- Mother nature, a mad scientist!
There are a lot of weird things that happens on this Earth,
most of them caused by human beings. (snorts)
But in reality, if you actually look
at what mother nature does naturally,
it's going to blow your mind what this Earth is capable of!
Here are the 10 weirdest phenomenons on Earth.
Number 10 are penitentes.
Found only at very high altitudes,
such as the Andes Mountains, where the air is very dry,
penitentes resemble large, thin blades of ice
or hardened snow, that point like daggers
and swords at the sun.
These elongated spikes are spaced close together,
sometimes with no snow or ice between them,
which makes it appear as though
they are piercing through the earth beneath them.
Penitentes can range in size from only a few centimeters
to over five meters tall, towering over a person.
They get their name from the way that they resemble
a large group of people kneeling before something
and praying as if giving penance.
They're formed due to sublimation,
a process in which dry climate and the sun's rays
turn ice into water vapor without it
becoming liquid water first.
This looks like something the Night King would create.
You know nothing, John Snow.
Number nine are sailing stones.
The sailing stones of Death Valley National Park
in California are particularly strange
due to the fact that they seem to sail
exclusively over baked land.
Regular stones sitting in the lake bed of Racetrack Playa
will have seemingly guided across the surface
of the bone-dry ground, leaving a smooth track behind them.
They occur very rarely and remained largely unexplained
until 2006, when NASA scientist Ralph Lorenz
proved that the buoyancy of ice could cause frozen rocks
to glide across muddy surfaces when hit with strong winds.
During the winter in Death Valley,
the rocks get swept across Racetrack Playa,
leaving slick tracks that dry out in the summer.
And if that wasn't impressive or at least weird to you,
it should at least be weird or impressive
that we call a dry lake bed Racetrack Playa.
Come on, folks who name these things, (claps) do better.
Number eight is ocean sand circles.
Originally called underwater crop circles,
ocean sand circles were once
one of the biggest mysteries of the sea.
First discovered in 1995 by a group of divers
off the coast of Japan, these bizarre
yet beautiful circular sand formations
have continued to appear on the ocean floor,
confusing scientists for over a decade.
Then their creators were finally revealed
when another diver in the waters
near the island of Amami Oshima in Japan
discovered a new species of puffer fish
swimming in circles, low on the ocean floor.
It turns out the males of this particular species
create the spirograph pattern to attract a mate,
flapping his fins so strongly
that he kicks up the sand beneath him as he goes.
Kinda like the knowledge where ladies date me.
Incredibly, though the fish average only 12 centimeters
in length, their creations are nearly two meters across.
Number seven is Spotted Lake.
If you're looking for a more stylish body of water,
then head to Spotted Lake,
where your search will quickly be over.
Located in the Similkameen Valley,
just northwest of Osoyoos in British Colombia, Canada,
this bizarre lake is world-famous
for a polka dotted appearance.
The water here contains a large amount of calcium,
magnesium sulfate, sodium sulfates,
and various other minerals.
Every summer, as temperatures climb,
most of the lake's water evaporates,
leaving huge deposits of the colorful minerals behind
to float in what little water is left.
The effect is a large body of water covered in spots,
each one's color created by whatever mineral
it's composed of.
You can even walk spot to spot in certain places
as remaining minerals become so solid.
It's like mother nature's natural hopscotch.
Number six are fairy circles.
A circular natural mystery lies within the arid climate
of the Namib Desert in Namibia.
Fairy circles are a wonderfully strange phenomenon
that occur most commonly in the desert's dry grasslands.
The grasslands are affected by strange,
barren spots in a polka dot pattern
that looks like several small craters.
The definitive explanation for fairy circles
is still up for debate, but the answer may lie
in the competitive behaviors of local termite colonies.
Termites tend to clear out circular areas around their base
and will wipe out any opposing termite colonies
that they happen to encounter.
In some instances, neither colony can beat the other,
and each will establish several territories,
making a border against their enemy
and wiping out patches of grass
as well as other plants in the process.
Hey, stay away from my colony!
Okay.
You can't?
All right, I'm just gonna make mine over here.
Number five are polar stratospheric clouds.
Also called nacreous clouds, polar stratospheric clouds
are a cause for concern due to their destructive effects
on the Earth's ozone layer.
These strange, colorful clouds
form in high altitudes in polar winter regions.
Because of the curvature of our planet
and the height at which these clouds sit,
sunlight hits them before officially rising,
and illuminates them for a short time after setting.
The clouds literally light up before the sun
breaks over the horizon, creating a wondrous sight
that will make you content; that is, until you remember
that they're basically causing a lot of damage.
Polar stratospheric clouds hurt the ozone layer in two ways:
first, supporting chemical reactions
that create active chlorine;
and secondly, by removing nitric acid gas,
which offsets nitrogen in chlorine cycles.
If you didn't fully understand all that,
all you gotta know is there's multicolored fart clouds
in the sky that are hurting the Earth.
Make sense?
Number four is Pink Lake.
Why swim in ugly, clear water?
Ew, Becky!
When you can take a dip in cute Pink Lake.
Located in Middle Island on the southern coast
of Western Australia, Hillier Lake
is unlike any body of water you've likely ever seen,
because it's bright pink.
It's like swimming in Pepto-Bismol!
No diarrhea for you!
It's not completely understood
why the water is the color that it is,
but it's most likely the result of a high concentration
of Dunaliella salina, a micro algae.
It produces a red pigment that has dyed the lake
a vibrant pink, and the color is permanent.
Even if you removed some water in a container,
the water would also be pink.
But while it might look like the world's
biggest Pepto-Bismol reservoir, drinking any of the water
will probably have you feeling pretty sick, pretty quickly.
It's got a high concentrate of saline, baby.
You don't want to be drinking that.
It's incredibly high, yack!
Number three is the Eye of the Sahara.
Also known as the Richat Structure,
the Eye of the Sahara is a 40-kilometer-wide
indent in the Earth, a geological dome
located in the Sahara Desert outside of a small town
of Ouadane in west central Mauritania.
This colossal wonder was thought to have been created
by mankind or the result of an asteroid impact,
but modern scientific research has determined
that it's a naturally-occurring phenomenon
most likely caused when magma deep in the planet's crust
pushed a giant dome-shaped rock up to the surface,
creating a bulge that eroded over time, forming the eye.
The rings around the eye are made from different rock types,
which provide a unique mix of shapes as well as colors
that are so striking, astronauts actually use the formation
as their almost home signal when returning to Florida.
You might think it's weird looking down
on the Earth from space, but what if the Earth
is looking back up at you?
I see you!
Number two is Blood Falls.
Imagine going to one of the driest places
on a continent of ice, only to find a wall of stone
with a river of blood cascading down it.
I'd be like, "Vampires!" and I'm out.
That's basically what Blood Falls are.
Located in the McMurdo Dry Valleys
in Victoria Land, Antarctica, this five-story-tall,
red, saltwater waterfall moves slowly,
leaving an underground lake that was sealed
inside the Taylor Glacier for around two million years ago.
After the waterfall was discovered by geologists in 1911,
they believed that the blood red color
came from red algae present inside the glacier.
However, more recent scientific research
has revealed that it's actually
the large amounts of iron in its contents.
When the iron-abundant water meets the cool air outside,
it rusts, bringing out the deep reddish hue,
which many find beautiful, while others
understandably find disturbing.
I want to live there!
And number one is Pele's Hair.
Named after the flowing locks of the Hawaiian goddess
of volcanoes, Pele's Hair is a form of lava
that resembles thin strands of long hair.
Also knows as volcanic glass fibers,
this odd substance is formed when molten basaltic glass
from moving lava is blown out, forming tiny droplets,
and stretching out to form a fine line.
Due to the fact that it's incredibly light in weight,
the strands are often found in high places,
carried there by the wind.
People have spotted Pele's hair
wrapped around the top of trees
or even caught in the upper portions
of electrical poles or radio antennas.
If you ever happen upon some of these golden yellow strands,
practice caution by wearing gloves.
That's because it can be so brittle and sharp
that it can break off and cut into your skin.
Wow, it's so pretty.
Oh my god, it's worse than a porcupine!
(upbeat dance music)