It's safe to say that the astronauts chilling up on the International Space Station have a pretty good view. Possible the best view of Earth (ha ha). Astronaut Christina Koch had some time on her hands, and made an incredible time lapse photo of the Earth from an 11 minute video. It's definitely not a perspective you see every day, and it is absolutely beautiful.
ocean
December 26, 2004. The day of the worst tsunami in living memory that pummeled Indonesia and shocked the world. It was the first major tsunami that took place after mobile phones with cameras were created, and people around the world were able to witness the catastrophe through the shaky videos. But this footage was useful for more than that. Video footage helped scientists to understand tsunamis more. Here's how.
Blue Sharks are one of the most prolific shark species in the world. They are also one of the most widely spread, being found as far south as Chile, and as far north as Norway. Though they prefer cool waters, they are most often seen of the coasts of Wales, Japan, South Africa, and Canada. They are lifelong migratory, traveling great distances searching for food. They are known sometimes to even migrate as far as the distance between New England all the way to South Africa. Check out some interesting facts about the species.
Mankind really had no idea what Pluto looked like until 2015, when the New Horizons spacecraft hurtled by the planet and took the first "close up" pictures of the distant dwarf-planet. The flyby gave us more than a few HD pictures however. Though the surface of Pluto is frigid, due to a balmy average temperature of -380 degrees Fahrenheit, there are a number of surprises to be found, above and below the surface.
In 1985, explorer Robert Ballard, a Doctor at the University of Rhode Island, and at the time working with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Research Institution, discovered the remains of the RMS Titanic. Besides being one of the most famous wrecks in history, and one that remained a mystery up until that point, the Titanic was also an unknown. No one had seen it since it fell into the ocean depths over a century ago. A great deal of time and money went into the project, but recently declassified details reveal it was much more than just a search for the famous sunken vessel.
By far the best views of Earth are not stunning sunsets artificially created by Snapchat or Instagram filters. It isn't on top of a mountain looking down at the world below. It is from space. And anyone who has been there will tell you, there's nothing that comes close. IF you're still skeptical, you need to check out these time-lapse visuals taken from the International Space Station by Astronaut Nick Hague.
Though the time-lapse is a huge blow for the Flat-Earth movement, because its pretty clear from the video, its round. Maybe we can go back to deciding if the dress is blue or yellow?
On Sunday night, the ocean running alongside the East Coast Road in Chennai lit up with sparkling, luminescent water. Eyewitnesses were shocked and delighted to witness something so magical-looking and dubbed it 'sea sparkle'. But what they saw wasn't an undiscovered phenomenon - it's called bioluminescence and it actually occurs in many living organisms. That doesn't make it any less amazing though. Here's what 'sea sparkle' really is.
Bionic Yarn.
No, not from Spiderman, but yarn and fabrics made up of single-use plastic bottles--many found floating in the ocean--sewed into hip clothes. That's the idea behind the company Bionic Yarn, co-founded by Tyson Toussant, partnered with ocean protector Paul Watson, and with recording artist Pharrell Williams as their Creative Director.
They make denim jeans, snowboarding jackets, boat covers, furniture, and other products using their innovating product.
Their concept is to clean the oceans and promote using reusable products. For instance, they promote facts about plastic bottle usage:
Apparently, since "plastic bottles are made up of the same polymer as polyester," Bionic Yarn can bypass the use of crude oil-based yarn products through their own recycling process.
They refine the bottles into chips and then heat and pull-apart the fibers and spin them into yarn. They can then mix the yarn with cotten or wool for whatever item they want to sew.
These aren't your Mama's recycled pants.
Check out their products here.
This seems like a normal ocean exploration video until about halfway through when they get to the unexpected discovery of thousands of crabs swarming together in murky water like a spooky horde of zombies.
The scientist in the video was unable to explain why the crabs were doing what they were doing but he does mention that this behavior has been seen before in insects.
Via The Oregonian
Sneaker waves are common on the Oregon coast and they really can sneak up on you, if you're not careful. These unpredictable waves often happen when other waves bounce off complex terrain on the coast and create conditions for one big, dangerous wave. This is how the Oregon Parks Department describes sneaker waves:
They´re called sneaker waves because they appear without warning, often surging high up on the beach with deadly force, and are impossible to predict. Sneaker waves also carry a large amount of sand that can saturate your clothes, weighing you down and making escape difficult if not impossible.
How to play it safe: Never turn your back on the ocean.
via Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
"Never turn your back on the ocean." Solid advice.
Via Nanakuli Gomez
Plain and simple, Kuli the one-eyed rescue cat is living the life out in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Kuli out for a nice paddle:
Kuli bides his time swimming across Hawaii's warm bright blue waters with his human surfer friends.
Kuli just trying to kick it for a cool minute:
Kuli's owners, Alexandra Gomez and Krista Littleton, tell the Daily Mail that Kuli's been a surfing beach bum for almost a year now. Gomez and Littleton adopted Kuli when he was just 3-months-old and weighed a pretty pound.
Shortly after Kuli's adoption, he had to undergo surgery to remove an infected eye. Gomez and Littleton credit Kuli's clear comfortability with the water as result of his recovery process, which involved frequent bathing.
Via Robyn Malcolm
Robyn Malcolm scored a beautiful picture of animal friendship in Eden, New South Wales when she captured that glorious image of a seal riding a whale.
Look at it again.
He's just chilling. Hanging out and enjoying the scenery while his oceanic minion delivers him to his destination.
There's no telling what part this cetacean transportation has in the global turmoil over ride sharing.
But probably this pair is just really late to the weasel riding a woodpecker party and they think they can catch some of that sweet, sweet virality.
Here's that picture again, just for fun.
There may no longer be plenty of fish in the sea.
A new study from the World Wildlife Fund arrived Sept. 16 to give you that particular sinking feeling that can only be found in the apocalyptic state towards which the world is slowly deteriorating.
The study, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, found that global marine life has declined by half, half, since 1970.
Analysis by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) of the population trends of marine species as presented in WWF's Living Blue Planet Report - an updated study of marine mammals, birds, reptiles and fish - shows a decline of 49 per cent in the size of marine populations between 1970 and 2012. As well as being disastrous for ecosystems, these findings spell trouble for all nations, especially people in the developing world who depend heavily on the ocean's resources.
The findings are based on the Living Planet Index, a database maintained and analysed by researchers at ZSL. Following alarming statistics raised in the Living Planet Report 2014, revealing huge declines in vertebrate populations around the world, this special report studies how overfishing, damage to habitat and climate change are affecting marine biodiversity.
The analysis tracked 5,829 populations of 1,234 species, from sea birds to sharks to leatherback turtles, making the data sets almost twice as large as past studies.
With fun subheadings like "Global food supply depleted" and "Devastating figures", the study credits climate change with causing the crazy decline.
NEW report: Marine populations have declined nearly 50% since 1970 #BluePanda http://t.co/AOMelped4J pic.twitter.com/MsMu381MaZ
— WWF (@WWF) September 16, 2015
Luckily, our national leaders are all firmly committed to reversing carbon emissions and slowing the steady pace of man-made climate change.
I've got to go lie down.
Via Rich German
Rich German has been paddle boarding around Laguna Beach, California for years, but he has never seen a pod of Orcas until now.
Here’s his GoPro footage of the moment as the 5 killer whales swim around him and even underneath his board.
“I’m sharing this to raise awareness for these incredible, magical creatures,” he writes on Facebook.
Via Associated Press
Ruby Holt spent the majority of her life on a farm in Tennessee, but just before her 101st birthday she finally got to go to the beach.
After discovering she had never been, two employees at her assisted living center applied for a grant through a charity organization called Wish of a Lifetime, which funded her entire trip to the Alabama coast on the Gulf of Mexico.
What did she think after taking a stroll on the sand and putting her feet in the water?
"It's cold."
