We are so busy with our work and daily lives that we often never stop to think what we're really doing here. What is our purpose in the universe? Are we alone here? Is there someone or something out there? But the most important question of all is what do we know about our planet? All our curiosity and enthusiasm seem to get lost somewhere when we grow up. But, it's never too late to learn and knowledge in today's world is vast and free. For surreal adventures we turn to movies and TV shows, but did you know you can find some really surreal things right here on our planet? There are some truly remarkable things that happen on our planet, some have been here for ages and some occur randomly. There is an old saying ‘The more we learn, the more we know'. So here are 15 weird and fun facts about our planet.
This is found in the Bolívar State, Venezuela near the border of Mexico. On the top of the mountain can be found 4 perfectly round sinkholes. The sinkholes are 352 meters wide and 314 meters deep. The sinkholes can only be seen from the sky as the area around it is covered in a lush green forest.
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There are three lakes in Africa that are positioned right over volcanic activity. The volcanic activity happening right under the water is basically magma moving under the lake floor. Sometimes the magma causes a huge amount of carbon dioxide to be released into the lake. This sudden release of carbon dioxide can cause a huge explosion can sometimes push the oxygen away which can cause anyone living organism to suffocate due to lack of oxygen.
Image Source: inhabitat.com
Yes, the green and blue planet we know and love used to be purple. The green we see on earth comes from the plants here. The plants on earth use chlorophyll for the process of photosynthesis. During this they reflect green light.
Studies and research have shown that early plant life on this planet may have been retinal based. This means that they reflected purple light and not green.
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As humans, we know our own weight, but did you know that your weight is calculated by how much gravity acts upon you, in relation to your mass? And did you know the pull of the earth's gravity is weaker at the equator? That means that your weight measured where you are will be a few kilograms lighter when measured at the equator.
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As crazy and weird as the name might sound, the phenomenon associated with that name is crazier. Morning glory clouds are a rare meteorological phenomenon that results when a single stretch of cloud is formed in the sky. It looks like a road made of a long, single cloud. Sometimes these can be seen in a group all parallel to each other.
Mostly observed in the southern part of the Gulf of Carpentaria which is in Northern Australia, the Morning Glory Clouds is an amazing sight to see.
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One look at an image of this phenomenon and it'll look like something from a heavy metal album cover. The most popular theory as to why this happens is that when a volcanic eruption takes places, positively charged rubble is sent out into the atmosphere. These collide with the negatively charged particles present in the atmosphere and this causes lightning. This is extremely rare.
Image Source: apod.nasa.gov
These heavenly demonstrations of lights are actually a result of the Earth's magnetic field. They are centred on the Earth's magnetic poles. The actual geographic poles are farther than the magnetic poles and hence the lights sometimes extend farther. In the North it is known as Aurora Borealis and in the South, it is known as the Aurora Australis.
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Bioluminescent waves may seem to look like an ocean of stars but it actually is the result of tiny organisms called phytoplanktons. Bioluminescence is nothing but generation of biological light by organisms. The most common type of marine bioluminescence is caused by a variety of phytoplankton known as dinoflagellates.
Image Source: news.nationalgeographic.com
This occurs when dead organic matter sinks to the bottom of a water body and it rots. Due to this, methane is released. If the water freezes, it traps the methane bubbles.
On first sight this is often mistaken for frozen jellyfish. This can be seen at Lake Abraham in Canada. Though harmless, if lit on fire these bubbles can explode.
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Found specifically in the Kawah Ijen volcano in Indonesia, the lava is not the typical red colour but neon blue. The lava from this volcano contains large amounts of pure sulphur that glows with an icy blue colour at night.
This being a very rare and spectacular sight, the locals have begun to take the blue lava and sell it.
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The famous Colombian river which is located in the Serrania de la Macarena province of Meta is also known as the ‘River of Five Colours'. It is regarded as the most beautiful river in the world as the water is crystal clear all year round.
During what is called the dip season when the water level falls, the moss underwater is exposed to the sunlight that gives this vast array of colours. The river looks like a liquid rainbow.
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NO! The Earth isn't flat. The earth is round but not the traditional round figure we learnt in geometry class. This means that the earth isn't a perfect round sphere shape. It is actually a little bit wider in the middle.
All those pictures of earth you've seen in books are not fake. The earth isn't exactly, perfectly round, as the mass within the planet is distributed unevenly. This has caused bumps in certain parts of the globe. But not to complicate things for children, the earth has been presented as a perfect sphere.
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This magnificent wonder is found in the West Central Mauritania in Africa. This is also known as the Richat structure. Even after all these years, scientists do not have a good explanation as to how this was formed. First it was believed that it was the result of an asteroid that hit the earth then some believed it was created by volcanic activity. There is no solid proof as to what or how this was formed.
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This amazing natural wonder is found in the Yunnan Province of China. These are large limestone formations come straight out of the ground. The stone forest covers an area of 350 kilometres which give the illusion of a forest made of stone.
The scientific reason for this is that 270 million years ago this area was underwater. As the seabed rose as the years went by, the water level also went down. This left the minerals that were eroded by the wind leaving the limestone structures behind.
Image Source: www.thetimes.co.uk
The is one of the most beautiful natural wonders found on this planet. It is located in the northern island of New Zealand. Found inside the Waitomo caves, the walls and ceiling is covered in small bio-luminescent glowworms that have a tiny blue glow on them. Many who visit this place have named this a ‘sky of living lights'.
Another amazing fact about this place is that the species of glowworm found in this cave is only found in New Zeland.
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