On August 26-27, 1883, a small island in the Indian Ocean obliterated itself in one of the most notorious volcanic eruptions in history. Krakatau (often spelled Krakatoa) erupted with such violence that two-thirds of the island, about 23 square kilometers, sank into the Sunda Strait. The explosions heard in the 1883 eruption remain the loudest …
Author Archives: M. Özgür Nevres
Will we ever visit other stars?
Is it possible for humanity to visit other stars (or other stars that have planets, actually) in the future? Earth is our one and only home. As Carl Sagan said (Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space), “On Earth, everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every …
Amazing supermoon photos from the ISS
August 10, 2014, was the closest, brightest supermoon of this year. A Russian cosmonaut, Oleg Artemyev aboard the International Space Station (ISS) took wonderful photos of this great astronomical event while the moon was setting.
Sleeping cat and dog, a beautiful scene
I took these photos last week in Bodrum, Turkey. A cat and dog (both are stray animals) sleeping together in the same place, very closely. Beautiful. The traditional belief that cats and dogs are natural enemies is not always true. If appropriately socialized, cats and dogs may have relationships that are not antagonistic, and dogs …
Seven Wonders of the World
The “Seven Wonders of the World”, also known as the “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World”, describes seven great constructions known in the Hellenistic period (see notes 1). None of them but the Great Pyramid of Giza (Kheops Pyramid) do exist today.
A baby monkey and a lion cub play with each other – adorable scene
Today’s “daily d’awww” is coming from China: A baby monkey playing with a lion cub at Guaipo Manchurian Tiger Park in Shenyang. There are also two cute tiger cubs playing with each other in the background.
Gigantic School of Mobula Rays – Amazing video
An amazing video of titled Gigantic School of Rays from National Geographic. A record-breaking school of Mobula rays has arrived off the coast of Baja California. Some of them are even flying over the sea surface!
The amazing Giant Weta – the heaviest insect on Earth (70+ grams)
In the small islands of New Zealand, the world’s heaviest insect lives – The Giant weta. There are 70 types of species of weta in the genus Deinacrida of the family Anostostomatidae. Giant weta is endemic to New Zealand and is an example of island gigantism: which is a biological phenomenon leading to a larger size than their mainland …
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Pale Blue Dot
The farthest spacecraft from Earth, NASA’s Voyager 1 Notes 1 probe took a photo of planet Earth in 1990, from a record distance of about 6 billion kilometers (3.7 billion miles, 40 AU Notes 2) from Earth. The photo is known as the Pale Blue Dot. In the photograph, Earth is shown as a fraction …
