Lightning strikes the edge of the Grand Canyon, with the majestic “Indian Watchtower” (not actually built by Native Americans) in the foreground. When I saw this photo (via Reddit), I made this face:  It also took me on a curiosity journey: Lightning strikes Earth’s surface about 45 times every second. But not every spot on Earth is struck by lightning at the same frequency. Some places, like Antarctica, almost never see lightning. And some places, like a certain area of Democratic Republic of Congo, get almost 160 strikes per square kilometer every year. This area of Arizona gets about 10 strikes per square kilometer every year. Let’s use a conservative guess for the age of the Grand Canyon at about 6 million years (although some controversial estimates have put its age at up to 17 million years. Or even 70 million). The ridge area that the lightning is striking is about 1 square kilometer in area (I checked on Google Earth, below) View Larger Map If we assume that the Grand Canyon region’s climate has been fairly consistent over that time (which is a big assumption, and most likely not true), then this same sight has happened somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 million times. Lightning does strike twice. And that’s a beautiful thought.
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Lightning strikes the edge of the Grand Canyon, with the majestic “Indian Watchtower” (not actually built by Native Americans) in the foreground. When I saw this photo (via Reddit), I made this face: 

It also took me on a curiosity journey: Lightning strikes Earth’s surface about 45 times every second. But not every spot on Earth is struck by lightning at the same frequency. Some places, like Antarctica, almost never see lightning. And some places, like a certain area of Democratic Republic of Congo, get almost 160 strikes per square kilometer every year. This area of Arizona gets about 10 strikes per square kilometer every year.

Let’s use a conservative guess for the age of the Grand Canyon at about 6 million years (although some controversial estimates have put its age at up to 17 million years. Or even 70 million). The ridge area that the lightning is striking is about 1 square kilometer in area (I checked on Google Earth, below)


View Larger Map

If we assume that the Grand Canyon region’s climate has been fairly consistent over that time (which is a big assumption, and most likely not true), then this same sight has happened somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 million times.

Lightning does strike twice. And that’s a beautiful thought.

Lenticular and wave clouds are cool, but they don’t hold a candle to the undulatus asperatus clouds. Not new, but new to science, its Latin name means “undulating wave”. it’s like staring up from under the sea, or from beneath an undulating ice formation, except we are seeing a cloud rather than a solid or liquid. They look ominous, but are rarely stormy. Why they form and what their pattern means? I haven’t been able to find anything. Can you? (via APOD)
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Lenticular and wave clouds are cool, but they don’t hold a candle to the undulatus asperatus clouds. Not new, but new to science, its Latin name means “undulating wave”. it’s like staring up from under the sea, or from beneath an undulating ice formation, except we are seeing a cloud rather than a solid or liquid.

They look ominous, but are rarely stormy. Why they form and what their pattern means? I haven’t been able to find anything. Can you?

(via APOD)

Source: apod.nasa.gov

Lenticular and Wave Clouds As wind forces air over the top of mountains, it can force the formation of standing waves in the midst of that wind. As moist air rides up to the peak of the wave, it can condense in the cooler, higher atmosphere. These condensed peaks can stack on top of each other, and form lenticular clouds like we see in the top image above Mauna Kea. “Lenticular” comes from the Latin word for lens, describing the cloud’s oblong shape. Here’s a diagram of that windy wave, from Skybrary: On the downwind side, those wave peaks can extend for miles and miles, forming spots of condensation at each peak along the way. This forms the beautiful wave clouds you see in the bottom image. Clouds are pretty cool, eh?
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Lenticular and Wave Clouds As wind forces air over the top of mountains, it can force the formation of standing waves in the midst of that wind. As moist air rides up to the peak of the wave, it can condense in the cooler, higher atmosphere. These condensed peaks can stack on top of each other, and form lenticular clouds like we see in the top image above Mauna Kea. “Lenticular” comes from the Latin word for lens, describing the cloud’s oblong shape. Here’s a diagram of that windy wave, from Skybrary: On the downwind side, those wave peaks can extend for miles and miles, forming spots of condensation at each peak along the way. This forms the beautiful wave clouds you see in the bottom image. Clouds are pretty cool, eh?
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Lenticular and Wave Clouds

As wind forces air over the top of mountains, it can force the formation of standing waves in the midst of that wind. As moist air rides up to the peak of the wave, it can condense in the cooler, higher atmosphere. These condensed peaks can stack on top of each other, and form lenticular clouds like we see in the top image above Mauna Kea. “Lenticular” comes from the Latin word for lens, describing the cloud’s oblong shape. Here’s a diagram of that windy wave, from Skybrary:

On the downwind side, those wave peaks can extend for miles and miles, forming spots of condensation at each peak along the way. This forms the beautiful wave clouds you see in the bottom image.

Clouds are pretty cool, eh?

staceythinx: Beautifully atmospheric photography by Adnan Bubalo Great googly moogly … if we ever find another inhabited planet there’s just no chance it will be as pretty as this one. Ok, that first part’s not precisely true, but you know what I mean. Look at all that gorgeous Rayleigh scattering and atmospheric refraction!Earth, you damn fine.
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staceythinx: Beautifully atmospheric photography by Adnan Bubalo Great googly moogly … if we ever find another inhabited planet there’s just no chance it will be as pretty as this one. Ok, that first part’s not precisely true, but you know what I mean. Look at all that gorgeous Rayleigh scattering and atmospheric refraction!Earth, you damn fine.
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staceythinx: Beautifully atmospheric photography by Adnan Bubalo Great googly moogly … if we ever find another inhabited planet there’s just no chance it will be as pretty as this one. Ok, that first part’s not precisely true, but you know what I mean. Look at all that gorgeous Rayleigh scattering and atmospheric refraction!Earth, you damn fine.
Zoom Info
staceythinx: Beautifully atmospheric photography by Adnan Bubalo Great googly moogly … if we ever find another inhabited planet there’s just no chance it will be as pretty as this one. Ok, that first part’s not precisely true, but you know what I mean. Look at all that gorgeous Rayleigh scattering and atmospheric refraction!Earth, you damn fine.
Zoom Info
staceythinx: Beautifully atmospheric photography by Adnan Bubalo Great googly moogly … if we ever find another inhabited planet there’s just no chance it will be as pretty as this one. Ok, that first part’s not precisely true, but you know what I mean. Look at all that gorgeous Rayleigh scattering and atmospheric refraction!Earth, you damn fine.
Zoom Info
staceythinx: Beautifully atmospheric photography by Adnan Bubalo Great googly moogly … if we ever find another inhabited planet there’s just no chance it will be as pretty as this one. Ok, that first part’s not precisely true, but you know what I mean. Look at all that gorgeous Rayleigh scattering and atmospheric refraction!Earth, you damn fine.
Zoom Info
staceythinx: Beautifully atmospheric photography by Adnan Bubalo Great googly moogly … if we ever find another inhabited planet there’s just no chance it will be as pretty as this one. Ok, that first part’s not precisely true, but you know what I mean. Look at all that gorgeous Rayleigh scattering and atmospheric refraction!Earth, you damn fine.
Zoom Info
staceythinx: Beautifully atmospheric photography by Adnan Bubalo Great googly moogly … if we ever find another inhabited planet there’s just no chance it will be as pretty as this one. Ok, that first part’s not precisely true, but you know what I mean. Look at all that gorgeous Rayleigh scattering and atmospheric refraction!Earth, you damn fine.
Zoom Info

staceythinx:

Beautifully atmospheric photography by Adnan Bubalo

Great googly moogly … if we ever find another inhabited planet there’s just no chance it will be as pretty as this one.

Ok, that first part’s not precisely true, but you know what I mean.

Look at all that gorgeous Rayleigh scattering and atmospheric refraction!Earth, you damn fine.

Perspective Is Everything Nature has provided man with artistic inspiration from the first cave paintings to the most contemporary abstractions.  Canadian astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield is daily assembling his own gallery of artistic inspirations, armed with a camera in his seat aboard the International Space Station. Col. Hadfield’s Tumblr and Twitter feed are a simply stunning collection of Earth as art, and I highly recommend losing yourself in them for as long as you can. Very few people will ever get to see Earth from that perspective, but I was curious how scenes of Earth from orbit might overlap with terrestrial art. Are these a sign of inspirations yet to come, as we gain more appreciation for our planet from above it? From top: Boston at night vs. bursting fireworks Dripping reds and blues of the Australian outback vs. Reflections by my friend Kiah Denson The Etosha Pan of Africa vs. Jackson Pollock’s Gothic 1944 I doubt we’ll ever replicate the full splendor of nature in any medium. Even the most talented human hands still make little more than drugstore postcards attempting to capture the true beauty of a salty seaside sunset. But perhaps by altering our perspective on that which we are trying to capture, we can come ever closer.
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Perspective Is Everything Nature has provided man with artistic inspiration from the first cave paintings to the most contemporary abstractions.  Canadian astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield is daily assembling his own gallery of artistic inspirations, armed with a camera in his seat aboard the International Space Station. Col. Hadfield’s Tumblr and Twitter feed are a simply stunning collection of Earth as art, and I highly recommend losing yourself in them for as long as you can. Very few people will ever get to see Earth from that perspective, but I was curious how scenes of Earth from orbit might overlap with terrestrial art. Are these a sign of inspirations yet to come, as we gain more appreciation for our planet from above it? From top: Boston at night vs. bursting fireworks Dripping reds and blues of the Australian outback vs. Reflections by my friend Kiah Denson The Etosha Pan of Africa vs. Jackson Pollock’s Gothic 1944 I doubt we’ll ever replicate the full splendor of nature in any medium. Even the most talented human hands still make little more than drugstore postcards attempting to capture the true beauty of a salty seaside sunset. But perhaps by altering our perspective on that which we are trying to capture, we can come ever closer.
Zoom Info
Perspective Is Everything Nature has provided man with artistic inspiration from the first cave paintings to the most contemporary abstractions.  Canadian astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield is daily assembling his own gallery of artistic inspirations, armed with a camera in his seat aboard the International Space Station. Col. Hadfield’s Tumblr and Twitter feed are a simply stunning collection of Earth as art, and I highly recommend losing yourself in them for as long as you can. Very few people will ever get to see Earth from that perspective, but I was curious how scenes of Earth from orbit might overlap with terrestrial art. Are these a sign of inspirations yet to come, as we gain more appreciation for our planet from above it? From top: Boston at night vs. bursting fireworks Dripping reds and blues of the Australian outback vs. Reflections by my friend Kiah Denson The Etosha Pan of Africa vs. Jackson Pollock’s Gothic 1944 I doubt we’ll ever replicate the full splendor of nature in any medium. Even the most talented human hands still make little more than drugstore postcards attempting to capture the true beauty of a salty seaside sunset. But perhaps by altering our perspective on that which we are trying to capture, we can come ever closer.
Zoom Info
Perspective Is Everything Nature has provided man with artistic inspiration from the first cave paintings to the most contemporary abstractions.  Canadian astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield is daily assembling his own gallery of artistic inspirations, armed with a camera in his seat aboard the International Space Station. Col. Hadfield’s Tumblr and Twitter feed are a simply stunning collection of Earth as art, and I highly recommend losing yourself in them for as long as you can. Very few people will ever get to see Earth from that perspective, but I was curious how scenes of Earth from orbit might overlap with terrestrial art. Are these a sign of inspirations yet to come, as we gain more appreciation for our planet from above it? From top: Boston at night vs. bursting fireworks Dripping reds and blues of the Australian outback vs. Reflections by my friend Kiah Denson The Etosha Pan of Africa vs. Jackson Pollock’s Gothic 1944 I doubt we’ll ever replicate the full splendor of nature in any medium. Even the most talented human hands still make little more than drugstore postcards attempting to capture the true beauty of a salty seaside sunset. But perhaps by altering our perspective on that which we are trying to capture, we can come ever closer.
Zoom Info
Perspective Is Everything Nature has provided man with artistic inspiration from the first cave paintings to the most contemporary abstractions.  Canadian astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield is daily assembling his own gallery of artistic inspirations, armed with a camera in his seat aboard the International Space Station. Col. Hadfield’s Tumblr and Twitter feed are a simply stunning collection of Earth as art, and I highly recommend losing yourself in them for as long as you can. Very few people will ever get to see Earth from that perspective, but I was curious how scenes of Earth from orbit might overlap with terrestrial art. Are these a sign of inspirations yet to come, as we gain more appreciation for our planet from above it? From top: Boston at night vs. bursting fireworks Dripping reds and blues of the Australian outback vs. Reflections by my friend Kiah Denson The Etosha Pan of Africa vs. Jackson Pollock’s Gothic 1944 I doubt we’ll ever replicate the full splendor of nature in any medium. Even the most talented human hands still make little more than drugstore postcards attempting to capture the true beauty of a salty seaside sunset. But perhaps by altering our perspective on that which we are trying to capture, we can come ever closer.
Zoom Info
Perspective Is Everything Nature has provided man with artistic inspiration from the first cave paintings to the most contemporary abstractions.  Canadian astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield is daily assembling his own gallery of artistic inspirations, armed with a camera in his seat aboard the International Space Station. Col. Hadfield’s Tumblr and Twitter feed are a simply stunning collection of Earth as art, and I highly recommend losing yourself in them for as long as you can. Very few people will ever get to see Earth from that perspective, but I was curious how scenes of Earth from orbit might overlap with terrestrial art. Are these a sign of inspirations yet to come, as we gain more appreciation for our planet from above it? From top: Boston at night vs. bursting fireworks Dripping reds and blues of the Australian outback vs. Reflections by my friend Kiah Denson The Etosha Pan of Africa vs. Jackson Pollock’s Gothic 1944 I doubt we’ll ever replicate the full splendor of nature in any medium. Even the most talented human hands still make little more than drugstore postcards attempting to capture the true beauty of a salty seaside sunset. But perhaps by altering our perspective on that which we are trying to capture, we can come ever closer.
Zoom Info

Perspective Is Everything

Nature has provided man with artistic inspiration from the first cave paintings to the most contemporary abstractions. 

Canadian astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield is daily assembling his own gallery of artistic inspirations, armed with a camera in his seat aboard the International Space Station. Col. Hadfield’s Tumblr and Twitter feed are a simply stunning collection of Earth as art, and I highly recommend losing yourself in them for as long as you can. Very few people will ever get to see Earth from that perspective, but I was curious how scenes of Earth from orbit might overlap with terrestrial art. Are these a sign of inspirations yet to come, as we gain more appreciation for our planet from above it?

From top:

  • Boston at night vs. bursting fireworks
  • Dripping reds and blues of the Australian outback vs. Reflections by my friend Kiah Denson
  • The Etosha Pan of Africa vs. Jackson Pollock’s Gothic 1944

I doubt we’ll ever replicate the full splendor of nature in any medium. Even the most talented human hands still make little more than drugstore postcards attempting to capture the true beauty of a salty seaside sunset. But perhaps by altering our perspective on that which we are trying to capture, we can come ever closer.

Panoramic Eruption Volcanic eruptions, while seemingly rare, are actually quite common. There’s around 1,500 active volcanoes on Earth and about 50 of those will erupt in a given year. But rarely will two erupt close to each other. Even rarer is three erupting in proximity. Four? That’s just nuts! But that’s what is currently happening on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, along the northwest edge of the Ring of Fire. This particular string of of eruptions around Tolbachik resulted in huge rivers of lava pouring from fissures in the Earth, but very little ash and debris released into the sky. This allowed an aerial panorama team to helicopter around the bubbling inferno without dying a fiery death. They put together this amazing interactive volcano panorama that lets you fly above the action from the comfort of your own home, which is much safer than trudging through Siberian ice in order to stand next to exploding magma. Enjoy that (I did), and then check out this photo tour of the year in volcanic activity from The Atlantic.
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Panoramic Eruption Volcanic eruptions, while seemingly rare, are actually quite common. There’s around 1,500 active volcanoes on Earth and about 50 of those will erupt in a given year. But rarely will two erupt close to each other. Even rarer is three erupting in proximity. Four? That’s just nuts! But that’s what is currently happening on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, along the northwest edge of the Ring of Fire. This particular string of of eruptions around Tolbachik resulted in huge rivers of lava pouring from fissures in the Earth, but very little ash and debris released into the sky. This allowed an aerial panorama team to helicopter around the bubbling inferno without dying a fiery death. They put together this amazing interactive volcano panorama that lets you fly above the action from the comfort of your own home, which is much safer than trudging through Siberian ice in order to stand next to exploding magma. Enjoy that (I did), and then check out this photo tour of the year in volcanic activity from The Atlantic.
Zoom Info

Panoramic Eruption

Volcanic eruptions, while seemingly rare, are actually quite common. There’s around 1,500 active volcanoes on Earth and about 50 of those will erupt in a given year. But rarely will two erupt close to each other. Even rarer is three erupting in proximity. Four? That’s just nuts!

But that’s what is currently happening on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, along the northwest edge of the Ring of Fire. This particular string of of eruptions around Tolbachik resulted in huge rivers of lava pouring from fissures in the Earth, but very little ash and debris released into the sky. This allowed an aerial panorama team to helicopter around the bubbling inferno without dying a fiery death.

They put together this amazing interactive volcano panorama that lets you fly above the action from the comfort of your own home, which is much safer than trudging through Siberian ice in order to stand next to exploding magma.

Enjoy that (I did), and then check out this photo tour of the year in volcanic activity from The Atlantic.

Little Pink Aliens This is Hutt Lagoon, a salt lake in western Australia that looks like a scene from another planet. Photographer Steve Back noticed its odd pink hue from the air and captured this gallery of stunningly alien waterscapes. The really cool part is why it’s pink and red. This lake has such high salt concentration that it’s almost devoid of life. The key word there is “almost”. An algae called Dunaliella salina is able to survive in the salty environment by producing the chemical glycerol, a viscous substance that helps it not get pickled by the brine. The pink color comes from the algae’s high beta-carotene concentration, a pigment they produce in order to protect themselves from intense sunlight as these shallow pools evaporate in the Australian heat. It’s a similar tale of algae and pigments as the story of why flamingos are pink. I think they’d have a field day at this rose-colored buffet. It’s proof again that no matter how harsh or inhospitable we view an environment, evolution’s powerful, creative hand can mold a creature able to live there. As long as a few basic ingredients for life exist, life will exist. (via Co.Design)
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Little Pink Aliens

This is Hutt Lagoon, a salt lake in western Australia that looks like a scene from another planet. Photographer Steve Back noticed its odd pink hue from the air and captured this gallery of stunningly alien waterscapes.

The really cool part is why it’s pink and red. This lake has such high salt concentration that it’s almost devoid of life. The key word there is “almost”. An algae called Dunaliella salina is able to survive in the salty environment by producing the chemical glycerol, a viscous substance that helps it not get pickled by the brine. The pink color comes from the algae’s high beta-carotene concentration, a pigment they produce in order to protect themselves from intense sunlight as these shallow pools evaporate in the Australian heat.

It’s a similar tale of algae and pigments as the story of why flamingos are pink. I think they’d have a field day at this rose-colored buffet. It’s proof again that no matter how harsh or inhospitable we view an environment, evolution’s powerful, creative hand can mold a creature able to live there. As long as a few basic ingredients for life exist, life will exist.

(via Co.Design)