Categories
Animals Life on Earth

10 Amazing Kangaroo Facts

Kangaroo is an iconic marsupial that is indigenous to Australia and New Guinea. Marsupials are mammals that carry their young in a pouch. Here are 10 amazing kangaroo facts.

Categories
Places Geology Travel

10 Amazing Natural Wonders Around the World

Spanning the length and breadth of our magnificent planet, nature’s wonders never cease to amaze. From the well-known to the undiscovered, these marvels showcase the staggering beauty and diversity of Earth’s landscapes. Some of these natural wonders are famous worldwide, while others remain hidden gems. Whether formed by the relentless power of water, wind, or tectonic forces, each phenomenon has a unique story to tell. Let’s embark on a journey to explore 10 such fascinating natural wonders around the world.

Categories
Geology Earth from Space Places

10 Krakatoa facts about the 1883 eruption

On August 26-27, 1883, one of the most notorious volcanic eruptions in history occurred. Krakatau (often spelled Krakatoa) erupted with an estimated 10,000 thousand times the force of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. The eruption was so violent that two-thirds of the island of Krakatoa and its surrounding archipelago were destroyed: about 23 square kilometers of Earth sank into the Sunda Strait.

Across Java and Sumatra, burning rock rained down, damaging and even destroying settlements. The sky went black.

Here are 10 amazing facts about the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa.

Categories
Places History

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World [With Images]

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.

Categories
Animals Life on Earth Oceans

10 Amazing Mobula Ray Facts

Mobula is a genus of Batoidea, which is commonly known as rays. Mobula rays (scientific name: Mobula tarapacana) are also known as “flying mobula”, “flying rays”, “eagle rays”, or “devil rays”. Here are 10 amazing Mobula ray facts.

Categories
Insects Life on Earth

Giant Weta: the heaviest insect on Earth [10 amazing giant weta facts]

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 the heaviest insect on Earth. Fully grown species can even be heavier than a mouse or sparrow.

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 relatives because of their isolation and lack of large predators. A female giant weta filled with eggs can reach up to 70 grams (2.47 oz.) or more!

Categories
Earth from Space Astronomy Life on Earth Solar System Space Exploration

Pale Blue Dot

The farthest spacecraft from Earth, NASA’s Voyager 1 (see notes 1) probe took a photo of planet Earth on February 14, 1990, from a record distance of about 6 billion kilometers (3.7 billion miles, 40 AU (see notes 2) from Earth. The photo is known as the Pale Blue Dot. In the photograph, Earth is shown as a fraction of a pixel (0.12 pixel in size) against the vastness of space. It was a part of the Solar System Family Portrait series of images.

The Voyager 1 spacecraft, which had completed its primary mission and was leaving the Solar System, was commanded by NASA to turn its camera around and take a photograph of Earth across a great expanse of space, at the request of Carl Sagan (see notes 3).

It quickly became the most iconic photo of Earth taken from space.