50:44 So intense, no human being can handle it.
00:50:47 Still, it's the pressure that keeps the water from boiling.
00:50:51 Ocean depth is on average 2.3 miles.
00:50:54 Light waves can still enter at 3,280 feet, even though it's in a very small amount.
00:51:00 So all the mysteries hidden below that point remain in total darkness.
00:51:05 The actual illuminated part of the ocean goes until 600 feet.
00:51:09 Even though the sun gives us light, most of our planet is dark all the time.
00:51:14 It's all because of the oceans, covering over 70% of our planet.
00:51:19 The loudest sound that came from an ocean, and of the loudest sounds ever recorded, came
00:51:24 from an ice quake.
00:51:26 It was so loud, researchers picked it up by sensors more than 3,000 miles away.
00:51:31 There was a seismic activity that made frozen ground break down.
00:51:36 The Antarctic ice sheet is bigger than the continental part of the United States and
00:51:40 Mexico together.
00:51:42 A big iceberg from Antarctica holds over 20 billion gallons of water, which could make
00:51:47 a 5-year water supply for a million people.
00:51:51 Humans can generally drink sea ice, although we can't drink sea water.
00:51:55 As time goes by and the ice ages, the brine trapped between ice crystals drains out.
00:52:01 That way, ice becomes fresh enough to consume it.
00:52:05 If all the ice sheets and glaciers we have on the Earth melted at the same time, the
00:52:09 sea level would rise another 260 feet, which is just a little shorter than the Statue of
00:52:15 Liberty, the height of a 26-story building.
00:52:19 Clams live long enough to tell us more about oceans' past.
00:52:22 Ancient mollusks can live for more than 500 years.
00:52:26 To learn more about a tree, you can use its rings to see how old it is.
00:52:30 To learn how old a mollusk is, you can examine its rings within the shell and tell.
00:52:36 This is also how scientists get information about the ocean, climate, and whatsoever.
00:52:41 This can help take a look at what happened about a thousand years ago.
00:52:46 The Earth doesn't have 4 but 5 oceans now.
00:52:49 The new one, called the Southern Ocean, was officially recognized only a few months ago.
00:52:54 It borders the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, so scientists couldn't agree if
00:52:59 it's really a new ocean or just part of the colder regions of these three.
00:53:04 We don't only divide oceans on maps.
00:53:07 Each has different conditions for unique marine species.
00:53:10 For example, the Southern Ocean has leopard seals, orcas, minke whales, emperor penguins,
00:53:17 and other animals that live in cold, icy seas.
00:53:19 It's also home to krill, small creatures that look like shrimp, and are food for many
00:53:25 bigger animals that live there.
00:53:27 Life on our planet started about 3.5 billion years ago.
00:53:31 I wasn't around then.
00:53:33 It's still a mystery how and when exactly, but some theories say life could've first
00:53:38 emerged in the depths of the ocean.
00:53:41 A few years ago, scientists found microscopic tubes and filaments within rocks formed about
00:53:47 4 billion years ago.
00:53:49 These rocks are fragments of ancient oceanic crust.
00:53:52 Also, these tiny tubes and filaments are similar to microbes that can still be found on hydrothermal
00:53:58 vents in deep parts of the ocean.
00:54:01 The idea is these living cells found conditions to stay alive in tiny rocky pores inside the
00:54:07 chimneys of those vents, and started the amazing adventure of the evolution of life on our
00:54:13 planet.
00:54:16 You're walking along a hot desert under the scorching sun.
00:54:21 You run out of supplies.
00:54:22 There's no more water.
00:54:24 You dream about rain, but there are no clouds in the sky.
00:54:28 With each step, you lose more and more strength and…
00:54:32 Oh.
00:54:33 You notice a small pond nearby.
00:54:36 Is it real water or just a mirage?
00:54:39 You can't get to your feet, so you crawl there.
00:54:42 The water is getting closer by the minute, but not because you're moving towards it.
00:54:46 It's the water approaching you.
00:54:49 In a few minutes, the pond area increases.
00:54:52 Here, you're already in it.
00:54:55 A small lake is formed 60 feet deep at the place where the piece of desert was.
00:55:00 This real event happened in 2014 in the Tunisian desert.
00:55:05 No one knows exactly on what day the lake appeared, since this part of the south of
00:55:10 Tunisia is sparsely populated.
00:55:12 And first, shepherds passing by saw the lake and didn't believe their eyes.
00:55:17 In the next few hours, hundreds of locals came running to the place.
00:55:21 They began to swim, jumping into the water from the surrounding rocks.
00:55:26 But a few days later, something strange happened to the lake.
00:55:29 In the beginning, it was a crystal clear turquoise blue color, but then it turned dark green.
00:55:36 People didn't attach any importance to this and continued to swim.
00:55:40 They shouldn't have done that.
00:55:42 The scientists and geologists arrived and immediately announced that it wasn't safe
00:55:46 to swim in the lake.
00:55:48 Muddy green water means the lake is stagnating.
00:55:51 It's not refreshed.
00:55:52 It's not fed by underground springs.
00:55:55 Now the lake is filled with algae and a lot of harmful bacteria that can cause serious
00:55:59 diseases.
00:56:00 They also found out that this region of Tunisia is filled with huge deposits of phosphate.
00:56:07 This substance can disintegrate and leave radioactive traces.
00:56:11 The lake can be carcinogenic, toxic, and hazardous for any living organism.
00:56:17 But people didn't worry about this too much.
00:56:19 They walk in the middle of the desert, while the sun heats the air to 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
00:56:24 Most of them are unlikely to refuse to jump into cool water, despite the warnings of scientists.
00:56:30 Until now, no one knows exactly the reason for the appearance of the lake.
00:56:35 Some scientists believe the lake was formed because of heavy rains.
00:56:39 The lake is surrounded by rocks and is located inside a canyon.
00:56:43 The water could just accumulate after each storm.
00:56:46 Some geologists think an earthquake was the cause of the lake.
00:56:50 A small seismic activity provoked the rupture of the Earth's rock above the water table.
00:56:55 And through this hole, all the water splashed out.
00:56:59 And if this theory is correct, then the lake can be pulled back underground through cracks.
00:57:04 This is the same as when you pull the plug out of a drain hole in a filled bathtub.
00:57:09 Any small earthquake is like pulling the plug out.
00:57:12 Therefore, if you find yourself in these places, don't swim in this radioactive lake.
00:57:19 We're going to the Caribbean Islands region.
00:57:22 Among the Clear Blue Sea, you can find a unique lake.
00:57:25 It's located on one of the paradisical islands.
00:57:28 You may not even notice the lake right away.
00:57:30 The entire territory may seem like a huge concrete platform, but the main thing is not
00:57:36 to step on its surface.
00:57:38 Pitch Lake is a lake filled not with water, but with liquid asphalt.
00:57:43 This is the largest asphalt deposit in the world.
00:57:46 Steam is coming from all over the lake as it's hot.
00:57:49 The depth of this lake is 250 feet.
00:57:52 An entire passenger Boeing could fit there in an upright position.
00:57:56 The lake is not fully studied, but scientists believe there's a deep fault in the Earth's
00:58:00 crust under it.
00:58:02 A huge amount of oil seeps through it.
00:58:04 It passes through various chemical compounds and turns it into the asphalt.
00:58:09 According to rough estimates, there are about 10 million tons of hot material inside this
00:58:14 place.
00:58:15 Theoretically, no life can exist in such conditions, but scientists have discovered
00:58:20 a colony of microbes.
00:58:22 Somehow these creatures have learned to survive here.
00:58:25 This also suggests that life outside of our planet may exist.
00:58:29 The largest moon of Saturn, Titan, has many hydrocarbon lakes on the surface.
00:58:34 And if the simplest forms of life appeared among a million tons of molten asphalt here
00:58:39 on Earth, then nothing prevents them from appearing on Titan.
00:58:43 We're going to Indonesia, to the island of Java.
00:58:47 You need to climb a large volcano to see the next phenomenon.
00:58:50 The volcano is overgrown with grass and trees, but it doesn't seem to be sleeping.
00:58:56 Smoke is pouring out of its mouth.
00:58:58 You climb to the top and see a clear lake instead of boiling magma.
00:59:02 The blue sky is reflected in its bright turquoise surface.
00:59:05 But don't try to jump there.
00:59:07 This lake is filled with acid.
00:59:10 The magma inside volcanoes comes from the deep bowels of the Earth's crust.
00:59:15 The incandescent liquid consists of many molten metals and chemical compounds, and the lake
00:59:20 is filled with particles of these metals.
00:59:23 In addition, the volcano emits sulfur dioxide gases.
00:59:27 When they combine with metals, they form a beautiful turquoise color.
00:59:32 You better come back here at night.
00:59:34 In some places, a lot of sulfur is concentrated.
00:59:37 These accumulations come out of the lake and come into contact with the air.
00:59:41 When this happens, everything around bursts into a bright blue flame.
00:59:46 It's safe to observe this from the side, but don't get too close.
00:59:50 Nearby, on this island, there's another acid lake.
00:59:53 It also releases sulfurous gases into the air, which are easily ignited when in contact
00:59:59 with oxygen.
01:00:00 When this happens, the gases burst into a bright blue electric flame.
01:00:05 It's difficult to see the flames during the day.
01:00:07 At night, you can see these flashes from afar.
01:00:11 Our next location is Australia.
01:00:13 You start the drone high above the forest area.
01:00:16 Among the green, dense forests, you can see a bright pink spot.
01:00:20 It's our lake.
01:00:21 This time, the beautiful pink color may not stop you from swimming.
01:00:25 You can relax here and take beautiful photos.
01:00:28 The lake attracts thousands of tourists, but scientists have only recently been able to
01:00:32 find out the reason for the unusual color.
01:00:36 At the bottom of this salty lake in Melbourne, special algae grow and secrete a red pigment.
01:00:42 In combination with sunlight, high temperatures, and a small amount of precipitation, it turns
01:00:47 the lake pink.
01:00:49 By the way, Australia is not the only place with such a phenomenon.
01:00:53 There are lakes with a pink tinge of water all over the world.
01:00:57 You can find them in Senegal, Bolivia, Kenya, and many other countries.
01:01:02 The water of these places is also salty and contains the red pigment of unusual algae.
01:01:09 We leave the hot beaches and fly to cold Canada.
01:01:12 Here, we see a frozen Lake Abraham.
01:01:16 We step on the ice and notice huge frozen bubbles inside.
01:01:19 They resemble jellyfish, and there are thousands of them there.
01:01:23 This is methane.
01:01:24 It's a highly flammable substance.
01:01:26 The grass, leaves, pieces of trees, and any organic substances that fall into the lake
01:01:31 become food for a lot of bacteria that emit methane.
01:01:36 Upon contact with frozen water, methane turns into tens of thousands of frozen balls.
01:01:41 When the ice melts, the bubbles burst and sizzle.
01:01:45 This phenomenon can also be observed on some shores of the Arctic Ocean.
01:01:49 There, the size of the bubbles can reach several times more than balloons.
01:01:53 It's a beautiful sight, but it's not safe since methane ignites when it contacts with
01:01:59 air.
01:02:00 We're in the coldest place of our journey.
01:02:02 It's Antarctica, near the driest desert on Earth.
01:02:06 A dry place doesn't mean it has to be hot.
01:02:09 It's an area with minimum precipitation.
01:02:11 The desert isn't sand and cacti, but a place where almost no living life inhabits.
01:02:17 Some areas of Antarctica meet these two criteria.
01:02:20 However, in this icy desert, you can notice a tiny lake.
01:02:24 Its depth is only a few inches.
01:02:26 Technically, it's a pond.
01:02:28 But the most amazing thing is that it stays in a liquid form.
01:02:32 The temperature here drops to -58 degrees Fahrenheit.
01:02:36 The pond should be frozen, but this doesn't happen.
01:02:39 Don Juan Pond is one of the saltiest reservoirs on the planet.
01:02:43 The amount of salt here doesn't allow the water to freeze.
01:02:47 Scientists have been studying this lake for more than 60 years, but they still can't find
01:02:51 out the exact reason for the appearance of water here.
01:02:55 Ah, beautiful.
01:02:59 You're walking with your friend and look up at the sky.
01:03:02 The sun looks a bit different today.
01:03:04 Like it has some kind of ring around it.
01:03:06 A rainbow type thing.
01:03:08 Huh.
01:03:09 Look at that.
01:03:10 Your friend pulls his head up out of his phone.
01:03:13 You shouldn't look directly at the...
01:03:15 Stop everything!
01:03:16 He says.
01:03:17 It's a sun halo!
01:03:18 We need to find shelter now, unless you have the world's biggest umbrella on you.
01:03:24 A sun halo is nature's sign that there's a snow or rainstorm on its way.
01:03:29 It's caused by clouds that are made of bazillions of small ice crystals.
01:03:34 Sunlight goes through those crystals, which causes the light to split and refract, like
01:03:39 when there's a rainbow.
01:03:40 Now don't look at the sun halo directly.
01:03:43 It's going to be tempting because it's not something you see every day.
01:03:47 Plus it's really beautiful.
01:03:49 But ultraviolet light can burn the exposed tissue of your retina and cause serious damage,
01:03:54 so it's not worth it.
01:03:56 Grab some sunglasses and you're good to go.
01:03:59 This phenomenon lasts around 40 minutes.
01:04:02 These clouds are the same ones that can cause a spooky ring around the moon at night sometimes.
01:04:07 In June 2020, what the people were looking at was an anvil cloud, a rare storm formation
01:04:14 in the sky.
01:04:16 Formed when strong air currents carry water vapor upwards, the air expands and spreads
01:04:21 out as it hits the bottom of the stratosphere.
01:04:24 It pushes the dense cloud into the cool anvil shape you see, and sometimes it even gets
01:04:29 to be a mushroom.
01:04:32 Anvil clouds produce some of the most dangerous lightning of all storms, one that's called
01:04:37 a "bolt out of the blue."
01:04:39 This lightning strike seems to magically come out of the blue sky, with the storm being
01:04:43 many miles away.
01:04:46 This type of bolt comes from the top of the anvil and can be 10 times more powerful than
01:04:51 a typical lightning strike.
01:04:53 People got so frightened after witnessing a giant cloud that they thought something
01:04:57 terrible must have happened.
01:04:59 The locals had pictures of the large billow on social media before officials could explain
01:05:04 what was going on.
01:05:06 Authorities managed to calm everyone's fears by informing them it was nothing more than
01:05:10 a natural phenomenon, and a beautiful one at that.
01:05:14 Before dissipating, these clouds typically stay in one area, regardless of how strong
01:05:19 the wind is.
01:05:21 If you look off the western coast of France, you'll see the Isle of Re.
01:05:27 Thanks to its beautiful blue waters, clean sandy beaches, and stunning lighthouses, this
01:05:32 place is a very popular vacation spot.
01:05:35 But perhaps the coolest part about the Isle of Re is what you see just beyond the shore.
01:05:41 Square waves.
01:05:42 This strange wave pattern looks like a giant chessboard over the ocean.
01:05:47 Many visitors to the island become captivated by these waves and go to high up places like
01:05:52 nearby lighthouses to take pictures of this natural phenomenon.
01:05:56 They say that when looking down at these square patterns in the water, it's almost as if there's
01:06:01 some sort of metal grid underneath it.
01:06:04 And while these wave patterns are truly fascinating, the people who choose to enjoy them from afar
01:06:09 are doing it right.
01:06:10 They know to stay out of the water.
01:06:13 To understand how these square waves come to be, it's important to know how waves occur
01:06:18 in the first place.
01:06:20 Generally, waves can travel many miles over the surface of the water, depending on local
01:06:25 winds and weather.
01:06:28 And even on days when the weather seems somewhat calm, storms located elsewhere can send in
01:06:33 crashing waves that affect the surrounding calm waters.
01:06:37 When waves travel onto the shores of distant lands, they're called swells.
01:06:42 This is different from a wave that occurs from local wind.
01:06:45 When two different swells coming from opposite directions meet, it's known as a cross sea.
01:06:51 This is what generates these square waves you see near the Isle of Re.
01:06:57 While these waves are one of the reasons why people flock to this island, they can still
01:07:02 expect to enjoy calm, relaxing waters most of the time.
01:07:06 The cross sea only occurs during certain times of the year in specific weather.
01:07:11 Plus, it's common knowledge around Re to steer clear of the ocean when these square waves
01:07:16 appear, so it's not often that you hear about anyone getting caught in them because most
01:07:22 people know better.
01:07:23 And since a lot of people on the island are tourists, there are plenty of signs around
01:07:28 warning them to get out of the water during this time.
01:07:31 However, not everyone gets the memo.
01:07:34 There have been a handful of cases where people got caught in the cross sea, but thankfully
01:07:40 and luckily, they managed to get out safely.
01:07:44 These square waves have become somewhat famous over time given that there's really no other
01:07:49 place in the world that boasts a cross sea like this one.
01:07:53 In fact, no one has ever spotted square waves anywhere but the Isle of Re.
01:07:58 However, there are swells that can be found throughout the oceans in the world, and a
01:08:03 cross sea can take place.
01:08:06 But if the angle they approach each other at is more shallow, the wave may actually
01:08:10 look like it's coming from the same direction, even when it's not.
01:08:14 Not to mention, swells can slowly lose momentum as they drip further and further away, so
01:08:20 their crest, or the top of the wave, appears more round and less jagged.
01:08:25 The Isle of Re's specific wind and weather patterns are literally the perfect storm and
01:08:31 create a cross sea that people can clearly recognize.
01:08:35 It's 2009 in Italy.
01:08:38 A man was hanging out in his kitchen.
01:08:40 Then he saw some flickering lights.
01:08:42 He knew just what to do.
01:08:44 He moved his family to a safe place.
01:08:47 A couple of seconds later, a massive earthquake hit the whole region.
01:08:51 His family survived thanks to his quick reaction.
01:08:54 He knew these flickering lights were actually a sign of an upcoming earthquake.
01:09:00 People have been seeing these mysterious lights for ages.
01:09:03 Some thought it was some kind of sign coming from space.
01:09:07 Scientists never used to take them seriously.
01:09:10 But after the invention of photography, more and more evidence of these strange lights
01:09:14 appeared.
01:09:15 Soon, they realized the connection.
01:09:18 The lights appear, and pretty soon, the earthquake hits.
01:09:23 After a bit of digging around, they actually found some records of these earthquake lights
01:09:28 from hundreds of years ago.
01:09:30 There were bluish flames coming out of the ground right before an earthquake.
01:09:35 Oh, creepy.
01:09:38 The Christmas Island Crab is part of an amazing phenomenon once a year.
01:09:43 Their migration period is determined by the phase of the moon and the first rainfall between
01:09:48 October and February, although the precise date can't be predicted.
01:09:53 Once the crabs have been prompted, they leave their homes amongst the forest and migrate
01:09:58 in massive hordes towards the sea.
01:10:01 Numbering in millions, a sea of red crabs is observed as they make their journey across
01:10:06 the island, creating roadblocks and making their way to the ocean.
01:10:11 There, they lay their eggs and then make their trek back, returning to the forest until the
01:10:16 next year.
01:10:19 There are bridges in the Indian state of Meghalaya that are created entirely of living tree roots.
01:10:25 The bridges are made up of tangled thick roots that are strong enough to hold over 50 people
01:10:31 at a time.
01:10:33 The Khasi and Jaintia tribes became masters in the art of growing these insane bridges.
01:10:39 They need them to cross the streams below with ease.
01:10:42 Some of these root bridges are over 180 years old.
01:10:46 To make them, the members of the tribes care for the roots until they grow long enough
01:10:50 to reach the opposite bank.
01:10:52 It can take as long as 10 to 15 years to grow a bridge.
01:10:57 In the process, the roots become tightly entwined with one another.
01:11:01 This is how the bridges get so strong.
01:11:04 And once a bridge is fully grown, it can last for over 500 years.
01:11:09 While some roots decay, new ones are continually growing.
01:11:13 That's why the unusual natural constructions last so long.
01:11:18 Light pillars are colorful beams of light that either jet up from Earth towards the
01:11:22 sky or shine down from the clouds.
01:11:25 Usually, they only occur in cold temperatures, as they form when the sunlight gets reflected
01:11:30 off ice crystals floating in the air.
01:11:33 The higher the crystals are in the air, the taller these bright and colorful pillars become.
01:11:38 They're most common at sunrise and sunset.
01:11:42 There are hidden caves all over the world that are filled with glowing light.
01:11:47 This light comes from hundreds of glowworms that have made a cozy home in the caves.
01:11:52 Some of the caves are more than 30 million years old, and most of them can be found in
01:11:57 New Zealand and Australia.
01:12:00 The worms themselves don't actually glow, but baby worms, called larvae, form silk strings
01:12:06 made out of mucus.
01:12:08 These strings form nets.
01:12:10 It's these nets that can illuminate the entire cave.
01:12:13 Their purpose is to attract flies and other tasty insects for the glowworms to munch on.
01:12:20 Rainbow trees are 100% a real thing.
01:12:24 Hailing from the Philippines and Indonesia, these colorful wonders are called rainbow
01:12:28 eucalyptus, or rainbow gum.
01:12:31 The rainbow hues are created by the contrast in colors of old and new bark.
01:12:37 As the thin surface layers of bark peel away, they reveal newer ones with brighter, more
01:12:42 eye-catching colors.
01:12:44 The brand new bark is green.
01:12:47 Then it changes to purple, then red, and finally brown.
01:12:51 This is because the trees contain a substance called chlorophyll.
01:12:54 It makes the bark green.
01:12:56 As each strip of bark ages, it loses chlorophyll and slowly changes its color.
01:13:03 When lightning flashes across the sky, it releases somewhere around 300 million volts,
01:13:08 or the equivalent to power 25 million car batteries.
01:13:12 Some say you're more likely to be zapped by lightning in your lifetime than to win
01:13:16 the lottery.
01:13:18 And statistics seem to prove this urban myth, as each year around 28 US locals do get electrically
01:13:24 charged from the sky.
01:13:29 The world's infrastructure can be affected by lightning too.
01:13:32 That's because it generally seeks out the tallest structure around.
01:13:36 But in certain conditions, it can also strike an open field.
01:13:40 So scientists came together and invented a laser lightning rod that might help.
01:13:45 This unique invention might make lightning strikes a bit more manageable, since it can
01:13:49 guard a much larger area than the traditional one.
01:13:53 And it's flexible.
01:13:55 Classic lightning rods work like magnets for that powerful electrical charge.
01:14:00 They're these tall metal devices placed on top of buildings.
01:14:03 When a storm approaches, the rod provides an easy path for lightning to follow, preventing
01:14:08 it from hitting other parts of the structure.
01:14:11 The rod is also connected to the ground with a conductor, like a wire, helping the electrical
01:14:16 charge to safely make its way into the earth.
01:14:20 This process protects the building, and the humans in it, by directing the electrical
01:14:24 energy away.
01:14:26 We've been using lightning rods for the last 300 years, courtesy of Benjamin Franklin.
01:14:31 But they're not damage-proof.
01:14:33 When it comes to safeguarding vast spaces like airports, they can't manage.
01:14:38 That's because they can only cover an area proportional to their height.
01:14:44 Here's where this new, improved lightning rod can help.
01:14:49 When the laser zaps the sky, it leaves behind a trail of super-heated air, called plasma.
01:14:56 The same way a sculptor carves out traces in clay, the laser creates channels in the
01:15:01 air.
01:15:02 These channels then become the lightning's new favorite route, guiding it down to the
01:15:06 ground.
01:15:07 This new method was tested in the Swiss Alps back in 2021, and the results were promising.
01:15:14 These lasers do have their own disadvantages.
01:15:17 They aren't always available and need a heads-up.
01:15:20 That's because they have to be activated before a bolt hits.
01:15:24 If you're a second too late, tough luck!
01:15:28 Also, once the laser stops, the air loses its conductivity pretty quickly.
01:15:33 This means the laser rod might not have enough power to guide the lightning safely.
01:15:38 A potential solution might be monitoring the electric field around a certain area, predicting
01:15:45 where lightning might strike.
01:15:47 Yet these new rods still need more testing, and lots of funds.
01:15:55 The European Space Agency found another way to make lasers useful, to turn moon dust into
01:16:00 roads.
01:16:02 It would make our future lunar exploration missions much easier if a laser beam could
01:16:07 do the hard jobs, allowing astronauts to drive around the moon.
01:16:11 This discovery might also help with another tricky issue, moon dust clinging to everything
01:16:17 in sight.
01:16:19 Roads on the moon might seem too much of a hustle for now, since we haven't been to
01:16:23 our satellites since 1972.
01:16:26 But when future space explorers will touch down again, they don't just plan to walk
01:16:31 small distances.
01:16:32 It'll be nice to have them driving around, so they can explore larger areas.
01:16:37 Problem is, that pesky moon dust is very fine, abrasive, and sticky.
01:16:43 Back during the Apollo missions, it clogged up equipment, eroded spacesuits, and even
01:16:48 caused a lunar rover to overheat.
01:16:51 That's why scientists want to zap simulated moon dirt with a laser.
01:16:59 This laser-powered project used a 12-kilowatt laser to melt simulated moon dirt into a solid,
01:17:05 glassy surface, perfect for moon roads.
01:17:09 The plan isn't to send a huge laser on the moon.
01:17:12 This device they're testing here on Earth is like a stand-in for the sun, mimicking
01:17:17 what lunar sunlight could do.
01:17:19 The idea is to eventually concentrate sunlight using a big lens on the moon's surface.
01:17:25 Some experiments have been done so far with different laser sizes, finding that a bigger
01:17:30 beam made the whole process go smoother.
01:17:34 Instead of dealing with tiny molten balls, they got a stable layer of molten moon dirt
01:17:38 that's easier to work with.
01:17:41 What they got was a glassy, somewhat brittle material that can handle downward forces.
01:17:46 And even if it cracks, it's fixable.
01:17:50 The laser beam was used to make triangle-shaped road parts that fit together like puzzle pieces,
01:17:56 forming solid surfaces across lunar soil.
01:17:59 If this goes as planned, we'll have moon roads made of interlocked triangles.
01:18:04 This unique type of moon pavement could be the solution for landing pads, too.
01:18:12 Lasers can help piece together information on long-lost civilizations, too.
01:18:17 Discovering Maya cities has always been difficult for researchers exploring Mexico's Yucatan
01:18:22 Peninsula.
01:18:23 For years, experts believed no early civilization could have thrived in that harsh environment.
01:18:30 But advancements like light-mapping technology and laser scans are showing us this might
01:18:35 not be true.
01:18:38 LiDAR technology can lend a helping hand for archaeologists, especially in areas that are
01:18:43 hard to physically reach.
01:18:45 That's because it's like we're equipping computers with a pair of eyes.
01:18:49 The whole thing works as a flashlight, sending out small light beams in the form of a pulsated
01:18:55 laser.
01:18:56 These beams balance off objects like trees and buildings and come back to the flashlight.
01:19:02 LiDAR measures how long it takes for the light to return, creating a map of the surroundings.
01:19:08 When a self-driving car or robot wants to know where it is, it uses LiDAR to send out
01:19:13 these light beams.
01:19:15 By figuring out how long they take to come back and where they hit, the car or robot
01:19:20 can understand what's around it, making it safer for them to move around through the
01:19:25 fog or at night time without bumping into things.
01:19:31 With this technology, a team uncovered the massive Maya city of Ocomtun.
01:19:37 LiDAR technology helped researchers to map the jungle floor, revealing hidden structures.
01:19:43 But someone still needed to verify these findings on foot.
01:19:46 The journey to Ocomtun wasn't extremely challenging.
01:19:50 The region, quite far from the nearest airport, is mostly unexplored, accessible only through
01:19:55 old hunting and logging routes.
01:19:57 The dense terrain made the trek challenging, taking the team up to two weeks to cover just
01:20:02 30 miles.
01:20:04 But the effort paid off, revealing monumental structures like a large acropolis and intriguing
01:20:09 shapes hinting at a marketplace or cultural center.
01:20:13 LiDAR is also used in rovers we'll need to explore other planets.
01:20:18 This will allow the robots we send up there to navigate their surroundings without direct
01:20:22 human indications.
01:20:24 It's also helped us better understand the best location to place solar panels, making
01:20:29 it cheaper and faster for us to meet our energy needs.
01:20:36 We might also be able to use lasers to predict how a volcano is going to act.
01:20:41 These structures are loaded with magma, the molten rock sneaking upwards from the Earth's
01:20:45 insides.
01:20:46 When a volcano blows its top, a chemical reaction happens, transforming magma into what we call
01:20:53 lava.
01:20:54 The specialists behind this new use of lasers think of magma as the computer code of volcanoes.
01:21:00 It reveals information on how a volcano might pop up.
01:21:04 That's because not all eruptions bring lava, and even if they do, there are different lava
01:21:09 types depending on how runny it is.
01:21:13 Magma is like a mix of liquid, gas, and crystals that are shaken up inside the volcano.
01:21:19 There are many elements at play before a volcanic eruption, so it's hard to study and understand
01:21:24 that complex chemistry.
01:21:26 To organize things around a bit, scientists hit the cooled magma, the rock matrix, with
01:21:31 a laser.
01:21:33 Just like the ones you might have encountered if you've ever had eye surgery, it makes the
01:21:37 chemical components easier to study.
01:21:40 This latest laser eye method was used on samples from a 2021 eruption which lasted 85 days.
01:21:47 It covered over 4 square miles, spewing loads of lava that wrecked over a thousand homes
01:21:53 and displaced over 7,000 people.
01:21:57 To prevent such events from happening again, scientists need more data.
01:22:02 It's true, earthquakes and ground shifts help specialists predict what a volcano might do,
01:22:07 but knowing a bit more about its chemistry can help a bit more.
01:22:13 On some nights, when the sky over a powerful thunderstorm is clear, you might see elves,
01:22:18 gnomes, trolls, or blue jets.
01:22:21 Blue jets sound kinda random here, right?
01:22:24 But we're not actually talking about fairy tales.
01:22:28 These are all just different types of lightning flashes that are mostly visible very high
01:22:33 above raging thunderstorm clouds.
01:22:37 Let's take red sprites.
01:22:39 Those are flashes of light that appear above thunderstorms that come in clusters.
01:22:45 They are rare because they're only caused by a specific type of lightning called positive
01:22:50 cloud-to-ground strikes.
01:22:52 So a positive charge is transferred from a thundercloud to the ground during a lightning
01:22:57 strike.
01:22:59 These types of lightning make up only 10% of all lightning strikes.
01:23:05 For more than half a century, many believed these flashes were just urban legends.
01:23:11 People did see them from time to time, but the flashes were so brief that even if you
01:23:15 had been lucky enough to catch them, you wouldn't have had time to call someone to witness this
01:23:20 phenomenon with you.
01:23:23 Even when respectable scientists or pilots would talk about them, the scientific community
01:23:28 would mostly ignore them.
01:23:30 In 1989, something strange happened.
01:23:34 The researchers from the University of Minnesota actually managed to catch sprites on film.
01:23:39 And that's how it started.
01:23:41 People across the world began sharing videos and photos of red sprites.
01:23:48 Red sprites can start as 328-foot balls made of ionized air.
01:23:54 These balls shoot down from heights of about 50 miles at 10% of the speed of light.
01:24:01 And researchers have been studying not only the lightning that plunges down from ranging
01:24:05 clouds but these colorful flashes that go towards space too.
01:24:10 So electricity stretches up to the electrically charged ionosphere, but at the same time,
01:24:15 it crushes down towards the ground.
01:24:19 Red sprites come in different shapes, like these big, cool jellyfish sprites that sometimes
01:24:24 have areas that measure up to 30 square miles.
01:24:29 You may see carrot sprites or column sprites.
01:24:31 They're similar, it's just that carrots also have long tendrils.
01:24:36 The lower parts of tendrils are often blue, while the higher ones are red.
01:24:41 On August 22, 2022, we were able to take some stunning photos of red-white streaks in the
01:24:47 sky above the Atacama Desert in Chile.
01:24:51 They were surrounded by another, bigger glow of greenish color.
01:24:55 It's something we call air glow, and you can only see it this well when there's no light
01:25:00 pollution.
01:25:02 It's basically when we use too much artificial light, and among other things, it doesn't
01:25:07 allow us to observe stars and other objects we might otherwise see in the sky.
01:25:13 And this air glow happens because of atoms of nitrogen and oxygen in our atmosphere.
01:25:19 Sunlight knocks away their electrons during daytime.
01:25:22 Then, they slowly recombine with their electrons, which is a process that causes them to glow.
01:25:30 How can you see a red sprite?
01:25:32 First, you need to find a large thunderstorm.
01:25:36 They're more common during summer and spring, for example in June.
01:25:40 Of course, sprites can appear at any time if there are powerful enough storms with lightning
01:25:45 at ground level.
01:25:47 The skies need to be clear and very dark, ideally without bright moonlight.
01:25:53 And the storm should be around 100 to 200 miles away.
01:25:58 That way, clouds won't block the sky, and you'll have better visibility.
01:26:02 In the perfect scenario, the storm will be moving along a distant horizon, so you'll
01:26:07 be able to see everything above the cloud tops.
01:26:11 You can track a storm with weather radar.
01:26:15 Your eyes need some time to adapt to the darkness around you.
01:26:18 Give them some time, about 20 to 30 minutes.
01:26:22 Keep your eyes above the clouds and try not to look at the clouds directly.
01:26:27 Ignore lightning flashes.
01:26:29 A sprite will pop maybe once for every 200 lightning strikes.
01:26:34 Don't expect to really capture it on camera, it's not easy.
01:26:38 But the view itself will likely be worth the wait.
01:26:42 This and similar flashy events are something we call TLEs, which stands for Transient Luminous
01:26:48 Events.
01:26:50 Blue jets are also worth mentioning.
01:26:53 These are dim blue lights that stream up like a very fast puff of smoke above powerful hail
01:26:58 storms.
01:26:59 They're also very rare, and in most cases, you'll only be able to see them from an airplane.
01:27:07 And now we get to those fairy tale creatures.
01:27:09 Elves, when we talk about lightning flashes, are brief discs of dim light you can see about
01:27:15 60 miles high in the atmosphere.
01:27:19 It's just an abbreviation.
01:27:20 Their full name is Emissions of Light and Very Low Frequency Perturbations Due to Electromagnetic
01:27:25 Pulse Sources.
01:27:26 Yeah, I suggest we stick to elves.
01:27:31 Moving to Trolls.
01:27:33 Those are red spots that pop close to cloud tops after the flash of a very powerful red
01:27:38 sprite.
01:27:40 Gnomes are the smallest and fastest flashes.
01:27:43 We're talking about tiny white spikes of light that flash from the top of a big anvil of
01:27:49 thunderclouds.
01:27:51 The anvil is that elongated cloud you see at the top of a raging storm.
01:27:56 It spreads downwind together with upper-level winds, and gnomes last for only a microsecond.
01:28:04 And check this out.
01:28:05 Ball lightning is in the shape of fiery orbs that can be as big as a golf ball or can grow
01:28:10 up to a very large beach ball.
01:28:13 They can be yellow, red, white, orange, green, or purple, and they can stay alive for a couple
01:28:20 of seconds, even minutes sometimes.
01:28:24 Over the centuries, many people have been talking about how they saw ball lightning
01:28:28 sometimes even floating into their homes.
01:28:32 But such events are really unpredictable and happen very rarely.
01:28:37 Scientists have managed to recreate ball lightning in the lab, or at least something very similar
01:28:41 to it.
01:28:43 They have realized that ball lightning probably shows up after a lightning bolt strikes the
01:28:48 ground.
01:28:49 It's when mineral grains in the soil then vaporize.
01:28:54 Here's something spectacular, volcanic lightning.
01:28:57 This one is born in the plumes of a wild volcanic eruption.
01:29:02 Like the rest of thunderstorms, volcanic lightning forms when static electricity builds up in
01:29:08 Earth's atmosphere.
01:29:10 And then it gets released in the shape of a lightning bolt.
01:29:14 Scientists don't understand the whole mechanism here, but they think it's related to charging.
01:29:19 For example, ice charging is what causes thunderstorms to form.
01:29:24 It plays a part in producing lightning during volcanic eruptions too.
01:29:29 This happens when the air heated in an eruption rises into the sky and meets cold air.
01:29:36 The water from the eruption turns into ice particles, and when these particles bump into
01:29:41 each other, some electrons get knocked off.
01:29:44 The ice particles that now have more positive charges move higher into the sky and gather
01:29:49 together.
01:29:50 Or, it may be frictional charging, another thing that leads to volcanic lightning.
01:29:56 The same as ice charging happens when tiny particles of ice collide.
01:30:01 Here we have ash and pieces of rock colliding and creating charged ions.
01:30:06 There's dark lightning too.
01:30:08 Over 10 years ago, researchers discovered that thunderstorms could generate brief but
01:30:13 very strong bursts of gamma rays, which is the form of light with the highest energy.
01:30:18 They are so bright that they can blind sensors on satellites, even when they're hundreds
01:30:22 of miles away.
01:30:24 They can also create antimatter.
01:30:28 Antimatter is a type of matter made of particles with opposite charges compared to the particles
01:30:32 in normal matter.
01:30:34 Imagine having two boxes full of blocks.
01:30:37 Some blocks are red and some are blue.
01:30:39 When these pairs touch each other, they disappear or annihilate and turn into energy.
01:30:46 That's what happens when particles of matter and antimatter meet.
01:30:50 And these flashes could be the result of dark lightning because it gives off light that's
01:30:54 not really visible.
01:30:57 Regular lightning involves slow electrons.
01:31:00 In dark lightning, electrons are high energy.
01:31:03 They crash into air molecules and, by doing that, produce gamma rays.
01:31:08 Hey, don't we all love wintertime, gingerbread cookies, and sitting by the fireplace?
01:31:16 And frozen methane bubbles?
01:31:19 Freezing temperatures afford humanity the pleasure of some very weird winter phenomena.
01:31:25 Let's go take a look at some of them.
01:31:28 Beneath the surface of Canada's Lake Abraham in Alberta or beneath other lakes across Antarctica,
01:31:35 you'll witness a truly mesmerizing phenomenon of ice bubbles.
01:31:40 From the top, they look like glittering jewels.
01:31:42 But these bubbles don't meet our expectations as they never pop.
01:31:47 They just freeze midway before ever reaching the surface.
01:31:51 So how did they get there in the first place?
01:31:54 And what are they made of?
01:31:56 Some of them come from gas released from the melting of glaciers, while others are a result
01:32:01 of the decomposing of organic matter lying at the bottom of the lakes.
01:32:06 Now they sure look pretty, but they're also pretty harmful to human life.
01:32:11 These bubbles are made of methane, and they can intoxicate you.
01:32:15 So if I were you, I wouldn't get too close.
01:32:21 If you're driving on a curvy hillside road when a snow squall begins, you'd be wise to
01:32:26 stop driving immediately.
01:32:28 A snow squall is the winter equivalent of a severe thunderstorm.
01:32:32 The thing is, they're difficult to predict and very fast moving.
01:32:37 It can be sunshine, but then all of a sudden, a huge snow squall might start.
01:32:42 If you haven't heard this term before, it's because the National Weather Service in the
01:32:46 US only began using it in 2018.
01:32:51 They called it a squall because it reduces a lot of our visibility and can be very dangerous
01:32:56 if you don't take it seriously.
01:32:58 But still, falling snow is beautiful, even if it's that crazy.
01:33:05 Say this winter you decided to finally visit the famous Niagara Falls.
01:33:11 Located between the US and Canada, these falls are the fifth largest waterfall in the world,
01:33:16 with over 3,000 tons of falling water per second.
01:33:21 In winter, the area looks like a winter wonderland and is home to an interesting phenomenon,
01:33:26 a frozen fall.
01:33:28 No, this isn't the work of Hollywood or an internet prank.
01:33:32 Niagara Falls can actually form a layer of ice.
01:33:36 This happens when the falls have been exposed to frigid temperatures for a long time.
01:33:41 So the surface water and mist in the air turn to ice, giving the impression that the entire
01:33:47 waterfall is frozen.
01:33:49 But that's not exactly what happens.
01:33:51 If you look closely into the ice, you'll notice that there's still plenty of flowing water.
01:33:59 Have you ever heard of something called a natural snowball?
01:34:02 This is a rare yet beautiful environmental phenomenon that happens when smaller pieces
01:34:07 of ice end up being rolled by strong winds and water.
01:34:12 The further they roll, the more ice they gather, and the more that ice is polished.
01:34:17 They end up as giant, perfectly shaped snowballs.
01:34:21 They would look pretty amazing on their own, but hundreds of them together?
01:34:26 That's some scenery.
01:34:29 Some snowballs turn into huge rolling doughnuts.
01:34:33 These rare shapes happen only in perfect temperature conditions, when the snow is in the perfect
01:34:38 state between hard and fluffy.
01:34:40 It happens when a snowball begins rolling down, gathering more and more snow, until
01:34:45 suddenly its middle part collapses.
01:34:48 This allows for the snowball to get its doughnut shape.
01:34:52 Hmm, does it also taste as good as a doughnut?
01:34:55 I guess not, right?
01:34:57 Oh, almost forgot.
01:34:58 If you want to see them in real life, you have to go to some severely cold places.
01:35:03 But still, people reported having seen them in Ottawa, in the Midwest of the US, and even
01:35:09 in Scotland.
01:35:13 If you go for a walk in the woods at the beginning of winter, you might stumble upon a magical
01:35:18 phenomenon known as frost flowers.
01:35:22 These flower-shaped phenomena are rare and occur only when the temperature of the air
01:35:26 is freezing, but the ground is still moist.
01:35:30 When the perfect conditions align, vapor coming out of stems form these veil-thin patterns
01:35:37 that make up delicate flower-like ice.
01:35:40 Don't try to pick them, you'll break them.
01:35:42 And certainly don't try to plant them anywhere else, as they aren't real flowers.
01:35:47 Oh, and be sure to go before the sun is too strong, otherwise it'll melt these delicate
01:35:52 things.
01:35:55 Say you just checked the forecast and the weather for the day is -8 degrees Fahrenheit.
01:36:01 Maybe you'd choose staying home underneath the blankets, but I'm sure you'd change your
01:36:05 mind if you had the option of this day trip.
01:36:10 Picture Yellowstone Park under a few feet of snow on a sunny day.
01:36:14 Well, if that didn't do it for you, then add some snow-covered bison and steamy geysers
01:36:20 to the scenery.
01:36:22 Still not convinced?
01:36:23 How about the chance to see the rare phenomenon of hoarfrost?
01:36:27 If you haven't heard of them before, they're a geometrically enchanting type of frost that
01:36:32 you can see when moisture in the air skips the droplet stage and appears directly as
01:36:38 ice crystals on top of a leaf.
01:36:41 They're much more photogenic than your windshield or garden-variety frost.
01:36:46 FYI, the term hoarfrost comes from Old English, meaning a frost that resembles an old man's
01:36:52 beard.
01:36:53 Well, what do you say?
01:36:55 Does this actually look like a beard?
01:36:59 You're walking in a frost-covered forest on a freezing day when suddenly you hear a loud
01:37:04 banging sound.
01:37:06 No, it's not an avalanche nor an earthquake.
01:37:09 You're in the middle of a frost quake.
01:37:13 If only that meant that you'd see beautiful snow crystals cracking on the floor, but that's
01:37:18 not quite the case.
01:37:20 Frost quakes, also known as ice quakes, happen when the moisture below the ground starts
01:37:25 to freeze and expand.
01:37:27 It's normal for things to expand in their frozen state.
01:37:31 Just look at an ice cube, for example.
01:37:34 These frost quakes can move rocks and the soil above and cause loud cracking sounds
01:37:40 as if the world were falling apart.
01:37:43 Don't worry, though.
01:37:44 It's not.
01:37:47 If you happen to see black ice, be careful.
01:37:51 Although we call it that, black ice isn't really black.
01:37:54 It's made up of a thin layer of ice that looks black due to the color of concrete or earthy
01:38:00 ground.
01:38:01 It blends in so well with the ground that it's almost impossible to spot.
01:38:06 It forms during winter days when the ground is wet from rain or melted snow, and the temperature
01:38:11 suddenly drops below freezing temperatures.
01:38:14 So, this thin layer emerges, multiplying considerably your chances of slipping while walking on
01:38:21 bridges or overpasses.
01:38:23 It's also pretty common on spots on the road that are shaded by trees.
01:38:29 This next phenomenon happens in a very specific wintry context - the Antarctic one.
01:38:35 Amongst the unique things that occur on the continent, Antarctica is home to an extremely
01:38:40 weird waterfall.
01:38:42 The year was 1911, when an Australian geologist wondered about the so-called "blood falls".
01:38:49 He was extremely puzzled by this red stream of liquid pouring from a small hillside amongst
01:38:54 the Antarctic ice.
01:38:56 After years of studying, it was understood that what caused the redness was the high
01:39:01 iron content in the water.
01:39:03 The last piece of the puzzle came when scientists discovered that there was an underground lake
01:39:08 with water full of oxidized iron nearby, which was what caused the blood fall to exist in
01:39:14 the first place.
01:39:17 The North Pole is more than Santa's fictional home.
01:39:21 Together with the South Pole, it's home to the so-called "polar vortex", a phenomenon
01:39:26 that helps to enhance our winter experience.
01:39:29 The polar vortex is a large area of low pressure and cold air.
01:39:34 It's called a vortex simply because over there the air rotates counterclockwise.
01:39:40 It sends a jet stream that makes you want to bundle up, and helps induce several winter
01:39:45 phenomena such as freezing fog.
01:39:49 If fog is when a cloud touches the ground, what happens when it freezes?
01:39:54 You can expect that all of the moist droplets of water that are hanging around in the air
01:39:58 will possibly freeze when they touch the ground.
01:40:01 Meaning, you really wouldn't want to be driving around in the middle of one of these
01:40:05 things.
01:40:09 Going to the beach in winter seems like a good plan.
01:40:12 You can have a bonfire, build a sandcastle, search for shells, or swim in the ocean.
01:40:19 The vibe might make you overlook the dangers ahead of you.
01:40:22 Do you really think through the potential risks of paying a visit to the beach in the
01:40:26 winter?
01:40:29 The number one risk is waves.
01:40:31 You might think it's ok to admire the view on the beach a few steps back from the ocean.
01:40:36 Now let me introduce you to sneakers.
01:40:39 Not the chocolate bar, sneaker, or with another name, sleeper waves.
01:40:43 These are oversized coastal waves.
01:40:46 They catch people off guard because they occur without warning or trace.
01:40:51 These waves are particularly seen in Oregon, United States.
01:40:55 People have been injured and at least 17 people have been swept up into the ocean since 2000.
01:41:01 It got more media attention in 2011 when a memorial statue was built honoring the two
01:41:06 teens faced with sneaker waves in Oregon.
01:41:09 So, how come these waves are so dangerous?
01:41:14 It's about their nature.
01:41:15 They come out of the blue.
01:41:17 With big waves, you see them coming or growing big.
01:41:20 Plus, they form in the ocean and come towards the beach.
01:41:24 These waves appear near the shore.
01:41:26 It leaves less time for you to run to a safer spot.
01:41:30 Ok, most of the time, they're not huge, as would be seen in apocalyptic movies.
01:41:35 Yet, you can never know what nature holds.
01:41:38 Maybe you remember this example from Mavericks.
01:41:41 In 2010, a crowd was watching the surfing competition.
01:41:44 Suddenly, two large waves struck the people on the beach.
01:41:48 It broke the seawall and injured more than 10 people.
01:41:53 Sneaker waves don't look particularly larger than other waves until they break and quickly
01:41:58 reach the beach.
01:41:59 They form in a period of 10 to 20 minutes in between soft and regular-sized waves.
01:42:05 They can surge more than 150 feet beyond the foam line.
01:42:09 Then, they reach the land with high power.
01:42:12 Plus, they carry lots of sand and gravel with them.
01:42:17 Sleeper waves are more commonly seen along steep coastlines compared to beaches with
01:42:21 wider and softly sloped areas.
01:42:25 People named these waves, not scientists.
01:42:27 They observed what waves do.
01:42:29 They washed up in a sneaky way.
01:42:31 I mean, scientists didn't classify this phenomenon as a distinct sort of wave like
01:42:36 they did with tsunamis or rogue waves.
01:42:38 There's little scientific research made about them.
01:42:42 Researchers say that sneaker waves form in offshore storms.
01:42:46 These storms transfer the wind energy to the water's surface.
01:42:50 The waves carry this energy and then arrive at the beach during times of calm weather.
01:42:56 The larger amount of energy they obtain compared to the regular waves that preceded them causes
01:43:01 them to go higher up the coast.
01:43:04 Imagine you go for a walk on the beach with your dog.
01:43:07 The waves gently reach the beach.
01:43:09 You play the throw and catch game.
01:43:11 You don't know about sneaky waves, so you turn into an unwary beachgoer.
01:43:16 What's the risk?
01:43:18 Being washed into the water trapped against rocks.
01:43:21 Since it's winter, you tend to wear heavier clothes.
01:43:24 The sand that sneaker waves carry can quickly fill clothing and shoes, and that weighs you
01:43:29 down.
01:43:30 How can people enjoy the beach safely?
01:43:33 First off, keep your distance if you're on the beach for storm watching, for instance.
01:43:37 It might be mesmerizing to see how waves roll in over miles of ocean.
01:43:42 The storms hit the shore, and you look at those extreme turbulent swells transform into
01:43:47 strong 30-foot long waves.
01:43:50 Finding a higher spot that sees the ocean and waves might be best.
01:43:55 Be the eagle, not the crab.
01:43:57 Did Confucius say that?
01:44:00 The second tip is if you're determined to storm watch, never turn your back to the ocean.
01:44:05 Yes, eyes on the water.
01:44:07 Lastly, be mindful of which part of the beach you're walking on.
01:44:11 Stay away from the logs because they hold water.
01:44:14 The water increases their weight.
01:44:17 In the worst case scenario, the ocean is powerful enough to roll the logs onto you.
01:44:23 Let's assume you're hiking near the ocean.
01:44:26 Use the designated trails because park authorities determine them as the safest roads possible.
01:44:32 Going off-route can sound charming, but it can be dangerous for you and harmful to the
01:44:37 ecosystem in the surrounding area.
01:44:40 Now that you know where to walk, you can keep your eyes open about the geological stuff.
01:44:45 But the rocks can be slippery.
01:44:46 Erosion can rip them off.
01:44:48 Yeah, it's better to avoid walking near bases of cliffs and bluffs.
01:44:54 You'll never know when a natural phenomenon will occur.
01:44:57 It might sound a little extreme, but you may want to check the tsunami evacuation routes
01:45:02 of the area you're visiting.
01:45:04 Tsunamis are hard to predict, but tides aren't.
01:45:08 Tide tables are available online.
01:45:11 This natural phenomenon looks harmless.
01:45:13 Yet, it can isolate rocks from headlands and the shore.
01:45:17 You probably don't want to find yourself with soaked wet clothes in the ocean for no
01:45:21 reason.
01:45:23 Climbing up onto the logs might not be the best idea either.
01:45:27 Sure, they look heavy and sturdy when you're climbing, but even the smallest wave can take
01:45:31 you like a leaf flying in the air.
01:45:34 Not just logs, but also jetties are tricky.
01:45:38 Sudden waves can make you lose your balance, and you can collapse.
01:45:43 Let's return to the scenario where you and your dog are walking on the beach.
01:45:47 This time your pet sees shorebirds and chases them.
01:45:51 Birds could be there for foraging or roosting.
01:45:53 Your dog could interrupt their chill zone.
01:45:56 They can lose their energy reserves.
01:45:59 Can you bump into creatures hiding under the sand?
01:46:02 Some sorts of creatures can be dangerous for you.
01:46:04 Better not to poke someone's home.
01:46:06 Take a look at this one.
01:46:08 It's a horseshoe crab.
01:46:10 This one looks scary, yeah, but it's safe as long as you don't step on its spines.
01:46:15 So it depends on the type of creature you see, but generally it's okay to explore the
01:46:19 sand with caution.
01:46:22 Until now, we look at scenarios where you were on the beach when they caught up to sneaker
01:46:27 waves.
01:46:28 You could be in the water too.
01:46:30 You could be surfing, just like the contestant in the Maverick Surf competition, or swimming
01:46:35 if swimming is the new case.
01:46:37 Consider these.
01:46:38 The temperature is lower, the waves are crazier, and there are probably no lifeguards there
01:46:44 watching you in the winter.
01:46:47 Swimming with friends is a safe option.
01:46:49 Bonus, it's more fun.
01:46:52 You should choose your swimming location carefully.
01:46:55 Are there dangerous rocky areas?
01:46:57 Can you easily go out if there's some sort of emergency?
01:47:00 Know your spot.
01:47:02 For that, you should check the weather too.
01:47:05 Planning has a key role in winter water safety.
01:47:07 A quick weather forecast and sea conditions check would do.
01:47:12 You can consider buying a TowFloat if you're an adventurous open water swimmer.
01:47:17 It's a flotation device designed to increase the swimmer's visibility in the water.
01:47:22 They are lightweight and have fluorescent colors.
01:47:25 Alternatively, you can wear a brightly colored swimming cap.
01:47:29 We can talk more about the gear.
01:47:32 Wearing a wetsuit is wise, as well as wetsuit gloves and boots.
01:47:36 You can put your phone in a waterproof pouch or bag.
01:47:39 Staying warm is essential in the winter.
01:47:42 Don't just jump into the water at once.
01:47:45 This can result in cold water shock.
01:47:47 It's vital to enter the water slowly.
01:47:50 In that way, your body can get used to the temperature.
01:47:54 Once you take all the necessary precautions, you can enjoy the beach and explore its offers.
01:48:00 What sort of gems can you find on the beach?
01:48:02 A mermaid's purse?
01:48:03 Maybe.
01:48:04 No, it's not the purse of Ariel from Disney's Little Mermaid.
01:48:08 That's actually an egg case belonging to sharks and rays.
01:48:12 It's made out of keratin, kind of similar to your hair and fingernails.
01:48:17 These purses are the place where the embryo grows.
01:48:20 The egg hatches and the cases are carried away with the water to the beach.
01:48:25 If you want to find one, you can look at the area near the seaweed.
01:48:28 Have fun while searching for it!
01:48:30 Now, I'm ending this video with a quick joke that's suitable for the cold weather of winter.
01:48:36 What did the ocean say to the beach?
01:48:38 Nothing, it just waved.
01:48:43 Something interesting has recently happened in South Dakota.
01:48:45 It was all over the internet, so perhaps you already know about it.
01:48:50 In July of 2022, the sky in this state suddenly turned green.
01:48:56 So what happened there?
01:48:58 Was it caused by a human or by nature?
01:49:01 Let's find out!
01:49:04 Tuesday, July 5, 2022.
01:49:07 Shortly after a heavy storm, the sky over South Dakota in the US was still overcast.
01:49:13 Locals finally went outside and saw that the sky had an intense dark green hue, and they'd
01:49:19 never seen anything like that before.
01:49:21 People said that it looked like something straight up from science fiction or even a
01:49:25 horror movie.
01:49:28 Unsurprisingly, South Dakotans immediately started spreading the news all over social
01:49:33 media.
01:49:34 People shared their beautiful, yet very eerie pictures on Twitter.
01:49:38 They showed the sky over the city of Sioux Falls and a few other towns.
01:49:45 Even though it may look like something supernatural, in reality, this is not a terrifying phenomenon
01:49:50 at all.
01:49:51 It's a simple play of the light and the atmosphere.
01:49:54 Something like this happens quite rarely and usually means that really bad weather is approaching.
01:50:01 And that's also true to what happened in South Dakota.
01:50:05 Just before people started sharing photos, a thunderstorm swept through the town of Sioux
01:50:09 Falls.
01:50:10 This was confirmed by the US Weather Service.
01:50:13 This hurricane was terrible.
01:50:15 The wind speed was about 100 mph.
01:50:18 According to the Buford Scale on wind speeds, this is the fastest and most destructive storm.
01:50:24 There are only 12 numbers on this scale and the maximum wind strength starts at 73 mph.
01:50:31 But why isn't this all over the news then?
01:50:34 Well, because it's kind of a usual thing for the residents.
01:50:40 Thunderstorms occur very often in the United States, especially in the warmer months.
01:50:45 And 1 out of 10 such thunderstorms can become something serious, like a tornado.
01:50:50 This one wasn't an exception.
01:50:52 It was the so-called "Derecho Storm".
01:50:56 Derecho is very widespread and long-lived.
01:51:00 It's actually a combination of a fast-moving group of severe thunderstorms and downpours.
01:51:07 People often say that a derecho is as strong as a tornado.
01:51:10 Still, there's a difference between them.
01:51:13 A tornado is a vortex, a rotating column of air.
01:51:17 It's usually about 500 feet in diameter.
01:51:20 Although sometimes its width can reach up to 2.5 miles.
01:51:24 I don't envy those who would stumble upon that.
01:51:26 But the main point is that they rotate.
01:51:29 The wind moves very fast in a circle near some invisible center.
01:51:36 A derecho is a strong thunderstorm, or a system of strong thunderstorms with straight-line
01:51:41 winds.
01:51:42 In other words, it doesn't spin.
01:51:45 Instead, the derecho chooses a point somewhere and simply runs to it, like a very motivated
01:51:52 marathon runner.
01:51:55 If we compare a derecho to an ordinary tornado, the latter has six levels of strength, from
01:52:00 40 to 380 miles per hour.
01:52:03 So a derecho is kind of like a small, average-level 1-2 tornado.
01:52:09 Usually its speed is within the range of 73 to 113 miles per hour.
01:52:16 And in both cases, they can be accompanied by severe thunderstorms, lightning, and rain.
01:52:22 But still, these are different things.
01:52:26 A storm becomes a derecho if the damaged trail left by it exceeds 240 miles, and if the wind
01:52:32 speed is at least 58 miles per hour.
01:52:37 It's quite difficult to predict.
01:52:39 It can form even on a clear day, when meteorologists don't even anticipate any storms.
01:52:45 And then, the winds appear suddenly.
01:52:48 It's so surprising that they may even feel explosive.
01:52:52 But the National Weather Service tries to warn people at least half an hour or an hour
01:52:56 before this happens, so that residents have time to prepare and hide.
01:53:01 It wasn't any different this time.
01:53:05 The storm swept through almost all of South Dakota, as well as the states of Minnesota
01:53:10 and Iowa.
01:53:11 The consequences were quite serious.
01:53:13 More than 30,000 people were left without electricity.
01:53:17 Fortunately, people were fine.
01:53:20 That's because the locals are pretty used to derechos.
01:53:24 However, the green sky is something different.
01:53:28 It became a very unusual sight for the locals.
01:53:32 Everyone was wondering why it happened.
01:53:34 Was it a bad sign or a normal weather phenomenon?
01:53:38 Well, to be honest, scientists don't have an exact explanation.
01:53:43 But, although there are only assumptions, they sound pretty convincing.
01:53:49 A green sky is a very rare phenomenon.
01:53:53 Most scientists think that this happens when a powerful storm approaches the area before
01:53:57 sunset or sunrise.
01:54:00 Then the sky will turn green in this area.
01:54:04 NBC meteorologist Bill Karens, who once faced a similar event himself, suggests that the
01:54:10 green sky appeared because of the huge hail before the storm.
01:54:15 First, let's talk about why the sky looks blue, or any other shade, depending on its
01:54:21 mood.
01:54:22 In short, the sun simultaneously carries all the rays of the color spectrum.
01:54:27 It may seem white to us in total, but it actually has all the colors at the same time.
01:54:34 However, these color waves all have different lengths.
01:54:38 For example, blue rays are shorter than the other ones.
01:54:41 They jump away from the air molecules better than the red waves, so they reach us faster.
01:54:48 Because of this, on a regular clear day, the sky seems blue.
01:54:54 At the same time, red and orange color waves are very long and move slower, so they're
01:55:00 usually left behind.
01:55:02 But when the sun goes below the horizon, or rises, the rays' directions change, and
01:55:08 these waves reach us better.
01:55:11 It all means that even if the sunrises and sunsets seem red and orange to us, in fact,
01:55:18 there are still blue and green waves among them.
01:55:21 But they have to bounce off something to reach us faster, and become stronger than the red
01:55:26 rays.
01:55:28 Have you guessed what I'm getting at?
01:55:32 This is where the water comes into play.
01:55:35 Clouds are made up of water droplets.
01:55:37 When they become large enough, but don't fall yet, for example, due to strong winds,
01:55:42 they affect how the light behaves in the sky.
01:55:47 Large heavy storms mostly consist of water and hail, and water reflects blue and green
01:55:52 rays best of all.
01:55:54 That's exactly the reason why the water in rivers and lakes seems bluish green to us,
01:56:00 although in reality, it's transparent.
01:56:03 And yeah, algae matter too.
01:56:06 So there are a couple of key factors why the sky may turn green.
01:56:11 First off, the sun should be at the horizon level.
01:56:15 Another factor is that while the storm clouds are approaching, they shouldn't cover the
01:56:19 sky completely.
01:56:21 There still must be a little room for the sun rays.
01:56:24 Then, barely noticeable blue rays jump up to storm clouds.
01:56:29 They're repelled by water droplets and hail.
01:56:32 Mixing with the red sunset, they turn into a bright green light.
01:56:36 And this green light is spreading all over the sky.
01:56:42 That's why in most of these cases, when the sky turns green, people can only see it in
01:56:46 the evenings.
01:56:47 Yeah, it can also happen in the middle of the day.
01:56:51 But since the conditions are already quite specific, seeing something like that during
01:56:55 the day is even rarer.
01:56:58 Still, if you see a green sky, you don't need to panic.
01:57:03 It doesn't necessarily mean that a terrible storm is approaching.
01:57:06 The chances are high though, but still, it's not a rule.
01:57:11 It can be just heavy rain or a heavy hail.
01:57:15 In other words, if you see a green sky, then you'd better hide.
01:57:19 And hide your car.
01:57:20 However, if you were lucky enough to see the stunning sky from the comfort of your own
01:57:25 home, it's indeed very exciting.
01:57:28 If you get a glimpse of something like that, just know that you had a chance to experience
01:57:33 something very rare and special.
01:57:36 Some people said it was the most incredible thing they had ever seen.
01:57:41 You're relaxing at the beach when suddenly you notice a huge flock of birds.
01:57:47 They're excited about something near the water.
01:57:50 You get the urge to go and investigate what's going on there.
01:57:53 Here's some advice.
01:57:55 Sit back down and stay away from the water.
01:57:58 I get it, you think you're tough enough to handle a few pecks from a seagull.
01:58:03 But it's not the birds that have me worried.
01:58:05 It's what's lurking beneath the water.
01:58:08 Fish are a staple of many diets across the animal kingdom, both above and below the ocean.
01:58:14 Tuna, squid, and octopus, as well as marine mammals like seals, all prey on a wide variety
01:58:20 of smaller fish.
01:58:23 Species such as bluefish and striped bass are their favorite dinner time meal.
01:58:28 They're also the favorite of another ultra predator, which is why you shouldn't join
01:58:32 those birds by the water.
01:58:35 If you do, you're risking an encounter with a creature that can measure up to 20 feet
01:58:39 long.
01:58:40 That's three times the size of an average human.
01:58:44 These are the size credentials of a great white shark.
01:58:47 If there are fish around, they may come up near the ocean's surface to feed.
01:58:54 A great white shark has the strongest bite force among animals.
01:58:58 The only other animal species that comes close to them is the saltwater crocodile.
01:59:04 But boy is their ability to catch whiffs strong.
01:59:08 Scientists believe it to be more than 100 times stronger than a human's.
01:59:12 They don't even use the nostrils located beneath their snouts to breathe.
01:59:16 It simply serves as a specialized sniffer.
01:59:21 Thankfully though, we're not the favorite meal of a shark, and the creature isn't going
01:59:25 out of its way to hunt us.
01:59:27 Researchers claim that the odds of being attacked by a shark are as low as 1 in 3.7 million.
01:59:34 When unfortunate meetings between sharks and humans do happen, a shark may mistake a human
01:59:40 for a seal or an extremely large striped bass.
01:59:44 This is why you should stay away from those birds and fishes, and just let the other animals
01:59:49 animal.
01:59:50 You just focus on catching a tan in that sun chair.
01:59:55 So I guess this means that sharks have poor vision?
01:59:58 Not quite.
01:59:59 Their vision in clear water is up to 10 times better than that of humans swimming in the
02:00:03 same environment.
02:00:05 The structure of a shark's eye is quite similar to that of our own.
02:00:08 It consists of a cornea, lens, retina, deep blue iris, and the pupil.
02:00:14 Their eyes have two types of photoreceptors, rods and cones.
02:00:19 Just like humans.
02:00:21 Although we're not too sure how well rods and cones perform for sharks, research has
02:00:25 shown that they possess only one type of cone.
02:00:29 It means they most likely don't have full color vision like a human.
02:00:33 This might explain why they can sometimes mix humans up with other creatures.
02:00:37 But hey, who's ever really fully focused when they're about to devour their dinner?
02:00:43 Shark eyes also have tapetum lucidum.
02:00:46 This is a layer of mirrored crystals located behind the shark's retina.
02:00:51 These crystals allow the shark to see quite well in extremely dim light and murky water.
02:00:57 The crystals reflect incoming light, which gives the rods inside the retina a second
02:01:01 chance at detecting light that they might have missed the first time around.
02:01:07 Fun fact, cats also have tapetum lucidum.
02:01:10 This is why your cat's eyes glow in the dark when you shine a light on them.
02:01:16 Another telltale sign that sharks may be hovering around in nearby waters is the presence of
02:01:20 whales.
02:01:22 Sharks have been known to stalk the creatures for over 100 miles.
02:01:26 They'll follow pods waiting for one of the members to become vulnerable before expertly
02:01:31 striking.
02:01:32 So, lesson learned?
02:01:35 If you now see birds by the water, it's probably not a good thing, unlike when you see thousands
02:01:40 of birds flying together through the sky.
02:01:43 This is known as murmuration.
02:01:45 You can see thousands of starlings unite together in the sky, moving in unison, dipping and
02:01:50 swerving at the same time.
02:01:52 It's like they're competing in some sort of synchronization event at the Bird Olympics.
02:01:58 This happens when the birds begin to roost.
02:02:00 It can be as early as September in some places and as late as the end of November elsewhere,
02:02:06 with more birds joining the nightly displays during this time.
02:02:10 Are they doing it for our entertainment?
02:02:13 Well, not really.
02:02:14 Grouping together in the sky offers protection for predators, like falcons.
02:02:19 It can also get cold when you're flying that high up.
02:02:22 So, the birds gather in their thousands to keep warm and exchange information on potential
02:02:27 feeding sites.
02:02:29 Okay, so in this case, a huge group of birds doesn't mean anything evil.
02:02:33 But if you ever see some flying towards you whilst in a wooded area, it's probably time
02:02:37 to leave the area.
02:02:40 Birds and other animals flee wildfire areas.
02:02:44 Certain mammals, like amphibians, may actually stay in the fire.
02:02:48 Instead of fleeing for their lives, they will dig underground to escape it.
02:02:52 But nearly all other animals will try their best to leave.
02:02:56 Oh, and don't forget to jump out of the way whilst all those animals are running towards
02:03:00 you.
02:03:01 Why don't we switch back from birds to sharks?
02:03:04 Yes, we now know if there are birds near the ocean surface, then sharks will probably be
02:03:09 quite close as well.
02:03:10 But what if there are no sharks anywhere near at all?
02:03:14 If you ever happen to be in the ocean and notice some sharks heading deep towards the
02:03:18 bottom of the ocean, this may be a sign that a hurricane or tropical storm is on the way.
02:03:24 Sharks can sense the drop in barometric pressure that accompanies the storm, so they could
02:03:29 be trying to get out of the hectic zone.
02:03:33 Sharks don't quite care for humans, so they don't view our sandy beaches and inland towns
02:03:37 and cities as safety zones.
02:03:39 They're quite intelligent creatures and know the deeper they go in the ocean, the safer
02:03:43 it gets.
02:03:45 But the ocean's not always the best place to go in an emergency.
02:03:50 Case in point, if you come across sea creatures who usually live in water randomly resting
02:03:54 on the sand, don't get inside the water.
02:03:58 This is a sign that the water is potentially toxic.
02:04:01 It's possible that a red tide is congregating in the water near the beach.
02:04:06 Red tides happen all over the world, but one algae species causes them in the Gulf of Mexico.
02:04:13 A red tide occurs when the water is full of more toxic algae than normal.
02:04:18 It can make the water reddish or brown, but sometimes the water's color is normal.
02:04:23 If you go in the water, you might experience respiratory irritation like coughing or an
02:04:28 itchy throat.
02:04:30 If this happens to you, you should thoroughly rinse your mouth with fresh water.
02:04:35 Speaking of water, frogs are famous for their croaking, but if you've ever heard them do
02:04:40 it a lot more than usual, it might be because it's about to rain.
02:04:45 One theory says that this might have to do with their mating.
02:04:48 They first do it, then lay eggs in bodies of fresh water.
02:04:53 A good rain means more watery real estate for the frogs.
02:04:57 That's why male frogs invite the ladies for a date before the showers with a croaking
02:05:02 symphony.
02:05:04 If you hear a lot of buzzing around, meaning the bees are more active than usual, a storm
02:05:10 could be on the way.
02:05:12 When they feel like it's approaching, bees start working even harder and faster to collect
02:05:17 more nectar before the storm.
02:05:20 And once they're done with it, they'll always come back to the hive 10 to 15 minutes before
02:05:25 the heavy rain, even when there are no obvious signs of it.
02:05:30 Their secret is super sensitive hairs on their back that can pick up electrostatic build-ups
02:05:35 from storm clouds.
02:05:43 The moon, our little companion, our only friend in the big dark cold space.
02:05:50 It's not surprising that any event related to it, like solar or lunar eclipses, excites
02:05:55 us.
02:05:56 But how about the black moon, the blue moon, a super moon?
02:06:01 Have you ever heard of them?
02:06:02 Well, let me tell you about it and how you can observe them.
02:06:06 Let's get your calendars ready.
02:06:08 The distance between the Earth and the moon is 238,900 miles, I've measured.
02:06:13 Feels not so far, doesn't it?
02:06:15 But trust me, most people greatly underestimate this difference.
02:06:19 Did you know that every planet in the solar system, including Jupiter and Saturn, would
02:06:24 fit between the moon and us?
02:06:26 I couldn't believe it myself.
02:06:28 The moon is tidally locked to the Earth.
02:06:30 That's why it's always turned to us with only one side.
02:06:34 There are a few phases in a lunar cycle.
02:06:36 The new moon is the first phase.
02:06:38 The sun illuminates the unseen side of our satellite, so we can't see the moon.
02:06:43 It's almost invisible in the sky.
02:06:46 The rising moon is the gradual growth of the light part.
02:06:49 The full moon is the phase during which the sun completely illuminates the visible side.
02:06:54 The descending moon is a gradual waning of the light part.
02:06:58 And finally, another new moon.
02:07:00 And the whole cycle starts again.
02:07:03 There are 29 and a half days in a lunar cycle, so it takes around a month if we're not
02:07:07 talking about February.
02:07:09 But why am I telling you all this?
02:07:11 So you can better understand Black Moon, a rare astronomical event that happens once
02:07:17 every 29 months or 2 and a half years.
02:07:20 This term doesn't exist in astronomy, as it was made up by astrologers.
02:07:24 It's unofficial and has several meanings.
02:07:27 Black Moon may mean the second new moon in a month.
02:07:31 Usually there's only one new moon per month, so having two is a rare phenomenon.
02:07:35 It's caused by a slight discrepancy between the lunar cycle and the Earth's annual one.
02:07:40 Something like leap years.
02:07:42 Black Moon can also mean something else.
02:07:45 For example, usually there are only 3 new moons per one season.
02:07:49 Basically, one new moon every 30 days.
02:07:52 However, if there are 4, the Black Moon means the third one.
02:07:56 There are also some less popular meanings.
02:07:59 For example, that's what people call February without a new or full moon.
02:08:04 This happens about once every 19 years.
02:08:07 But what's so special about it?
02:08:09 The satellite is wholly hidden in the sky during a regular new moon.
02:08:13 But during a Black Moon, you'll be able to see its dark silhouette.
02:08:17 You'll have to choose a good place without city lights.
02:08:20 If you live in a big city, you'll hardly be able to see it without a telescope.
02:08:24 Also, since the sky turns black during this phenomenon, you'll be able to see different
02:08:29 constellations that were hidden before, as well as Jupiter and Venus.
02:08:34 The last time this happened was on April 30, 2022.
02:08:38 You could observe it in most parts of the United States, except for areas in the Pacific,
02:08:42 Alaska, or Hawaiian time.
02:08:45 Aloha!
02:08:46 Unfortunately, if this is the first time you hear about the Black Moon, you've already
02:08:50 missed it.
02:08:51 Now, you'll have to wait another 2 and a half years.
02:08:54 The next Black Moon will happen in September 2024 by standard definition, and May 19, 2023
02:09:02 by seasonal definition.
02:09:04 But hey, don't worry!
02:09:05 You can always see another astronomical event once upon a blue moon.
02:09:10 Now, I'm not mocking you, I'm being serious.
02:09:13 You can still see the blue moon.
02:09:15 Well, not literally, of course.
02:09:17 The moon won't turn blue.
02:09:18 It's just what astrologers call the second full moon in a month.
02:09:22 The Black and Blue Moons are similar by definition, but they're actually the opposites.
02:09:27 If the Black Moon is a rare second new moon in a month, the Blue Moon is a rare second
02:09:32 full moon.
02:09:33 They also both happen every 29 months.
02:09:36 Not so rare, right?
02:09:38 Kind of ironic that this event was called the Blue Moon.
02:09:41 Folklorist Philip Hitchcock assumed that the calendrical meaning of the term "blue moon"
02:09:46 was first invented by the Maine Farmer's Almanac in 1937.
02:09:50 Now, another interesting astronomical event is called the Supermoon.
02:09:55 Stock up on telescopes and look for some hills, because you'll see an exceptionally bright
02:10:00 and large moon like the one we only see in movies.
02:10:03 What exactly does a supermoon mean?
02:10:06 You see, the moon doesn't revolve around the Earth in a circular orbit.
02:10:10 Its orbit is elliptical, and the place where it's closest to the Earth is called perigee.
02:10:16 A supermoon is a phenomenon that occurs when the full moon coincides with the perigee.
02:10:22 Because of this, it seems to us especially large and bright.
02:10:25 It looks 14% larger in diameter and 30% brighter than usual.
02:10:31 By the way, this phenomenon is often confused with the so-called "moon illusion."
02:10:35 During the moon illusion, the moon is low above the horizon and visually appears larger
02:10:40 in size.
02:10:42 Of the 12 or 13 full moons in a year, 3 or 4 are supermoons, but most of them are not
02:10:48 very significant.
02:10:49 You probably won't see a difference at all.
02:10:52 The most interesting ones are the rare large supermoons.
02:10:55 During them, the moon actually becomes big.
02:10:58 The last major supermoon occurred in 2016.
02:11:01 Unfortunately, large-scale supermoons are rare and occur about once every 18 years.
02:11:07 The next one will happen only in 2034.
02:11:10 But we can observe smaller supermoons quite often.
02:11:13 In 2022, they'll take place on June 14 and July 16.
02:11:19 There is also an opposite phenomenon called the micromoon.
02:11:23 You've probably already guessed what that means.
02:11:26 It happens when the full moon is at its farthest point from the Earth.
02:11:29 This point is called apogee.
02:11:31 The next micromoon in 2022 will take place on June 29.
02:11:36 In 2023, we'll be able to observe it on January 7, February 5, and August 16.
02:11:43 Of course, you don't have to follow each of these events.
02:11:46 Most people are more interested in lunar and solar eclipses.
02:11:49 By the way, are you one of the people who confuses these two events with each other?
02:11:54 Test yourself.
02:11:55 Pause this video, describe what these two eclipses mean.
02:11:58 Let's compare your answer with the correct definition.
02:12:02 Are you back?
02:12:03 Ok.
02:12:04 So, a solar eclipse is a phenomenon where the moon entirely or partially covers the
02:12:08 Sun.
02:12:09 A solar eclipse is possible only during the new moon when the moon itself is not visible.
02:12:15 Many people believe that this event is incredibly rare, but this is not quite true.
02:12:20 A lunar eclipse is a phenomenon in which the moon is entirely or partially in the shadow
02:12:25 cast by the Earth.
02:12:26 The lunar eclipse can only happen during the full moon when the proximity of the moon is
02:12:31 on the node of its orbit.
02:12:33 If you guessed right, well done!
02:12:35 If not, hey, don't worry, many people confuse them.
02:12:38 In 2022, a partial solar eclipse will occur on October 25.
02:12:43 It'll be visible in Europe, South and West Asia, North and East Africa, and the Atlantic.
02:12:49 As I mentioned, a total solar eclipse is not as rare as many people think, but the problem
02:12:53 is that it's not always visible from any part of the planet.
02:12:57 So, if you want to see this event, be sure to look for their calendar and see from which
02:13:01 parts of the Earth you'll be able to see it.
02:13:04 And don't forget the special glasses!
02:13:07 Lunar eclipses occur much more often, though.
02:13:10 Partial lunar eclipses happen almost every month.
02:13:12 But the total lunar eclipse in 2022 will take place on the night of November 7-8.
02:13:18 You'll be able to see it in almost all parts of the world except Africa.
02:13:22 I hear that the zebras are not happy about this.
02:13:25 The Moon is a genuinely fascinating satellite.
02:13:28 You think whatever, it's just a small rock ball.
02:13:31 But in reality, there are so many interesting things connected to it.
02:13:36 What rare lunar events have you seen or want to see in your life?
02:13:39 Have you observed any rare and interesting astronomical events?
02:13:43 Be sure to share in the comments!

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These Common Items Can Do More Than You Think
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If You're a What-If Curious Mind, Click and Dive In
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These Phenomena Show How Little We Know About Earth
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What-If Scenarios You'll Fear Will Come True
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If You See This in the Sky, Start Running Immediately
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A Cool Way to Check Your Attentiveness
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50+ Things Your Everyday Stuff Can Do
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A True What-If Person's Mix of Wild Scenarios
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50+ Safety Tips When Out And About
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You’re Using These Everyday Items All Wrong
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75 Facts That Will Make You Want More
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These Natural Phenomena Send Shivers Down Your Spine
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Facts That Make You Realize We're Wonders of Weirdness
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If You Use These Safety Tips, You'll Know No Trouble
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Travel Tips So Cool, You'll Thank Us Later
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What-If Situations That Turn Everything Upside Down
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Try This Test to See If You're Rare Among Your Friends
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