Le phénomène des Veilleurs Obscurs mystifie les gens depuis 300 ans

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Transcript

00:00:00 You arrive under the California sun and you go hiking in the mountains of Santa Lucia.

00:00:06 There you have a strange and unpleasant feeling, as if someone was watching you.

00:00:12 You look around you, but you see no one.

00:00:15 Then you look at the top of the mountains in front of you, and your heart beats.

00:00:20 On the peaks, you can see the silhouette of a gigantic humanoid,

00:00:24 its arms are stretched and a magnificent rainbow surrounds it.

00:00:28 This mysterious silhouette is entirely covered in black.

00:00:32 You can't tell facial expressions or details, but you can see it move.

00:00:36 Then it disappears before your eyes.

00:00:39 Congratulations, you have just witnessed the Dark Watchers,

00:00:42 a phenomenon that terrifies hikers in the California mountains for more than 300 years.

00:00:48 Even today, scientists cannot give a precise explanation for these mysterious apparitions.

00:00:54 What we know is that it's completely natural.

00:00:58 Well, probably.

00:01:00 A theory claims that there is no silhouette at all.

00:01:03 The human brain simply imagines images created by the shadows that clouds project on the mountains.

00:01:09 Over the centuries, people have shared stories about this legend,

00:01:12 and their minds begin to shape them by building recognizable images.

00:01:17 The same thing can happen, for example, when you see the outlines of a human face

00:01:21 on a piece of grilled bread, or the shape of a dog in a passing cloud.

00:01:25 The most accepted scientific explanation is what is called a "brocken spectra".

00:01:31 It's when the sunlight is distorted by clouds or mist droplets.

00:01:35 This explains the rainbow surrounding these figures.

00:01:38 As for the shadow, it's only yours that is stretched and projected on the mountains in front of you.

00:01:44 After all, these figures usually appear when the sun is behind the witness.

00:01:49 Natural or not, these mysterious characters that disappear scare you to death.

00:01:54 You head east, and you find yourself in the desert.

00:01:58 The scorching sun falls on your back.

00:02:00 There is nothing for hundreds of kilometers in a row.

00:02:04 It's hard to believe that this dry plain and lifeless was once the bottom of a lake.

00:02:09 You see a long trail in the sand, as if someone was pushing or pulling something very heavy on the ground.

00:02:15 You follow the strange trail, and in the end you find a huge stone.

00:02:20 Why would someone drag such a heavy rock in the middle of the desert?

00:02:24 But nothing or no one has touched this stone. It has moved on its own.

00:02:29 It's a phenomenon called "moving stone".

00:02:31 Every winter, the ice covers the ground here.

00:02:34 When a strong wind blows, the stones begin to move on this slippery surface.

00:02:39 Once the ice has melted, there is only a sinuous path behind a single lonely stone.

00:02:45 Well, to relieve us of the scorching sun of California, let's head for Antarctica.

00:02:50 Snow, ice and ... another bright sun.

00:02:54 Yep, it's a desert too.

00:02:56 The light is almost blinding.

00:02:58 You look up, and in the distance you see something red that separates from all this infinite white.

00:03:04 As you approach, you realize that it is a waterfall, a sinister red waterfall that flows from the glacier.

00:03:11 Lightning bolts fly in all directions and stain the white snow.

00:03:15 Don't worry, these so-called "blood falls" are nothing like that.

00:03:21 Millions of years ago, I was not there, a glacier formed above a stretch of water and blocked its access to sunlight, heat and oxygen.

00:03:31 Then the lake managed to pierce the glacier with a small stream of water.

00:03:35 When this salty water meets oxygen, it creates this rusty, scarlet color.

00:03:41 It is the only waterfall of this type in the world.

00:03:44 Now, in the city of Taos, in New Mexico, the inhabitants hear a strange rumbling every day.

00:03:51 But not all.

00:03:53 For some reason, only 2% of the residents can hear this sound.

00:03:57 Some theories say that it is due to the unusual acoustics of this place.

00:04:02 Others say that they hear a strange hallucination, or even something more sinister.

00:04:09 Inexplicable sounds also occur in other worlds.

00:04:13 In 2020, the Martian rover recorded a strange rumbling coming from the Red Planet.

00:04:19 It is a calm and continuous rumbling that sometimes fluctuates due to earthquakes on Mars.

00:04:26 On our way back to Earth, we head for the hot tropical forests of Southeast Asia.

00:04:31 You see a tree that looks like it has been covered with paint.

00:04:34 But the rainbow eucalyptus was painted by nature itself.

00:04:38 Its unusual bark changes color over time, like a kaleidoscope.

00:04:43 It starts with a bright green, then turns red, orange, purple and finally brown.

00:04:49 Then the colored cycle starts again.

00:04:52 The rumbling is one of the greatest mysteries of nature.

00:04:55 It is a blue, orange or yellow luminous sphere that appears during a storm.

00:05:00 Many witnesses say they hear a whistling accompanied by a strong smell.

00:05:05 The first mention of this kind of phenomenon described a lightning bolt that crossed a window and disappeared.

00:05:11 Like in all mysteries, scientists cannot explain the exact cause.

00:05:15 A popular theory says that ordinary lightning strikes the ground

00:05:19 and causes a reaction between oxygen and the elements vaporized from the ground.

00:05:23 The lightning bolt often occurs during earthquakes,

00:05:27 where it usually takes the form of a blue flame that comes out of the ground.

00:05:31 This phenomenon occurs all over the world, but so far no one has managed to photograph it.

00:05:37 There is an extremely unusual volcano in Java.

00:05:40 If you go there at night, you will see an electric blue flame burning from the ground,

00:05:45 as well as the blue-hot lava that escapes.

00:05:48 It's incredibly hot, but it's not really lava.

00:05:51 This strange blue comes from sulfur dioxide, which escapes from the volcano's crevasses and ignites.

00:05:57 It also condenses into a liquid form and looks like the blue lava that flows.

00:06:02 As soon as you arrive in the Namibian desert, you immediately notice something very strange.

00:06:08 Among the dry meadows, there are circles of almost perfect earth where nothing grows.

00:06:13 These huge weights are called fairy circles.

00:06:17 And you guessed it, no one really knows what causes them.

00:06:21 The main suspect is a termite that eats the grass around its underground colony.

00:06:26 This could also explain the different sizes of these circles.

00:06:30 The insects continue to eat while the colony spreads outwards,

00:06:34 but they stop before stepping on a neighboring colony.

00:06:37 The areas where we see grass are a kind of border between the different populations of termites.

00:06:43 That's what the theory says.

00:06:45 On the way to Lake Hillier in Australia.

00:06:48 Don't be mistaken. Yes, this lake is pink like a chewing gum.

00:06:52 And you can swim in it safely.

00:06:55 The giant pink puddle is a salt lake, and it's not the only one of its kind in the world.

00:07:00 Salt lakes are pink because of a kind of algae and other microorganisms that inhabit them.

00:07:05 They produce a red pigment to protect themselves from the sun.

00:07:09 What is unique about Lake Hillier is that the water remains pink even if you put it in a glass.

00:07:14 And it stays pink all year long.

00:07:16 You can't say the same about other lakes.

00:07:19 Japan is home to one of the most famous active volcanoes in the world.

00:07:23 It's special because it creates an incredible natural phenomenon, a volcanic storm.

00:07:28 The volcano regularly spits out a black cloud of smoke, ashes and lightning.

00:07:34 During an ordinary storm, the ice crystals collide with each other and cause a discharge, creating lightning.

00:07:42 In this kind of storm, it's the volcanic ash particles that collide with the ice.

00:07:48 On a peaceful night on the beach, the waves dry up on the shore and shine a blue fluo.

00:07:53 But it's not the water that shines, it's the creatures that live in it.

00:07:57 This phenomenon is called bioluminescence.

00:08:00 Plankton and algae emit this glow when the waves disturb them.

00:08:05 Some fish, squid and crustaceans can also emit a fluo light to attract their prey.

00:08:11 It's time to take a walk on the shore to enjoy this natural light show.

00:08:15 Hurry up, we're heading for the high seas.

00:08:18 There are no storms or winds at all.

00:08:21 That's why it's so surprising to see a huge wave, as high as five floors, sweeping the calm waters abruptly.

00:08:28 It almost overturned the boat, but as soon as it arrived, it disappeared in an instant.

00:08:33 What was that?

00:08:35 This unpredictable and still unexplained danger is called a wave accelerate.

00:08:40 A theory about how it's formed is that the sea surface meets a violent wind from the front.

00:08:45 But remember, you didn't feel the wind blowing.

00:08:49 Theory number two is the best known.

00:08:51 Different waves combine to form a big one.

00:08:54 This is what we call kinetic vampirism.

00:08:57 In some natural conditions, the waves accumulate and exchange kinetic energy.

00:09:02 Among all the waves, there will be one that will absorb the energy of others, like a vampire.

00:09:07 When a large amount of energy is accumulated, it freezes in the form of a giant wave.

00:09:12 Have you ever seen a fire rainbow?

00:09:17 Yeah, me neither. And a circular arc.

00:09:21 I don't think so, but just so you know, it's the same thing.

00:09:25 At first glance, it looks like a painting or a big rainbow-colored line in the sky.

00:09:30 Despite their name, they have nothing in common with fire or rain.

00:09:34 This phenomenon occurs on rare occasions when the sun shines through a certain cloud formation loaded with ice.

00:09:41 Rainbow-colored halos are just as unique.

00:09:45 Again, a specific type of ice crystal must be present in the clouds

00:09:50 so that the Earth's surface curves the sun's light into a perfect ring.

00:09:54 The same thing can happen with the moon's light.

00:09:57 The only difference is that lunar halos are generally white

00:10:01 and that solar halos can be rainbow-colored.

00:10:05 When you visit high-altitude regions, you can be one of the few lucky ones to see snow penitents.

00:10:12 These are actually ice peaks naturally formed.

00:10:16 To form them, you need a really cold environment, high up, and where the air is dry.

00:10:21 The sun's light directly transforms the ice into steam rather than melting it into water.

00:10:27 That's why these blades of snow and ice start to appear on the Earth's surface.

00:10:32 As graceful as they may be, they can reach heights of up to 5 meters.

00:10:38 What happens when small droplets of lava meet the wind?

00:10:42 Well, they're called "hair of Pelé".

00:10:44 Let me explain.

00:10:45 The word "Pelé" comes from the ancient Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes.

00:10:49 Every time the wind carries small drops of lava, it stretches them to form braids similar to hair,

00:10:55 a bit like in the process of creating a glass thread.

00:10:58 These delicate braids can stretch up to 2 meters.

00:11:02 On rare occasions, it can rain without any clouds.

00:11:06 But is it really rain?

00:11:08 Let's examine the scientific aspects of this rare phenomenon.

00:11:11 It is sometimes called a "sunburst" because it seems like the rain is falling straight from our star.

00:11:17 But let's be clear, it's impossible for rain to fall directly from the sun.

00:11:22 Rain clouds are located at a certain distance from where it rains.

00:11:26 When the sun's rays are oriented in a certain way, the clouds are out of sight.

00:11:31 Add a little wind to blow the rain in your direction, and abracadabra!

00:11:36 You get sunbursts in the sun.

00:11:39 In Bolivia, there is a place called the Salar de Uyuni.

00:11:42 It is the largest salt desert in the world, measuring about 10,580 square kilometers.

00:11:48 This is also where half of the planet's lithium is located,

00:11:52 a crucial element in the manufacture of batteries.

00:11:55 But what else is so special about this place?

00:11:58 Every time the rainy season arrives, it transforms this flat land into a perfectly reflective mirror lake.

00:12:05 What comes to mind when you hear about "Cascades of Blood"?

00:12:09 A horror movie?

00:12:11 Well, it's just a series of waterfalls located in one of the driest regions of Antarctica.

00:12:17 They emerge from an underground lake filled with a certain type of bacteria.

00:12:21 These small organisms use sulfates as nutrients instead of sugar,

00:12:26 which makes them fascinating for scientists.

00:12:28 The water contained in this lake is so saturated with iron that it simply rusts when it comes in contact with the air.

00:12:34 Hence the reddish color of the waterfall, which is worth its name.

00:12:38 OK, we all know the song "Sting's Desert Rose", but it's not totally imaginary.

00:12:43 There is indeed a thing called the "sand rose".

00:12:47 It's not a plant, but a unique formation of gypsum.

00:12:50 It grows in dry and sandy places, which can occasionally be flooded.

00:12:55 This constant passage between a wet and dry environment allows the gypsum crystals to emerge between the grains of sand,

00:13:01 imprisoning them in a form of rose.

00:13:04 Have you ever heard of the "Eye of Africa"?

00:13:07 Scientists are always trying to understand how it was formed.

00:13:10 You can only see it if you fly over it, but it's actually a natural dome.

00:13:15 Richard's structure was formed about 100 million years ago.

00:13:19 And no, I wasn't there at the time.

00:13:22 It has an approximate diameter of 40 km and is made up of several concentric rings.

00:13:27 The largest, or central zone, measures about 30 km in diameter.

00:13:32 Astronauts were among the first to notice it, and it has been studied extensively since.

00:13:38 Even today, when astronauts land in Florida,

00:13:41 they know they're almost home when they see the "Eye of Africa".

00:13:46 One of the most beautifully coloured trees in the world is found in the Philippines and Indonesia.

00:13:51 It's called the "rainbow eucalyptus".

00:13:54 It owes its name to its bark, which changes colour and detaches as the tree ages.

00:14:00 The greenish-green bark is the youngest, as it is full of chlorophyll, which is usually found in the leaves.

00:14:06 It then turns purple, then red.

00:14:09 Finally, it turns brown as it grows and loses its chlorophyll.

00:14:14 Don't get the wrong idea, thinking there's a whole forest here.

00:14:18 It's actually just one tree.

00:14:20 And no, it's not a kind of optical illusion either.

00:14:23 Let me explain.

00:14:24 Under the ground, there is a complex network of roots

00:14:27 that connects about 47,000 tree forms that emerge from the ground.

00:14:31 It's called the "false-trembling poplar".

00:14:34 Some of these trees are part of the oldest and largest organisms in the world.

00:14:39 This is a good destination for all travellers.

00:14:42 Well, maybe not so good, actually.

00:14:45 The area most frequently affected by lightning in the world,

00:14:48 according to recent data published by NASA, is Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela.

00:14:53 On average, every day of the year, 300 storms occur in this area.

00:14:58 But what makes this region so unique that storms occur so often?

00:15:03 It's because it's here that the cool air of the mountains meets the hot and humid breeze of the lake,

00:15:08 which generates electricity above it.

00:15:11 The eternal flame falls in the north of New York state,

00:15:15 near the Canadian border.

00:15:17 In this region, there is a tiny waterfall that hides a great secret,

00:15:21 a fireball about 20 cm high.

00:15:25 It turns out that a natural gas leak fuels the flame behind this waterfall.

00:15:30 The waterfall, on the other hand, provides enough cover for it to stay on for about all the time.

00:15:36 Hikers like to turn it back on if they see that it's out of power.

00:15:39 This phenomenon is quite common, but this example has gained popularity

00:15:43 because it is more recent than most.

00:15:46 And it's very beautiful in the pictures, let's be honest.

00:15:49 I've heard of yellow sand, white sand and even black sand here and there,

00:15:53 but I've never heard of green beaches until now.

00:15:57 Papa Koela, also known as Greensand Beach, is located in Hawaii

00:16:02 and is one of the few beaches in the world to feature green sand.

00:16:06 This unique coloration comes from the olive rock that formed during the eruption of a nearby volcano.

00:16:12 And to be honest, in Hawaii, it's not the volcanoes that are missing.

00:16:16 Forget about the green sand, because some other beaches in the world can even shine at night,

00:16:20 and it's completely natural.

00:16:22 The responsible for this is a small thing called phytoplankton, or microalgae, as they are sometimes called.

00:16:28 They are actually small plants that contain chlorophyll

00:16:32 and need sunlight to live and develop.

00:16:35 Most types of phytoplankton are able to float in the upper part of the ocean,

00:16:40 where sunlight can still reach them underwater.

00:16:43 When the phytoplankton is agitated by the movement of waves and currents,

00:16:47 it emits light, which gives the impression that some of them shine during the night.

00:16:51 These particular microorganisms can be found on beaches in many places around the world,

00:16:56 such as the Maldives, Puerto Rico and the Everglades.

00:16:59 At the foot of a mountain located near Afton in Wyoming,

00:17:03 there is a small river called the "Intermittent Source".

00:17:07 There are only a few of them in the world.

00:17:10 But what makes this little stream of water so mysterious?

00:17:13 Maybe the fact that it starts and stops every few minutes.

00:17:17 Scientists have not yet found the precise reason for this phenomenon.

00:17:20 They think it is simply a siphon effect that occurs in the depths of the ground

00:17:25 and causes the river to start and stop frequently.

00:17:28 If you want to take a look at it, make sure you do it at the end of the summer,

00:17:32 because it is at this moment that the "Intermittent Source" is the most active.

00:17:36 Well, for once, it's just one way of speaking.

00:17:39 You are hiking in the wild looking for a safe place to set up your camp.

00:17:46 You only hear the leaves and branches cracking under your feet.

00:17:49 Squirrels are running in a tree over there.

00:17:52 But suddenly, something unexpected happens.

00:17:55 You notice something strange in the distance.

00:17:58 Between the trees, it looks like a kind of concrete structure.

00:18:01 Weird.

00:18:03 At this moment, you have already gone about thirty kilometers in the woods

00:18:07 and there is no city or village nearby.

00:18:10 At least, as far as you know.

00:18:13 So you decide to go out on the beaten path with your friends to see it up close.

00:18:18 But as you get closer, you realize that there is nothing else here.

00:18:22 Hmm, what is this thing doing here, literally in the middle of nowhere?

00:18:27 And it doesn't even seem to lead to anything.

00:18:30 You put on your Sherlock Holmes cap and you start the investigation.

00:18:34 Let's see, maybe there was an old house or a manor here

00:18:38 that collapsed over the years and the only thing left is this staircase.

00:18:43 But, strangely, after going around this strange structure,

00:18:47 you realize that there is no trace of ruin or even foundation.

00:18:52 It's as if someone had cut a staircase from his house, like in a cake,

00:18:56 and had placed it here for no reason.

00:18:59 Okay.

00:19:01 Your friends and you didn't really want to get close.

00:19:04 There is something wrong.

00:19:06 The more you look at this structure, the more you think you feel a scary presence.

00:19:11 Something tells you that you should probably leave the area

00:19:15 as soon as possible.

00:19:17 As strange as it may seem,

00:19:19 these discoveries of incongruous staircases alone in the woods are surprisingly common.

00:19:25 Some are made of wood, others of brick or stone.

00:19:28 Some look old, while others seem to have been finished the day before.

00:19:33 The only thing they all have in common is that they lead absolutely nowhere

00:19:38 and that they are all in very mysterious places.

00:19:41 One of the most famous is in Chesterfield, in New Hampshire.

00:19:45 A long staircase with a medieval look, made of stone, with Roman vaults in the middle of the woods.

00:19:51 It is thought that it was part of Madame Antoinette Chéry's castle,

00:19:55 a Parisian singer of the crazy years.

00:19:57 This castle would be almost a century old, and it was rediscovered in 1962.

00:20:03 This time again, there was nothing but a staircase.

00:20:06 Another old mysterious staircase would date back 9,000 years.

00:20:10 It is located in a forest in Italy.

00:20:13 It looks like a flight of stairs that leads to a tiny platform at the top.

00:20:17 Why bother building it if it leads nowhere?

00:20:21 Well, some experts think it could be some kind of tower with a ritual function,

00:20:26 but these are only assumptions.

00:20:29 There is a geoid anomaly in the Indian Ocean,

00:20:32 simply known as the Indian Ocean Depression.

00:20:36 It produces the largest natural gravitational force in the world.

00:20:41 The deposits of heavy minerals, the numerous deep-water pits,

00:20:45 and the magma reservoirs present disrupt the magnetic field of this area.

00:20:50 Earth's gravity changes in different parts of the planet.

00:20:54 This allows researchers to study certain models and understand what happens under the surface.

00:21:00 Higher gravity fields generally mean that the materials are denser underneath, and vice versa.

00:21:07 Some scientists think the anomaly could be a crevice in the mantle of the planet

00:21:12 that would go up to the crust of the Earth.

00:21:15 The island of Niaou seems to be enjoying all modern progress.

00:21:20 There is no car there because the inhabitants travel on foot or by bike.

00:21:24 It's no surprise they look fit. They live without running water, internet, and shops.

00:21:30 The only school on the island is powered by solar energy using a power generator.

00:21:36 And what's great is that it's the only school in the state that is powered by the sun.

00:21:41 A resident of the island explains some basic rules that permanent residents must follow.

00:21:46 If they break them, they can be expelled.

00:21:50 Now, not far from Bangkok, in the north-east of Thailand,

00:21:54 there is a rock formation 75 million years old.

00:21:58 These rocks look like three swans swimming together.

00:22:02 This magnificent pattern, created by nature, is now known as the Three Swans Rock.

00:22:08 Millions of years ago, this region was just a desert, but the Earth was changing.

00:22:14 Little by little, the crust was moved away by the movement of tectonic plates and erosion.

00:22:19 This is how these spectacular formations were created.

00:22:23 If you decide to explore the path around the Three Swans,

00:22:26 you will find waterfalls, a fauna, and an abundant flora.

00:22:30 Located on the peninsulas of the Yamal and the Guidane,

00:22:34 these vast pits were discovered in 2014.

00:22:37 They still seem to be constantly evolving.

00:22:40 The pits are trying to expand so that people can see them more and more often.

00:22:45 Of course, there are theories about how they appeared.

00:22:49 The hypotheses range from the impact of meteorites to the activity of ancient civilizations.

00:22:54 But the most common explanation is that it was methane that reacted to water molecules

00:22:59 after the planet's permafrost began to melt.

00:23:03 This would have caused the explosion of methane bubbles through the ice.

00:23:07 These craters could be thousands of years old, but no one is sure.

00:23:12 In New Mexico, in the small town of Taos,

00:23:16 2% of the population hear a strange buzzing sound every day.

00:23:21 Some believe that this sound is linked to the technology used by the senders of other galaxies.

00:23:27 There is also a legend that says that something sinister is happening in the city.

00:23:33 It is rumored that Taos is cursed.

00:23:36 Some spirits or ghosts would punish people for a mistake made by their ancestors in the past.

00:23:42 Scientists still cannot explain the nature of this sound.

00:23:46 Another theory advances that it would be caused by the unusual acoustics of the place,

00:23:51 while others think that this buzzing is nothing more than a collective hallucination.

00:23:56 Some could hear it for the simple reason that everyone talks about it,

00:24:00 and our minds would generate the illusion of a sound that does not really exist.

00:24:04 The sounds are not the same for everyone.

00:24:06 For some, it is a serious vibration, for others, it is rather a buzzing.

00:24:10 But it is not the only place where you can hear these strange sounds.

00:24:14 It is called "hum" and people from all over the world claim to have heard it.

00:24:19 Some inhabitants of a small village in Scotland describe it as a serious and thick buzzing.

00:24:25 While the inhabitants of Florida would also have distinguished a similar sound.

00:24:29 We do not know exactly when this phenomenon appeared,

00:24:32 but the first time the press started talking about it was in the 1970s in England.

00:24:38 In addition, there are written traces of a mysterious buzzing dating back nearly 200 years.

00:24:44 According to some estimates, only about 2% of people on the planet can hear this famous "hum".

00:24:50 Maybe their ears are catching low-frequency waves, or maybe the reason is something else.

00:24:56 A volcano in Indonesia spits out blue-vivid lava and produces blue and electric purple flames.

00:25:03 This phenomenon occurs because this volcano has sulfur levels among the highest in the world.

00:25:08 It also has a rather characteristic nauseating smell.

00:25:12 But I'm wrong.

00:25:14 When sulfuric gases interact with hot and burning air,

00:25:17 they are ignited by the lava and become blue.

00:25:20 You can also find the largest acid lake in the world inside this crater.

00:25:25 Yes, this place is a real trap.

00:25:28 It is not for nothing that rivers and underwater lakes are called "baths of saltwater".

00:25:33 The high salinity makes the water that is there denser than the surrounding sea water.

00:25:38 That's why they sink to the bottom, forming rivers and lakes.

00:25:42 They even have their own waves, and these waves can sometimes hit the shores.

00:25:47 If you went down in an underwater, they would easily float to the surface of a saltwater basin.

00:25:52 But without submarines, swimming in such an environment would be too risky.

00:25:56 It contains too much methane and toxic hydrogen sulfide.

00:26:00 Yes, I would be fine too, but have fun.

00:26:04 The Crystal Caves in Mexico house one of the most unique crystalline formations in the world.

00:26:10 Thanks to the extremely rare conditions that reign in the cave, the crystals reach phenomenal sizes.

00:26:16 The air is incredibly humid and the water contains tons of minerals that stimulate the growth of these giant milky white.

00:26:24 Some of them are longer than telephone poles.

00:26:28 Cylindrical snowballs occur when a gust of wind starts to roll snow on a snowy slope,

00:26:34 a bit like making a snowball.

00:26:37 But if it were a ball, it would end up being too heavy for the wind to move it.

00:26:42 Except here, the center of the snowball is hollow.

00:26:46 This happens because its inner layer is too thin and is carried by the wind as the snowball is formed.

00:26:52 And that makes the object lighter than a snowball.

00:26:55 That's also why they roll further.

00:26:57 Unfortunately, snowballs are rare because they need very precise conditions to appear.

00:27:03 The Danakil Depression in Ethiopia is probably one of the weirdest places you'll ever see.

00:27:09 It is made up of hot springs of neon colors, lava pools and vast salt streams.

00:27:15 You have to be particularly careful there.

00:27:18 Toxic gases swirl above hydrothermal phenomena and many pools are extremely acidic.

00:27:24 So don't go swimming there, wait at least 30 minutes after lunch.

00:27:29 No, I'm kidding.

00:27:31 And finally, there is nothing mysterious about these 28,000 rubber ducks found in the seas in 1992.

00:27:38 A boat carrying toys for the bath lost its cargo in the ocean while it was traveling from Hong Kong to the United States.

00:27:45 Some of these ducks still float there several decades later.

00:27:49 They have been spotted in South America, Alaska, Hawaii and even Australia.

00:27:54 And they still make the bath time so fun.

00:27:57 Oh, well done, little ducks.

00:28:00 You feel a grunt coming from below.

00:28:03 No, it's not your belly.

00:28:05 It's a serious and disturbing sound.

00:28:07 You open your eyes and you see strange lights hanging over the ground.

00:28:11 They look like sparkling light balls floating high in the sky.

00:28:15 Your throat becomes dry and you swallow.

00:28:18 These are called "light of earthquakes".

00:28:21 This phenomenon is misunderstood, but witnesses claim to have observed it in different ways.

00:28:26 It can appear in the form of light balls, lightning, snakes and a constant glow in the sky.

00:28:33 Shortly after, a strong earthquake occurs.

00:28:36 Scientists don't know why these lights appear.

00:28:39 And they don't always appear.

00:28:41 Some believe it's a reaction of underground gases released in the atmosphere.

00:28:45 Now, an earthquake begins to occur.

00:28:48 But, fortunately for you, it's not as strong as you expected.

00:28:52 The ground shakes, but you manage to keep your balance.

00:28:55 The tremor stops as abruptly as it started and you go home on foot.

00:29:00 On the way back, you see a flash and hear a whip crack.

00:29:04 The lightning strikes an isolated tree near where you were.

00:29:08 The tree catches fire and a column of flames rises to the sky.

00:29:12 Still no rain, and the column rises higher and higher.

00:29:16 Have you heard of a phenomenon called "fire tornado"?

00:29:20 It occurs when the wind is blown into a circle near the ground because of the air pressure difference.

00:29:26 These mini-tornadoes are generally easy to notice.

00:29:29 Small gravel, dust, sand and leaves rise in the air and start flying in a fast circle.

00:29:36 If a source of fire is nearby, the black cloud can suck it in and shake it like a whistle.

00:29:43 The flames roll up, rise higher and higher, and end up creating a flaming tower.

00:29:49 Fortunately, fire tornadoes have a very short life span and generally don't cause much damage.

00:29:55 Don't try to hide from the storm under that tree.

00:29:58 You can find this unusual plant in Florida and in some parts of the Caribbean coast.

00:30:03 It doesn't look particularly special on the outside.

00:30:06 A gray trunk, green leaves and fruits that look like small apples.

00:30:10 What you have to remember is to never pick these apples.

00:30:13 And never stay near the tree, especially if it rains.

00:30:17 Here is the manzanilla, which is considered the most dangerous tree in the world.

00:30:22 Its trunk, its bark, its branches and its fruits contain a toxic juice.

00:30:27 A single drop of this corrosive liquid can damage your skin.

00:30:32 The tree can secrete this juice and if you accidentally touch it, you risk burning your hand.

00:30:38 When it rains, drops of water fall on the tree and mix with the poison.

00:30:43 The water can also bounce off the bark and end up on your skin.

00:30:47 That's why you shouldn't stay near it either.

00:30:50 There are almost no other shrubs or mushrooms that grow around.

00:30:54 Animals avoid these trees and people don't cut them or pick their fruits.

00:30:58 You can't make a fire with these branches either.

00:31:01 The burning wood releases a toxic smoke that can damage your eyes.

00:31:05 Locals know this tree well, but tourists and travelers can get hurt accidentally.

00:31:10 That's why most manzanillas are painted or have a warning sign.

00:31:16 In western Venezuela, the inhabitants who live near the Catatumbo River are probably not afraid of lightning.

00:31:23 They see it almost every night.

00:31:25 This phenomenon starts at 7 p.m. and continues until dawn.

00:31:30 The eternal storm of Catatumbo stopped only once during a few months, from January to March 2010.

00:31:36 It was probably due to drought or maybe the charge ran out.

00:31:41 In 1991, a scientist suggested that the phenomenon occurred because of the meeting of cold and hot air currents in the region.

00:31:49 According to another theory, lightning could be due to the presence of uranium in the sea rock.

00:31:54 Not all lightning occurs in the clouds.

00:31:57 There is a rare phenomenon called volcanic storm.

00:32:01 Lightning occurs above a volcano, the most famous of which is in Japan.

00:32:05 It erupts almost every day and spits out black clouds very high in the air.

00:32:10 So we have super scary volcano clouds and lightning with that.

00:32:15 Ordinary lightning occurs during a storm when ice crystals collide with each other.

00:32:20 During a volcanic storm, ashes collide, creating friction and sparks that illuminate the sky.

00:32:27 In the warmest and driest place on Earth, the Danakil Desert in East Africa,

00:32:32 temperatures often exceed 50 ° C.

00:32:36 This unusual landscape has many active volcanoes and geysers that spit out toxic gases such as chlorine and sulfur.

00:32:44 The waters of a sparkling glass, electric blue and bright yellow are all rain and sea water heated by magma.

00:32:51 A false step here can be fatal.

00:32:54 The following phenomenon occurred in June 2009.

00:32:58 The inhabitants of certain regions of Japan left their homes after a strong downpour

00:33:02 to discover fish, frogs and tetras everywhere.

00:33:06 The fields, roads, meadows and roofs were full of these aquatic creatures.

00:33:11 A man was shocked to see 13 carps on and around his truck.

00:33:15 Apparently, he stopped to count them.

00:33:17 No one knows for sure where this strange rain came from.

00:33:21 But the most popular theory claims that a powerful marine trombe picked up all these creatures.

00:33:26 She then transported them into the high atmosphere and released the animals on the farmland

00:33:31 and on the populations without mistrust that were below.

00:33:34 And now, welcome to Lake Abraham in Canada.

00:33:37 It is completely frozen.

00:33:39 You walk on the transparent ice and you look at what is below.

00:33:43 No fish, just mysterious frozen bubbles.

00:33:46 They look like small clouds frozen in the ice or like jellyfish that forgot to take their winter coats.

00:33:52 There are thousands of these small bubbles that are actually made up of methane.

00:33:56 But don't try to dig a hole in the ice to touch them.

00:33:59 Methane is very flammable.

00:34:01 It is created by bacteria that eat leaves, grass, insects

00:34:05 or any other organic substance found in the lake.

00:34:09 When methane touches the ice water, it turns into tens of thousands of small frozen bubbles.

00:34:14 When the ice melts, they burst and crack.

00:34:18 Similar lakes are found near certain banks of the Arctic Ocean.

00:34:22 There, the size of the bubbles can reach several times the size of a sea bass.

00:34:27 Magnificent, but not without danger.

00:34:30 The following phenomenon occurs in Indonesia on Java Island.

00:34:35 You arrive in front of a majestic volcano, invaded by grass and trees.

00:34:40 The volcano seems asleep, but the smoke escapes.

00:34:44 You climb to the top, exhausted, tired, sweaty, you are ready to refresh yourself.

00:34:50 Bravo, you have managed to reach the top.

00:34:52 You look into the mouth of the volcano.

00:34:54 Hmm, no boiling lava, just a magnificent turquoise and luminous lake.

00:34:59 It looks like an oasis.

00:35:01 It is the ideal time for a refreshing swim.

00:35:03 You run and prepare to jump.

00:35:05 But it's not water, it's acid.

00:35:08 Sulfuric gases infiltrate the lake from below the volcano.

00:35:12 The lake itself is full of metals.

00:35:14 When the gases touch them, they form this beautiful turquoise water.

00:35:18 Or rather this beautiful acid.

00:35:20 It is better to return to the nearest village, rest and return in the evening when it is cooler.

00:35:25 In the dark, the lake seems to shine.

00:35:28 Just above it, you see small luminous clouds exploding.

00:35:32 Sulfuric gases come out of the lake, combine in the air and light up a bright blue.

00:35:37 But don't get too close.

00:35:40 The sea takes a sinister red hue.

00:35:43 And no living being can survive it.

00:35:45 It must be black magic.

00:35:47 In fact, these are tiny algae that spread uncontrollably

00:35:51 and give the water this specific hue called "red tide".

00:35:55 They contain toxins that destroy marine mammals, birds and turtles,

00:35:59 as well as creatures that feed on them.

00:36:01 For humans, the contact is solved by respiratory problems or poisoning.

00:36:07 Sometimes, huge ships sink in the middle of the sea for no apparent reason.

00:36:12 In reality, this is often due to the pockets of bubbles that underwater volcanoes produce even while they sleep.

00:36:18 These magma plants are hidden under 2,600 meters of water.

00:36:23 When they wake up, they act like terrestrial volcanoes and can cause devastating tsunamis.

00:36:29 This tree looks like a bottle.

00:36:31 No wonder it's called the "bottle tree".

00:36:34 It grows in Namibia and attracts many tourists.

00:36:37 But don't get too close to it, because it's one of the most dangerous on Earth.

00:36:42 A milky juice flows inside the trunk.

00:36:44 It is highly toxic to the human body.

00:36:47 But the good thing is that these trees have beautiful pink and white leaves with a red heart.

00:36:52 In Western Australia, there is a tree that was once used as a prison.

00:36:57 A cell for criminals has long existed inside the prison tree, Boab.

00:37:02 People were generally kept there temporarily, just for one night.

00:37:05 After that, they were taken to their final destination.

00:37:08 The prison was built more than 1,500 years ago and has been perfectly preserved to this day.

00:37:15 Tourists who visit this place can take a look inside.

00:37:20 We are in the Atacama Desert, in northern Chile.

00:37:23 It is one of the driest places on the planet.

00:37:26 But this desert hides a pretty secret.

00:37:29 Every three to five years, flowers grow from nowhere.

00:37:33 That's why it's called the "flowery desert".

00:37:36 Seeds rest in the ground, waiting for a little rain.

00:37:41 When the desert receives enough water, about 200 types of flowers grow.

00:37:45 The Atacama sand is made up of purple, white, green and pink.

00:37:51 Another phenomenon that can be observed in the desert is the sandstorm.

00:37:55 When the wind blows a lot of sand along a canyon, it starts to fall.

00:38:00 If there is really a lot of sand, it creates a sandstorm, like in Saudi Arabia.

00:38:05 It looks like the Niagara Falls, but without water.

00:38:08 Locals say that this phenomenon is caused by an imminent sandstorm.

00:38:13 The "witch circles", also known as "fairy circles" or "annular mycelium",

00:38:19 are mysterious circles of mushrooms that appear in prairies and forest areas.

00:38:24 The reason why these perfect circles appear is the subject of many debates.

00:38:29 Some superstitions claim that the fairy dance would burn the ground,

00:38:33 causing the growth of mushrooms.

00:38:36 In southern India, between July and September 2001,

00:38:40 people witnessed one of the strangest meteorological phenomena in history.

00:38:45 Red rain.

00:38:47 The color was bright enough to stain clothes.

00:38:50 There have also been rains of other colors, like green, yellow, brown and even black.

00:38:56 In the middle of the mushroom, a red rain began to fall periodically,

00:39:00 and this over several weeks.

00:39:02 Researchers have discovered that this rain was tinted with dust or algae,

00:39:07 so avoid catching drops on your tongue.

00:39:10 Scientists do not know how these algae could get there.

00:39:14 This makes such events a little disturbing.

00:39:17 People living in the Esthalen Valley in Norway

00:39:21 often see white, yellow and red lights floating in the sky.

00:39:26 They appear day and night.

00:39:29 In the 1980s, they were observed 15 to 20 times in a single week.

00:39:34 These lights can last a few seconds to more than an hour.

00:39:38 They literally seem to be swinging in the air.

00:39:41 Some scientists think that the reason for this phenomenon is due to ionized iron dust.

00:39:46 Others say it is a combustion of sodium, oxygen and hydrogen.

00:39:51 Many people claim that it is simply an airplane.

00:39:55 Snowballs are one of the rarest meteorological curiosities to see,

00:40:00 because it takes perfect weather conditions for them to form.

00:40:04 In all mountainous regions covered with snow,

00:40:07 the wind, temperature, snow, ice and humidity must come together to create these strange rolls.

00:40:14 It all starts with a thin layer of wet snow on the ground.

00:40:17 Under this layer must be ice or powder snow.

00:40:21 A strong enough breeze can then take this snow off

00:40:24 and roll it to the bottom of a hill like a snowball.

00:40:28 This roll can be the size of a baseball or even a car tire.

00:40:32 It all depends on the wind.

00:40:34 These rings don't stay in place for long, so take a quick picture.

00:40:39 Did you know that there is a place on Earth with its own ecosystem and atmosphere?

00:40:45 The Movile cave, located in the southeast of Romania,

00:40:49 has remained closed in total darkness for 5.5 million years.

00:40:54 It was only when workers discovered it, while they were looking for a place to build, that it came to life.

00:41:00 Scientists dug an opening in the cave

00:41:03 and discovered that a totally viable and unique ecosystem was developing inside.

00:41:09 By digging a path through the rock and passing through many tunnels,

00:41:13 scientists discovered a lake of sulfurous water that smelled like rotten eggs.

00:41:18 The air was filled with hydrogen sulfide

00:41:20 and contained 100 times more carbon dioxide than the Earth's atmosphere.

00:41:24 Needless to say, this air is toxic.

00:41:27 But the craziest thing is that this cave housed an entire ecosystem,

00:41:31 with 33 species that can't be found anywhere else on Earth.

00:41:35 This cave gives us a glimpse of what could exist on other planets,

00:41:40 with completely different atmospheres.

00:41:42 The simple fact that it existed on Earth during all this time,

00:41:45 without anyone knowing it, is pretty incredible, isn't it?

00:41:49 Look at these trees.

00:41:51 They are rubber fig trees.

00:41:53 Their strong roots don't grow underground, but on the surface.

00:41:57 With the help of special tutors and ties,

00:42:00 people have learned to control the way their roots grow.

00:42:03 Imagine that one of these trees is next to a pit where you want to build a bridge.

00:42:08 You just have to direct its roots in the desired direction.

00:42:11 Over time, the roots penetrate the ground and strengthen under the incessant avalanches.

00:42:16 It takes about 15 years to build a bridge.

00:42:19 Here is another amazing tree, called the tree of life.

00:42:23 It grows in the Bahrain desert.

00:42:25 This tree has been standing at the top of a sand dune for more than 400 years,

00:42:30 in the middle of nowhere.

00:42:32 It's extremely hot here, and there is no humidity.

00:42:35 But despite everything, the tree has green leaves and it continues to grow.

00:42:40 So far, scientists have not yet understood where it gets its moisture and nutrients from.

00:42:45 There are only oil wells all around.

00:42:48 The locals think this tree is sacred.

00:42:51 After all, it shows the magic of life and the power of nature.

00:42:56 Some experts are sure that everything comes from its roots.

00:42:59 They are so deep that they can reach distant sources.

00:43:03 Imagine that you have been driving all night.

00:43:06 You haven't slept and your mind starts to wander.

00:43:09 You stop the car and you go out to stretch your legs.

00:43:12 You look at the sky and see a magnificent sunrise.

00:43:16 But wait, there are three suns in the sky?

00:43:20 You rub your eyes, but there are still three shiny balls in the sky.

00:43:24 No, you're not hallucinating.

00:43:26 This is what we call a "parélie", or false sun.

00:43:30 This occurs especially during the hard frost.

00:43:32 Two small crystals of ice floating in the sky distort the light.

00:43:36 That's why you think you see three bright spots in the sky instead of one.

00:43:41 This phenomenon is officially called a halo.

00:43:44 Usually, it is often a circle around the sun.

00:43:48 This phenomenon can also occur at night.

00:43:51 Just look at a lightbulb to see a bright halo appear around it.

00:43:56 Sometimes a halo can take a more fanciful shape.

00:43:59 The more ice there is in the air, the more the light will be distorted.

00:44:03 A bit like in a room full of mirrors.

00:44:06 A halo can even take the shape of a human eye.

00:44:09 Because of this phenomenon, a false halo can occur.

00:44:13 As you look at the horizon, the sun seems to rise.

00:44:16 Then it begins to dissolve in the sky and it is night again.

00:44:20 And it is only a minute later that the true sun finally appears.

00:44:25 It is the same effect of light curvature that you saw with the three suns.

00:44:29 Except that there, the light is curved vertically and not horizontally.

00:44:34 And instead of the true sun, it is its reflection in the ice crystals that has appeared.

00:44:38 But there is a sunrise showing three stars on the horizon.

00:44:43 Not on Earth, but 340 light years away.

00:44:47 There is a stellar system in the center of which a star is hidden,

00:44:50 almost twice as large as the sun,

00:44:52 with two small stars orbiting around it.

00:44:56 This strange system also has a planet.

00:44:59 Sunrises and sunsets occur with three stars.

00:45:03 If you organize a hangover on a bench to watch a sunset,

00:45:06 it should be fine.

00:45:09 And since we are talking about the most disturbing natural phenomena,

00:45:12 what about snow in a desert?

00:45:15 During the winter of 2018, the inhabitants of the Sahara Desert,

00:45:19 one of the warmest and driest places on our planet,

00:45:22 woke up to a thick layer of snow on the sand.

00:45:26 In some places, this layer of snow reached a thickness of nearly 40 cm.

00:45:32 Meteorologists have found an explanation for this phenomenon.

00:45:35 They said that the cold air masses, combined with the last precipitation,

00:45:39 had caused a snowfall instead of a simple rain.

00:45:42 So what can we do in this case?

00:45:45 Snow camels? And it takes one or two bosses.

00:45:49 Rocks that swallow the slopes of a volcano in an eruption,

00:45:54 that grow other larger rocks on their way,

00:45:57 and that end up falling into the ocean in a huge waterfall,

00:46:00 causing a wave of a height never seen before.

00:46:03 This is what could happen if the Ilina Slump,

00:46:06 on the Great Hawaii Island, fell into the water.

00:46:09 The Kilauea Volcano is far from being asleep.

00:46:12 The last eruption took place in 2018.

00:46:15 These eruptions are usually accompanied by earthquakes of different magnitudes,

00:46:19 and at each earthquake, the magma rocks on the slopes of the volcano move down.

00:46:25 These rocky formations are called slumps,

00:46:28 and the Ilina Slump is the most famous of them.

00:46:31 In 1868, the collapse of this slump caused a tidal wave of 18 meters high.

00:46:36 But the most disturbing thing is that about 110,000 years ago,

00:46:40 a landslide caused one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded,

00:46:45 which in turn caused a mega-tsunami of more than 300 meters high.

00:46:50 Scientists fear that such an event will not happen again in the future.

00:46:54 If it did, the wave could swallow the whole of Hawaii

00:46:58 and easily reach the coasts of North and South America.

00:47:01 Geologists are in no hurry to reassure people

00:47:04 by explaining that such a landslide is unlikely in the near future.

00:47:08 It's just too early for that.

00:47:10 But when it happens, the consequences will be catastrophic.

00:47:14 Have a good day!

00:47:16 Yellowstone National Park, in the west of the United States,

00:47:19 is famous worldwide for its stunning landscapes,

00:47:22 and in particular for the Grand Prismatic Spring,

00:47:25 which is located in its heart.

00:47:27 But we must all be aware that Yellowstone is above all a huge caldera,

00:47:32 in fact, a super-sleeping volcano.

00:47:35 The difference between an ordinary volcano, like the Kilauea of old,

00:47:39 and a super-volcano is that the latter is thousands of times more powerful.

00:47:44 Imagine an eruption spitting out tons of huge rocks

00:47:47 and rivers of lava in fusion, pumping ash clouds

00:47:50 that make countries interrupt air travel for weeks.

00:47:54 And now, multiply all this by a thousand.

00:47:57 This is what an eruption in Yellowstone would look like.

00:48:00 At first, a huge area in the middle of the National Park would tremble,

00:48:04 collapse, and then be propelled upwards in an explosion of several megatons.

00:48:09 Lava flows and magmatic rocks would cover an area of about 100 square kilometers,

00:48:15 which is half of Washington DC.

00:48:17 But the biggest danger is volcanic ash.

00:48:20 The ash panning would rise to kilometers above

00:48:23 and be carried by the wind in all directions.

00:48:26 As the eruption would be far from ordinary,

00:48:28 the distance of propagation and the damage would also be much more important than usual.

00:48:33 The ash is thick and heavy, so that it would cover a vast area,

00:48:37 destroying crops and even buildings.

00:48:40 Worse still, it would spread in the air and block the sun,

00:48:44 causing a drastic drop in temperature and an artificial winter.

00:48:48 Even regular volcanoes can lower global temperatures by a few degrees,

00:48:52 and a supervolcano could potentially cause a new ice age.

00:48:56 Fortunately, the chances of a supervolcano in Yellowstone

00:48:59 erupting in the near or even far future are extremely low.

00:49:04 There have only been three in the history of the Earth,

00:49:06 and nothing indicates that such a disaster should occur.

00:49:10 Scientists estimate the probability at 0.00014%,

00:49:15 which is less than the chance that an asteroid will destroy us all.

00:49:19 Speaking of which, if dinosaurs could talk,

00:49:23 and if they were alive, by the way,

00:49:25 they would tell you that the threat of asteroids is quite real.

00:49:29 NASA scientists claim to have followed 90% of all large-scale geocrossing asteroids,

00:49:35 and none of them is worrying.

00:49:37 But there are still 10% left.

00:49:39 In addition, asteroids can change their trajectory

00:49:42 due to the attraction exerted by other celestial bodies,

00:49:45 and end up heading towards us.

00:49:47 What a chance!

00:49:49 If a fairly large asteroid, about 1.6 km in diameter, hits the Earth,

00:49:53 it will first cause a rather powerful explosion

00:49:56 to raze a dozen large cities in a few seconds.

00:49:59 Then, the impact will raise a cloud of dust and debris that will block the Sun,

00:50:04 just like the cloud of ash from a volcano,

00:50:06 and will cause a winter of several centuries on the entire planet.

00:50:09 But even if it falls into the ocean, which is more likely,

00:50:12 the resulting wave will rise several kilometres in height.

00:50:16 sweeping coastal cities from the surface of the planet.

00:50:19 But at least there won't be any new ice age.

00:50:22 Although scientists are practically sure that such a threat does not exist in the near future,

00:50:27 it cannot be completely excluded,

00:50:29 and humanity needs at least 5 years to prepare for this event.

00:50:33 If a large asteroid close to the Earth suddenly changes its trajectory

00:50:37 and heads straight for our planet,

00:50:39 we will have no chance against it.

00:50:41 A disaster movie, anyone?

00:50:43 A much more likely calamity, however, lies just under our feet.

00:50:48 It is the San Andreas fault in California.

00:50:51 The fault has been about to collapse for years now,

00:50:54 and scientists estimate that such a quake is likely to occur in the next three decades.

00:51:00 And when it happens, it won't be easy to see.

00:51:03 It is expected to be a magnitude of 8,

00:51:05 which is comparable to some of the most devastating quakes in history.

00:51:09 It is all the more dangerous because California houses some of the most populated cities in the west of the United States,

00:51:15 including Los Angeles and San Francisco.

00:51:17 High-rise buildings are common there,

00:51:19 and they are particularly vulnerable to underground earthquakes.

00:51:23 The San Andreas quake could cause a lot of damage in cities and countrysides.

00:51:28 In the worst case, the ground could break,

00:51:31 destroying buildings, farms, and completely changing the landscape.

00:51:35 However, scientists believe that the probability of such an earthquake is only 7% for the next 30 years.

00:51:42 So there is a good chance, 93%, that we will never see it in our lifetime.

00:51:47 However, there is another risk of an earthquake not so far from the previous one,

00:51:52 the Chilean mega-earthquake.

00:51:54 The country is just above the subduction zone,

00:51:58 an area where two tectonic plates meet and overlap.

00:52:02 At the meeting point, the tension builds up due to their continuous movement.

00:52:07 And once this tension is too strong, a major earthquake occurs.

00:52:11 Chile has seen many earthquakes in recent years,

00:52:15 and scientists are worried that these are just the preparations for an earthquake of a much larger magnitude.

00:52:21 They think that a major earthquake is expected before the end of the century,

00:52:25 and that it could be devastating for the coastal area.

00:52:28 Even smaller earthquakes have caused tsunamis that have flooded the west coast,

00:52:33 and a huge earthquake like this one is likely to raise a wave of an incredible magnitude.

00:52:39 The positive side is that Chile now knows that it must prepare in advance for future natural disasters,

00:52:45 and geologists are practically sure that people will be able to evacuate before the earthquake strikes.

00:52:51 In September 1859, astronomer Richard Carrington was looking at the sun

00:52:56 when he suddenly saw a luminous eruption on its surface.

00:52:59 He took note of it, but only realized the importance of this eruption a few days later.

00:53:04 The energy of this eruption reached the Earth and hit it directly,

00:53:08 causing the appearance of a Boreal aurora above Cuba

00:53:11 and burning the telegraphic lines all over the world.

00:53:14 This was what was called, Carrington's event, a solar storm.

00:53:18 Such storms hit the Earth quite often,

00:53:21 but none have been as powerful as the Carrington event,

00:53:24 neither before nor after.

00:53:26 But in 2012, astronomers recorded a similar solar eruption

00:53:30 whose energy almost hit our planet once again.

00:53:34 If it had taken place a week earlier, we would have had big problems.

00:53:38 Today, humanity depends on electricity in almost every aspect of life,

00:53:42 and a powerful solar storm would greatly disrupt the Earth's electromagnetic field.

00:53:47 All electrical devices would stop or short-circuit,

00:53:50 and the huge transformers, which power almost everything, would go out of order.

00:53:55 It would take years to repair them,

00:53:57 and the cost of such a massive breakdown would be billions of dollars.

00:54:01 The worst part is that science is almost unable to predict solar storms,

00:54:05 and even if we could know them in advance, we couldn't stop them.

00:54:09 The eruption occurs in a few seconds,

00:54:11 and it takes about 8 minutes for the particles to reach the Earth's atmosphere,

00:54:15 causing disturbances.

00:54:17 The power outage would occur a little later,

00:54:20 within a day or two, when a massive plasma cloud would reach our planet.

00:54:25 At the moment, there is no protection against solar storms,

00:54:29 and the chances that there is a powerful enough one to cut off all our electricity in the coming years

00:54:33 are quite high, about 12%.

00:54:36 The only positive point in all this is that we now know this possibility,

00:54:40 and that we can at least prepare for it in advance.

00:54:44 Don't forget to take underwear and socks, it's always useful.

00:54:48 If there were cataclysms every 5 minutes on Earth,

00:54:53 the living conditions on our planet would be almost the same as 4.5 billion years ago.

00:54:59 At the time, the seas and oceans were boiling,

00:55:02 the lightning struck everywhere,

00:55:04 tectonic plates were changing shape,

00:55:06 lava was fusing volcanoes,

00:55:08 and, even worse, no internet.

00:55:11 The Earth looked like a boiling hot spring,

00:55:14 where life was gradually taking shape.

00:55:17 If it starts boiling again, this hot spring could destroy almost all life on the planet.

00:55:22 So, consecutive cataclysms, it wouldn't hurt to imagine them.

00:55:27 What if we imagined all this?

00:55:29 Hello! You wake up in a small underground bunker.

00:55:33 The seismic sensor indicates that an earthquake of 7 on the Richter scale

00:55:37 will break out in a few minutes.

00:55:40 You take a huge waterproof backpack and go underground.

00:55:44 The bunker is protected from seismic activity.

00:55:47 It moves to the ground, so you are safe.

00:55:50 But you have to leave this shelter because you have little resources.

00:55:53 In addition, you received a radio signal yesterday

00:55:55 telling you that all the survivors had left immediately to the south.

00:55:58 The coordinates they provided are not very far from yours.

00:56:01 You have to hurry before the landscape changes again.

00:56:05 You open the hatch and you find yourself in the middle of the desert.

00:56:08 The sun is almost invisible behind this thick gray sky.

00:56:11 The ground is shaking, but you are not afraid.

00:56:13 There are no more houses or buildings.

00:56:16 Nothing falls on you.

00:56:17 You keep your balance perfectly

00:56:19 and the earthquake will not scare you to the extreme.

00:56:22 It's like jumping on a trampoline.

00:56:24 The only danger are the gulfs flowing in the ground,

00:56:27 but you can easily jump over them.

00:56:29 After this extremely early morning awakening,

00:56:32 you decide to have your breakfast.

00:56:34 You take a can of canned food out of your backpack.

00:56:36 You have a few minutes before the next disaster.

00:56:39 So you eat and you remember your grandfather

00:56:41 who told you how it all started.

00:56:44 Before all this, the planet was divided into territories called "countries".

00:56:48 Millions of people lived there,

00:56:50 then something terrible happened.

00:56:53 The tectonic plates began to move

00:56:55 and the temperature of the air and atmospheric pressure

00:56:58 began to change rapidly.

00:57:00 In one day, earthquakes destroyed entire cities.

00:57:03 Tsunamis and floods took away all the ruins.

00:57:06 Volcanic ashes blocked the passage of sun rays.

00:57:10 Forest fires destroyed almost all the vegetation

00:57:13 and eruptions poisoned the air.

00:57:16 Only a few people managed to adapt to such conditions

00:57:19 and you are one of the few survivors.

00:57:22 After your breakfast,

00:57:24 you are distracted by another tremor coming from the ground.

00:57:27 It's time to move.

00:57:29 Many people travel the world alone

00:57:31 because they consider it safer.

00:57:33 Others form small communities,

00:57:35 but no one stays in the same place for a long time.

00:57:38 All your life is in motion, but you do not panic.

00:57:41 One of the main rules in a natural disaster

00:57:44 is to stay calm.

00:57:46 So all survivors still have steel nerves

00:57:48 and excellent physical condition.

00:57:50 You travel a few kilometers south

00:57:52 and you suddenly feel something strange.

00:57:55 You put on a gas mask.

00:57:57 The earthquake created a characteristic eruption.

00:58:00 The natural carbon dioxide is released from the ground to the surface.

00:58:03 You feel more comfortable with your mask,

00:58:05 but you can't run fast when you wear it.

00:58:08 Further away, you see a green forest.

00:58:10 One of the few places not affected by fires.

00:58:13 You take off your mask and you go there to shelter from the burning sun.

00:58:17 This green area is rich in vegetation.

00:58:19 Colored flowers, strawberries and many other plants grow here.

00:58:23 But you are worried.

00:58:25 Such fertile land is often near volcanoes.

00:58:29 They spit rich magma in vitamins and minerals.

00:58:32 So the vegetation grows.

00:58:35 You can see a high mountain in the distance.

00:58:37 It's the volcano.

00:58:39 An underground push is felt again and causes an eruption.

00:58:43 You pick strawberries and you run away as fast as possible.

00:58:47 The lava comes out of the volcano's mouth and causes a forest fire.

00:58:51 You take a folding scooter out of your backpack,

00:58:53 with its engine,

00:58:55 and you go as fast as possible to burn yourself.

00:58:58 The sky is full of volcanic ash,

00:59:00 but it won't last long.

00:59:03 The wind gets stronger and stronger every second.

00:59:07 You realize that a hurricane is coming straight at you.

00:59:10 You take a small shovel and you dig a hole in the ground.

00:59:13 The hole is dry, but you have enough strength to dig a small trench in a few minutes.

00:59:19 You dive into the shelter of Fortune and you protect yourself with a tent.

00:59:24 The hurricane blows volcanic ash in different directions,

00:59:27 and the air becomes clearer.

00:59:29 But the fire doesn't stop.

00:59:31 The wind spreads it through the forest.

00:59:33 You get out of the ravine and you put on your gas mask.

00:59:36 There is a lot of smoke around, and it is incredibly hot.

00:59:40 You know that the hurricane couldn't have happened without reason.

00:59:43 It forms when hot and humid air hits the surface of the sea,

00:59:46 and it rises in the air.

00:59:48 So there's water over there.

00:59:50 Great, because you're thirsty and you want to cool off.

00:59:54 A roaring thunder starts to roar behind you.

00:59:57 You turn around.

00:59:59 A gigantic wave of water approaches the fire.

01:00:02 Without panicking, you take your life jacket off your backpack,

01:00:06 you take off your gas mask, and you put on a diving mask and fins.

01:00:10 The wave takes you away, but you don't drown.

01:00:13 Over time, you have learned to swim very well.

01:00:17 You hang on to a tree that passes by,

01:00:19 and you wait patiently for the flood to be replaced by another natural disaster.

01:00:25 For five minutes, you sail under a stormy and dark sky,

01:00:28 where the lightning flashes several times.

01:00:31 Despite the waves, you try to head south.

01:00:34 It's pretty cold.

01:00:36 You finally see the shore, but it's not land, it's ice.

01:00:40 A strong wind brought a very cold cyclone,

01:00:43 which caused a sudden temperature change.

01:00:46 It's like you were in Antarctica.

01:00:48 Snow and blizzard surround you. It's extremely cold.

01:00:51 But you take an insulating aluminum blanket

01:00:54 and you walk slowly south.

01:00:57 Under your clothes, you put towel paper, bubble wrap, pieces of cotton,

01:01:01 all to keep your body warm.

01:01:04 On the road, you pick up a few bottles of snow to melt it later.

01:01:08 Stalactites form on your face,

01:01:10 and you can't see anything because of the snowstorm.

01:01:13 Suddenly, the snow begins to melt under your weight.

01:01:16 The ice melts and turns into water.

01:01:19 A hot air flow blows on your face.

01:01:21 You find yourself on hard, dry ground.

01:01:23 You look at the sky, then your watch.

01:01:26 Five minutes have passed, and the sky is again covered in dark clouds.

01:01:30 You take a metal plate in your backpack and cover your head with it.

01:01:35 A few seconds later, you are caught in the rain and hail.

01:01:39 Huge snowballs come crashing against your metal shield.

01:01:43 But you stay calm, and you even smile.

01:01:47 The ground becomes wet and unstable because of the frozen rocks.

01:01:51 When the hail finally ends,

01:01:53 you take off all the insulating materials under your clothes

01:01:55 and you hide them in your backpack.

01:01:57 Then you take out long steel rods.

01:02:00 They are surrounded by copper wires.

01:02:02 You connect them to each other, thus making a long antenna.

01:02:06 You plant it in the ground and you go.

01:02:08 After the hail and the rain, it is the lightning that strikes the ground.

01:02:12 More precisely, it strikes the skylight you just built.

01:02:16 You wait for the storm to go away,

01:02:18 then you take your steel rod and you put it in your bag.

01:02:21 An intense heat surrounds you.

01:02:23 You drink melted snow and you walk through the desert.

01:02:27 The ground shakes and your adventure resumes.

01:02:30 Earthquakes, carbon dioxide,

01:02:32 fires, floods,

01:02:34 snowfalls, tsunamis, lightnings.

01:02:37 Again, and again, and again.

01:02:41 With a compass, you continue your journey

01:02:43 and you finally reach your destination a few months later.

01:02:47 You see a long antenna coming out of the ground.

01:02:49 It is the landmark indicating that you are entering an underground city.

01:02:52 The city is made up of dozens of bunkers

01:02:55 connected to each other by tunnels.

01:02:57 The city walls do not allow radiation to pass through

01:03:00 and they are resistant to earthquakes.

01:03:03 People have learned to draw energy from the ground.

01:03:06 The core of the earth provides heat.

01:03:08 It allows water to boil, creating steam.

01:03:11 Electricity is generated in specific stations.

01:03:14 People drink water from rivers and underground lakes.

01:03:17 Instead of the sun, ultraviolet lamps are installed everywhere,

01:03:21 providing enough light for people and plants.

01:03:24 Natural disasters occur every five minutes on earth,

01:03:28 but humanity still has a lot of room underground.

01:03:31 In Russia, on the shores of the Baltic Sea,

01:03:35 there is an enigmatic national park.

01:03:38 The Dancent Forest is a place that no scientist has managed to explain so far.

01:03:43 The pine trees are all bent and twisted in a loop and in a spiral.

01:03:47 This forest has only existed since the early 1960s,

01:03:50 when trees were planted to make the sand of the dunes of this area more stable.

01:03:55 According to one theory, it is the lack of stability of the soils

01:03:58 that would have caused the deformation of the pine trees.

01:04:01 Other theories put these twisted trees on the account of the power of the winds

01:04:05 or even of supernatural forces.

01:04:07 According to some, positive and negative energies would converge in the forest,

01:04:11 causing these strange shapes.

01:04:13 A local legend says that by passing through the circle of a tree,

01:04:16 you add a year to your life, or that you can make a wish.

01:04:19 I like this legend.

01:04:21 And since we are talking about strange trees,

01:04:23 there is one that grows in the region of Piedmont, in Italy.

01:04:26 If you travel, you will see a cherry tree that grew at the top of a wall.

01:04:30 And the strangest thing is that both trees are in perfect health.

01:04:34 A permanent storm rages in the north pole of Saturn,

01:04:37 and its shape is very strange.

01:04:39 It is hexagonal.

01:04:40 This is probably due to the gradient of the winds.

01:04:42 The total length of this cloud configuration is 14,500 km,

01:04:47 which represents about 1,900 km more than the diameter of the Earth.

01:04:51 We have been observing this hexagon for years,

01:04:54 but the most mysterious thing is that it changes color.

01:04:57 It was once turquoise, and it has recently turned golden.

01:05:01 The reason for this change in color is that the pole is progressively exposed

01:05:05 to sunlight as the seasons change.

01:05:08 Rain is not uncommon in Oakville, in the state of Washington.

01:05:12 But the one that fell one day in the form of a hail storm

01:05:15 is still to this day without a precise explanation.

01:05:18 We witnessed this strange rain on an area of about 58 km².

01:05:23 Those who approached it later felt symptoms similar to those of the flu.

01:05:27 So what were these lumps?

01:05:29 Scientists claimed that they contained human white blood cells.

01:05:32 Further tests, however, denied the presence of nucleus characteristic of lococytes.

01:05:37 Some then said that they could be evaporated jellyfish

01:05:41 or even waste from a airliner.

01:05:44 The sliding stones, also called moving stones,

01:05:47 move alone in the National Park of the Valley of Death in California,

01:05:51 leaving long tracks in the earth and sand on their way.

01:05:55 Several accelerated sequences have been carried out to testify to the strange phenomenon.

01:06:00 Scientists have even installed GPS navigators on some stones

01:06:04 to demonstrate their considerable speed.

01:06:06 According to several researchers, these movements are due to thin layers of ice

01:06:10 that form during the night in the valley and slide the stones

01:06:13 before melting during the day.

01:06:16 But maybe someone is just listening to the Rolling Stones in the corner.

01:06:20 No, probably not.

01:06:22 The crater of Batagaika in Siberia looks like the entrance of hell.

01:06:26 It is about 1 km long and more than 86 m deep.

01:06:31 But it keeps growing.

01:06:33 The deeper it gets, the more it exposes its underground layers.

01:06:36 These strata reveal to us what our planet looked like thousands of years ago.

01:06:40 And the depressions tell us about the climates of the past.

01:06:43 The crater appeared in the 1960s on the occasion of a rapid deforestation.

01:06:48 Trees no longer cast shadows on the ground and the heat increased.

01:06:52 The melt of permafrost then led to the formation of the crater.

01:06:56 The Taos flood in New Mexico has been driving the inhabitants of this city crazy

01:07:01 since the 1990s.

01:07:03 This low-frequency noise deprives people of sleep and exhausts them.

01:07:10 Scientists have tried to find the source of this flood in wine so far.

01:07:14 Various floods have also been heard in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada

01:07:19 and in other regions of the United States.

01:07:21 Fortunately, only 2% of the world's population is able to hear them.

01:07:26 Their cause is attributed to mechanical devices,

01:07:28 to various disturbances in the auditory system and even to certain animals.

01:07:32 The West Seattle flood, for example, was attributed to toadfish.

01:07:37 The Fairy Circle, also called the Ring of Sorceress or Miscellium Annular,

01:07:42 is a mysterious circular formation of mushrooms

01:07:45 that appears in prairies and forest areas.

01:07:48 The reasons why these mushrooms align in this way are the subject of many debates.

01:07:53 According to some superstitions, fairies, by dancing, would burn the soil,

01:07:57 which would cause a rapid mushroom growth.

01:08:00 In Costa Rica, a set of about 300 megalithic spheres was discovered.

01:08:05 The inhabitants call them "las bolas", which simply means "balls" in French.

01:08:10 These stones are almost perfectly round.

01:08:12 Some of them are huge, weighing up to 16 tons.

01:08:15 In addition, they are made of different materials,

01:08:18 gabbro, limestone and grey.

01:08:21 They were once placed just in front of the chiefs' residence,

01:08:24 but their origin is still unknown.

01:08:26 Some claim that these stones are native to the Atlantic.

01:08:29 Hmm, yeah.

01:08:31 If you go to see the Mekong at the end of October,

01:08:33 you will have the chance to see luminous balls rise from the water and rise in the air.

01:08:38 The inhabitants of the region call these luminous balls "Nagas fireballs".

01:08:42 The size of the fireballs varies.

01:08:44 These reddish balls can be as small as a spark,

01:08:47 and as large as a basketball.

01:08:49 There can be dozens, if not thousands, of balls every night.

01:08:52 Scientists have no precise explanation for this phenomenon,

01:08:56 but it could be due to the flammable gases released by the swamp.

01:09:01 Some superstitious inhabitants believe that they are due to a giant snake that lives in the river.

01:09:06 In Minnesota, on the northern shore of Superior Lake,

01:09:09 there is a park, especially known for sheltering the Devil's Kettle.

01:09:14 It is a water fall that separates in two.

01:09:17 A part of the river continues, while the other part disappears into a hole in the ground.

01:09:21 If you throw an object into the Devil's Kettle, it will not reappear.

01:09:25 Scientists still do not know where the water that falls into the hole goes.

01:09:29 The Devil's Kettle is considered dangerous because it is almost impossible to trace the course.

01:09:34 And yes, not the best place to do tubbing.

01:09:37 The Grunions are fish known for their strange mating rituals.

01:09:41 Females come out of the water and climb the shore.

01:09:44 They sink their tails into the sand to lay eggs.

01:09:47 After fertilization by the males, the eggs remain hidden in the sand.

01:09:50 The high tide arrives and carries the young to the sea, which hatch.

01:09:54 Scientists still fail to explain this reproduction mode.

01:09:58 The inhabitants of the countryside in central Norway, above the Estalen Valley,

01:10:04 can often see white, yellow and red floating lights crossing the sky.

01:10:08 These lights appear day and night, and in the 1980s,

01:10:12 they were even seen between 15 and 20 times in a single week.

01:10:16 Estalen lights can last a few seconds and sometimes more than an hour.

01:10:21 The lights move, seem to float or even swing.

01:10:24 Some scientists think it's ionized iron dust that's causing these lights.

01:10:29 Others say the phenomenon is due to a combustion of sodium, oxygen and hydrogen.

01:10:34 But most people think it's just planes.

01:10:37 Yellowstone Park has a famous boiling lake,

01:10:41 but it's not the only place in the world where the water is naturally boiling.

01:10:45 At the bottom of the Amazon is the Chaney-Timpishka River,

01:10:49 6.5 km long and constantly hot.

01:10:52 Its name means "boiling by the sun".

01:10:55 In fact, it's not really boiling, but it can reach 91 ° C,

01:11:00 enough to cook your legs.

01:11:02 Let's try it?

01:11:03 The lowest temperature is about 45 ° C.

01:11:07 This phenomenon is inexplicable,

01:11:09 given that the river should be near a volcano

01:11:12 for the water to reach such a temperature.

01:11:15 But the closest volcano is 640 km away.

01:11:19 Another possibility is an underground fault.

01:11:22 In the west of Venezuela, people living near the Catatumbo River

01:11:26 are not afraid of lightning, as they see it almost every night.

01:11:30 It starts at 7 pm and doesn't stop before dawn.

01:11:33 The eternal lightning of the Catatumbo stopped once in a few months,

01:11:38 from January to March 2010.

01:11:40 It was probably due to drought,

01:11:42 or maybe there was no electricity.

01:11:44 In 1991, a scientist suggested that the phenomenon

01:11:48 was due to the cold and hot air currents in the region.

01:11:52 According to another theory,

01:11:54 lightning could be due to the presence of uranium in the rock substrate.

01:11:58 Speaking of lightning, I have to go. Bye!

01:12:01 Let's listen carefully.

01:12:06 Venus has more volcanoes than any planet in the solar system,

01:12:10 more than 1,600.

01:12:12 And one day on Venus, measured by the time the planet takes

01:12:15 to rotate once on its axis,

01:12:17 takes more time than it takes to go around the Sun.

01:12:20 Wow! And that's only Monday.

01:12:23 An extreme greenhouse effect heats the planet's surface

01:12:27 to 465 ° C,

01:12:29 hot enough to melt lead.

01:12:32 There, the winds reach a speed of 720 km/h

01:12:36 in the medium cloud layer,

01:12:38 which is faster than the fastest tornadoes on our planet.

01:12:42 On the surface of Venus,

01:12:44 the pressure is 90 times higher than at sea level on Earth.

01:12:47 But it seems to me a great place to spend your holidays.

01:12:51 And recently, this incredible place has become even more intriguing.

01:12:56 In Venus's toxic atmosphere,

01:12:58 there is something that could reveal the existence of life.

01:13:02 Unfortunately, scientists have not had the opportunity

01:13:05 to collect microbes or take pictures of extraterrestrial life.

01:13:10 But they discovered a chemical element called phosphine,

01:13:13 and it's not nothing.

01:13:15 If it's not a previously unknown chemical element that produces this gas,

01:13:19 then there must be some kind of microbial life involved in the process.

01:13:24 Phosphine is made up of three hydrogen atoms and one phosphorus atom.

01:13:28 This gas is toxic for any form of life that would require oxygen,

01:13:33 including us humans.

01:13:34 On our planet, phosphine is found in places with very little,

01:13:38 if not all, oxygen.

01:13:40 For example, swamps and swamps.

01:13:42 This gas is created by complex mixes of bacteria that live there.

01:13:46 It can also be produced industrially.

01:13:49 The strangest thing about all this is that phosphine

01:13:52 is not supposed to be in Venus's atmosphere.

01:13:55 This gas needs a precise pressure and temperature,

01:13:58 as well as tons of hydrogen to form.

01:14:01 It wouldn't be surprising to find it on Saturn or Jupiter,

01:14:04 the famous gas giants.

01:14:06 But on Venus? Totally unexpected.

01:14:09 It's not possible that phosphine is naturally produced on this planet.

01:14:13 Small quantities can be created during volcanic eruptions,

01:14:16 electric storms, mineral explosions on the surface,

01:14:19 or when meteorites enter Venus's atmosphere.

01:14:22 But that's far from enough to explain what astronomers have observed.

01:14:27 It would explain only a tenth of the phosphine observed by telescopes.

01:14:32 But let's go back to the beginning.

01:14:34 In 2017, a group of scientists led by Jane Greaves

01:14:38 from the University of Cardiff

01:14:40 started using James Clerk Maxwell's radio telescope in Hawaii.

01:14:44 The main idea was to look for phosphine,

01:14:47 a gas that would be a sign of life on Venus.

01:14:50 When the data came back, the researchers analyzed them,

01:14:53 and they were shocked.

01:14:55 The phosphine gas was impressive.

01:14:57 The team even looked at the results several times.

01:15:00 They wanted to make sure that no other substance

01:15:03 imitated the presence of phosphine gas.

01:15:05 So does that mean there's life on Venus?

01:15:08 Not necessarily.

01:15:10 If this gas is created by mysterious organisms,

01:15:13 the question is how they survive on Venus.

01:15:16 On our planet, microbes can thrive in the environment

01:15:19 with an acidity of 5%, but not more.

01:15:22 On Venus, however, the clouds are almost entirely made of acid.

01:15:26 Even if the temperature is 30°C,

01:15:29 the clouds contain more than 90% sulfuric acid.

01:15:33 DNA, amino acids, proteins,

01:15:36 and life on Earth would be dissolved in a blink of an eye.

01:15:40 The planet's surface is too hot

01:15:43 for a complex molecule to live.

01:15:45 The atmosphere on Venus is 50 times drier

01:15:48 than the most arid place on our planet.

01:15:51 There's a theory that says microbes could hide

01:15:54 in the rare droplets of water that float in the atmosphere.

01:15:58 But that hasn't been proven yet.

01:16:00 Today, the team needs more observation time

01:16:03 with the help of a telescope.

01:16:05 Scientists will look for other gases associated with life.

01:16:08 But even if they find more evidence,

01:16:10 life on Venus would be made of components

01:16:13 that are completely different from those on Earth.

01:16:16 They could be protected by a shell resistant to sulfuric acid.

01:16:19 They could be made of substances like sulfur,

01:16:22 wax, graphite, or other unimaginable things.

01:16:26 Of course, some experts wonder if life is possible on Venus.

01:16:30 They think gas could be produced

01:16:32 during geological or atmospheric processes

01:16:35 that take place on the planet.

01:16:37 But the supporters of both theories agree on one thing.

01:16:40 The discovery is extraordinary.

01:16:43 Curiously, astronomers have always tried to discover signs of life

01:16:47 on the frozen moons of giant planets,

01:16:49 or even closer, on Mars.

01:16:51 But they never thought of Venus.

01:16:54 If future observations of the telescope

01:16:56 and future space missions confirm

01:16:58 that phosphine is produced by living organisms,

01:17:01 we'll have a great surprise.

01:17:03 Then we'll know a planet with a biosphere that could welcome us.

01:17:07 And that planet would be very close to Earth.

01:17:10 Speaking of visiting Venus,

01:17:12 would it be possible for humans to land on that planet?

01:17:16 After all, robots land on the surface of Mars.

01:17:19 And Venus is closer to Earth than Mars.

01:17:21 But it also has more difficult conditions.

01:17:24 The planet is warmer than Mercury,

01:17:26 even though Venus is almost twice as far from the Sun.

01:17:29 The temperatures are warmer than the melting point of any metal.

01:17:33 And some, like lead or bismuth,

01:17:36 fall a bit like snow on the peaks of the highest mountains.

01:17:40 If you land on this planet,

01:17:42 you'll find nothing but sterile rock.

01:17:44 The giant plains of Basalt are full of volcanoes and mountains.

01:17:48 In some places, the surface melts because of the heat underneath.

01:17:53 After a bit of relaxation, the rock solidifies again.

01:17:56 If we ever land on this planet,

01:17:58 we'll probably have to build a floating city

01:18:01 in the clouds of Venus' atmosphere.

01:18:03 At about 50 km from the surface,

01:18:05 the conditions, like pressure and gravity,

01:18:08 are similar to those on Earth.

01:18:10 The temperature is also quite bearable,

01:18:13 around 75°C.

01:18:15 Imagine the Death Valley in California

01:18:18 on a very hot day.

01:18:20 The atmospheric pressure is twice as low

01:18:23 as the one at sea level.

01:18:25 If you go outside, you can go out without any pressure suit.

01:18:29 The pressure you feel is the same as at Mount Kilimanjaro.

01:18:33 Plus, this colony is better protected from the sun's rays than Mars.

01:18:37 If the atmosphere was the final destination of the mission,

01:18:40 landing a space ship, or rather,

01:18:43 flying it in the air, would be quite different.

01:18:46 The idea is to use a remote control in the atmosphere's high stratosphere

01:18:50 for long periods.

01:18:52 The remote control, wrapped in a protective envelope,

01:18:55 would enter the planet's atmosphere at a speed of 7 km/s.

01:18:59 In a few minutes, the speed would drop to 0.45 km/s.

01:19:04 Then, a huge parachute would open.

01:19:07 This would slow down the ship even more.

01:19:10 And then, things would become even more trepidant.

01:19:13 The protective envelope, which we would no longer need, would disappear.

01:19:17 The balloon would inflate on its own,

01:19:19 continuing its race to the planet's surface.

01:19:22 Its speed would then be 100 m/s.

01:19:24 Soon, we would no longer need a parachute.

01:19:27 The crew would get rid of it,

01:19:29 and the ship would fill up with air.

01:19:31 If everything went as planned,

01:19:33 the ship would stop 48 km above Venus.

01:19:37 Then, the remote control would travel around the planet.

01:19:41 It would move thanks to the wind,

01:19:43 which could reach 350 km/h above the cloud's upper stratosphere.

01:19:48 If you decided to approach the surface,

01:19:51 you should be very careful.

01:19:53 In the middle of the cloud's layer,

01:19:55 the wind could be twice as strong.

01:19:58 The remote control could be filled with a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen.

01:20:02 This mixture would be less dense than Venus's atmosphere.

01:20:05 It would provide the necessary buoyancy for the ship.

01:20:08 You know, to stay in the air.

01:20:10 Venus is known for its super dense clouds.

01:20:13 They make it so bright and visible from Earth.

01:20:17 Venus reflects more than 75% of the light coming from the Sun.

01:20:21 This reflective cloud layer exists

01:20:24 thanks to the cloud of sulfuric acid droplets in the atmosphere.

01:20:27 And it gathers exactly at the height where the ship would float.

01:20:31 Fortunately, we already know how to fight acidity.

01:20:34 Some materials, such as teflon and some types of plastic,

01:20:38 are incredibly resistant to acid.

01:20:41 They could protect the ship's exterior.

01:20:43 So, let's imagine you need to work on an exterior platform.

01:20:48 Well, you could do it by wearing only a suit against chemical products

01:20:52 and by bringing the necessary supplies in the air.

01:20:55 Wow, that sounds fun, doesn't it?

01:20:58 Hmm, yeah. I'm not wearing any of that either.

01:21:01 [MUSIC PLAYING]

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