Category: bizarre

Zipwire ride from Spain to Portugal

David Jarman, the British creator of Limit Zero, set up and created a zipwire ride connecting the Spanish village of Sanlúcar de Guadiana with Alcoutim, across the Guardiana River in Portugal.
Visitors are provided a unique experience crossing over the River Guadiana from Spain to Portugal. Along the 720 meters joining the two countries, users cross over the river at speeds between 70 and 80 kilometers per hour, literally flying through time and gaining one hour because of the time zone change between both countries.
Participants, when they reach the end of the zip line in Portugal, they walk to the Alcoutim jetty where they are ferried back across the river to Spain.

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Dust devils

A dust devil in Arizona – By NASA (NASA web page & source file) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

A dust devil is a strong relatively long-lived whirlwind, ranging from half a meter wide and a few meters tall to more than 10 meters wide and more than 1000 meters tall. Dust devils are usually harmless, but can on rare occasions grow large enough to pose a threat to both people and property. Dust devils form when hot air near the surface rises quickly through a small pocket of cooler, low-pressure air above it. A fully formed dust devil is a funnel-like chimney through which hot air moves, both upwards and in a circle. As the hot air rises, it cools, loses its buoyancy and eventually ceases to rise.
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Grüner See – An alpine park that turns into a lake in summer

By Herzi Pinki (Own work) [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC BY-SA 2.5], via Wikimedia Commons

Grüner See (Green Lake) is a lake in Styria, Austria, surrounded by the Hochschwab Mountains and forests. The name “Green Lake” originated because of its emerald-green water. During winter, the lake is only 1–2 m (3–7 ft) deep and the surrounding area is used as a county park. However, in spring, when the temperature rises and snow melts, the basin of land below the mountains fills with water. The lake reaches its maximum depth of around 12 m (39 ft). The waters are at their highest in June when it becomes a destination for divers keen to explore the rare phenomenon. A bridge and a bench could also be found underwater, as well as trails and trees. Info WIKIPEDIA Continue reading Grüner See – An alpine park that turns into a lake in summer

Urban foxes roaming the streets of London

Ayres Street, Southwark – By Duncan Harris from Nottingham, UK (Fox Trot) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Today, Britain is home to about 33,000 urban foxes, with about 10,000 of them living in London. As Britain’s suburbs pushed deep into the fox’s natural habitat many foxes in turn headed for the inner city.
They have adapted well to these environments, taking advantage of man-made features such as houses and gardens. For food, they take advantage of food thrown away by humans. In some cases, human residents will feed foxes that frequent their local area. In this sense, a relationship has been established in which foxes have become comfortable toward the humans who do not much mind the presence of the foxes.

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The museum of curious rocks that resemble faces

Chinsekikan (which means hall of curious rocks) is a museum in Japan that contains nothing but rocks that look like faces. The museum’s founder, who passed away in 2010, collected rocks for over fifty years. Especially strange rocks that naturally resemble celebrities, such as Elvis Presley,  movie characters, and more.

Fascinating winter phenomenon – Snow rollers

By Perduejn – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

A snow roller is a rare meteorological phenomenon in which large snowballs are formed naturally as chunks of snow are blown along the ground by wind, picking up material along the way, in much the same way that the large snowballs used in snowmen are made. Unlike snowballs made by people, snow rollers are typically cylindrical in shape, and are often hollow since the inner layers, which are the first layers to form, are weak and thin compared to the outer layers and can easily be blown away, leaving what looks like a doughnut or Swiss roll. (Source Wikipedia)

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Oregon’s ‘Lost Lake’ disappearing through lava tubes

Image source

Oregon is home to the towering Cascades, a range of mountains and active volcanoes. The Lost Lake likely formed about 3,000 years ago, when lava flowing from a volcanic vent blocked a river channel and created the lake. The lake bed begins to fill in the late fall, when the amount of rain coming in starts exceeding the ability of the lava tubes to drain off the water. But during the dry months, the lake vanishes and turns into meadow. The reason? Two hollow lava tubes at the bottom of the lake are constantly draining the lake dry, much like a bathtub left unplugged. It’s not entirely clear where the water goes, but it possibly seeps into the porous subsurface underground. There have been numerous attempts to plug the leak, those endeavors, however, would only result in the lake flooding. Continue reading Oregon’s ‘Lost Lake’ disappearing through lava tubes