5 Most Dangerous Active Volcanoes Around The World

At one time, volcanic eruptions were thought to be a punishment from the Gods.

Nowadays, we know volcanic eruptions are a result of glowing hot magma being forced up from the mantle through vents in the earth’s crust. Of course, that doesn’t make their explosive effects any less devastating.

Here is a list of volcanoes most likely to erupt and wreak tragedy on surrounding communities and the environment at large:

1. Yellowstone Caldera, United States of America

The bubbling sulfuric hot springs and erupting geysers of Yellowstone national park have long attracted tourists from far and wide. The park is breathtakingly beautiful and awe inspiring. But underneath the beauty of Yellowstone lies a super-volcano that has the potential to wipe out the Western United States and alter the course of human history.

As the name suggests, super volcanoes are volcanic eruptions that are, well, big. Really big. In fact, super volcanoes are a phenomenon that has never been observed by mankind. The last supervolcano explosion we know of occurred 640,000 years ago in Yellowstone. The first known super volcano explosion 2.1 million years ago was an incredible 25,000 times larger than the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens which killed 57 people and hurled volcanic ash around the world.

Unlike traditional volcanoes, super volcanoes don’t have a cone shaped mountain, instead they form what are known as calderas – the sunken areas that are left over from previous super volcano eruptions. Essentially, all of Yellowstone is a giant caldera, ready to blow and devastate humanity. Experts estimate that a Yellowstone eruption would kill 87,000 people immediately, while the clouds of ash and gas would enter the jet stream and have untold effects on the world’s food supply.

2. Mt. Vesuvius, Italy

Mount Vesuvius in Campagnia, Italy has a history of activity that makes it one of the world’s most dangerous volcanoes. It last erupted in 1944, but it usually has an eruption cycle of just 20 years. Moreover, 3 million people live relatively close to the crater, as it sits just 5 miles east of Naples. This makes it the most densely populated volcanic region in the entire world.

Mt. Vesuvius is the only volcano to have erupted on the European mainland within the last hundred years, and is probably most famous for its massive eruption in 79 AD, when it buried the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii.

3. Popocatépetl, Mexico

Popocatépetl is a large, glacier covered peak that lies around 35 miles from Mexico City. Around 9 million people live within Popocatépetl’s blast radius, and it has erupted more than 20 times since 1519.
It last erupted in 2000. Thank fully, preventative evacuations of 41,000 people from surrounding towns prevented a major catastrophe.

4. Sakurajima, Japan

This composite volcano in Japan was once its own island, but lava flows in its 1914 eruption caused it to connect to the mainland. Many experts refer to it as the “Vesuvius of the east”, due to its high level of volcanic activity.

Every year, thousands of small explosions come from Sakurajima’s peak, throwing up ash over the surrounding areas. However, a major eruption could have deadly consequences for the 700,000 residents of Kagoshima, who live just miles from the Volcano. The city even has special volcano shelters where people can go to take cover from falling debris.

5. Galeras, Columbia

Located in Southern Columbia near the border with Ecuador, Galeras has been active for at least 1 million years. It erupts frequently, with its first recorded eruption dating back to 1580. More alarming is the fact that a city of 450,000 residents – the city of Pasto – lies on its eastern slope.

While it went dormant in 1978, it went active again in 1988 after just 10 years. When scientists held a Decade Volcano conference in 1993 to address the dangers of Galeras, an unexpected eruption occurred, killing 6 scientists and 3 tourists. Since 2000, it has erupted almost every year, spouting out ash and lava and causing tremors in the region.

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Puzzle of why penguin cannot fly 'solved'

In the water, penguins can swim with agility and ease - but this ability might have cost these creatures the power of flight

The puzzle of why the penguin is unable to fly may have finally been solved.

Researchers believe that the bird's underwater prowess may have cost it its ability to fly.

By looking at seabirds closely related to the penguin, scientists confirmed that a wing that is good for flying cannot also be good for diving and swimming.

The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Professor John Speakman, from the University of Aberdeen and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said: "Like many people, I've always been interested in penguins, and seeing them do these phenomenal marches across the ice, I've often thought: 'Why don't they just fly?'

"And it's really great to be involved in the group of people that have solved it."

Stubby wings

There are several long-standing theories about why birds cannot fly.

One idea is that some species became flightless because of a lack of predators on the ground.

"The other idea is a 'biomechanical hypothesis'," explained Prof Speakman.

"When the bird is flying and diving it has to use its wings to do two different things. The biomechanical hypothesis is that you cannot build a wing that is good at doing both."

To investigate, the researchers looked at a close relative of the penguin: the guillemot.

This black-and-white seabird not only looks a lot like a penguin, it can swim nearly as well. But unlike the penguin it can fly.

The guillemot is able to fly - just. The researchers found it used so much energy to flap its short wings, they were surprised it could stay aloft

The researchers analysed the amount of energy that the bird was using.

They found that it could dive with relative ease, while flying was much more tiring for the guillemot.

Prof Speakman said: "The energy costs are very very high. These birds have these very short wings and they have to beat them at an incredible speed to stay in the air. It is exhausting for them."

The researchers believe that the guillemot is using so much energy, it is only just able to keep itself aloft.

They said that the bird represented a tipping point between seabirds that are able to both fly and swim, and those that are flightless.

In the past, they suggest, the penguin would have faced an evolutionary trade off between staying airborne or having agility beneath the waves.

Prof Speakman explained: "Basically the hypothesis is that as the wings became more and more efficient for them to dive, they became less and less efficient for them to fly.

"At some point it became so 'expensive' for them to fly, that it was better to give up flying altogether and make the wings into small flippers."

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Blueberries can help improve your memory

Blueberries. Packed with antioxidants, blueberries can do a lot to protect the brain.They contain anthocyanin, a phytochemical which boosts memory.

 The antioxidants in the berries can slow the aging process by delaying the oxidation process and fighting free radicals, which have been linked with memory loss problems. Blueberries are also a great source of flavonoids, natural compounds that can enhance spatial memory and learning. 
[Source]

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In Thailand Buffalo Gave Birth To Human Face Alike buffalo

In Thailand, a buffalo gave birth to a human-like baby.This is a photo of a buffalo very similar to human especially its face which is dominantly similar to human. However, its hands and feets are more like a buffalo. But overall the buffalo-boy has most organs of a cow having human shaped. 

It has passed away immediately after it was born. Thais believe this is some sort of phenomenon that brings luck and everyone in that village were praying for blessings. The face of this mystery human-like baby buffalo was totally deformed that I can’t know whether it looks like a buffalo or human face.
 

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Animals can rain from the sky

There are so many thing of nature that are unrevealed from us and one of them is animal rain,it might sound little bizarre & unbelievable but it is true and its occurrences have been reported in many countries throughout history.


WHAT IS ANIMAL RAIN?
Well it is a rare meteorological phenomenon in which flightless animals "rain" from the sky.One hypothesis offered to explain this phenomenon is that strong winds traveling over water sometimes pick up creatures such as fish or frogs, and carry them for up to several miles.However, this primary aspect of the phenomenon has never been witnessed or scientifically tested.

The animals most likely to drop from the sky in a rainfall are fish and frogs, with birds coming third. Sometimes the animals survive the fall, especially fish, suggesting a small time gap between the extraction and the actual drop. Several witnesses of raining frogs describe the animals as startled, though healthy, and exhibiting relatively normal behavior shortly after the event. In some incidents, however, the animals are frozen to death or even completely enclosed in blocks of ice.


Most recent occurrences 

• Loreto, Agusan del Sur, Philippines, January 13, 2012
• Lajamanu, Northern Territory, Australia, February 25 and 26, 2010
• Bhanwad, Jamnagar, India, Oct 24, 2009[17]

SCIENTIFIC POINT OF VIEW
More recently, a scientific explanation for the phenomenon has been developed that involves tornadic waterspouts.Waterspouts are capable of capturing objects and animals and lifting them into the air. Under this theory, waterspouts or tornados transport animals to relatively high altitudes, carrying them over large distances. The winds are capable of carrying the animals over a relatively wide area and allow them to fall in a concentrated fashion in a localized area.[8] More specifically, some tornadoes can completely suck up a pond, letting the water and animals fall some distance away in the form of a rain of animals.
[Source]

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A strawberry is not an actual berry, but a banana is

Berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary.The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp.The entire pericarp is fleshy, although skin is sometimes tough. E.g. grape, tomato, papaya, pomegranate, sapote, persimmon, guava, banana and avocado.

The seeds are usually embedded in the flesh of the ovary. A plant that bears berries is said to be bacciferous.On the other hand,Strawberries are not berries. They actually are an example of an “aggregate fruit”, forming from a flower that has many ovaries; the ovary being the part of the flower that eventually develops and ripens into a fruit.Once the ovaries are pollinated, the ovaries will swell and eventually form the strawberry as we think of it.
As noted, strawberries form from a flower that has many ovaries. This makes them a complex fruit, much like blackberries or raspberries.


There is a theory that strawberries were named by 19th century children who picked the fruit, strung them on grass straws, and sold them as "Straws of berries".
[Source]

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Can You Really Charge Your Mobile Battery From Sacred Fig Leaves?

Well now days this information spreading everywhere all over internet(blogs,facebook,youtube etc) that you can charge your mobile phone battery with Sacred Fig Leaves(peepal leaves).Some says its true and some says its hoax.

They say following guidelines to charge your mobile battery:

Step by Step guide to charge your mobile battery using peepal leaf
1- Open your mobile cover
2- Take out your battery
3- Take two to three fresh leaves of peepal/pipal/ashwattha tree
4- Touch the stub of these leaves on your mobile battery terminal for a minute
5- Clean the mobile battery terminal with the soft cloth
6- Put your battery again in your mobile and switch it on
7- Now you can see the result
8- If required repeat the process with fresh leaves.


what it really is ?
Well there is no scientific evidence whatsoever to support claims that such an extraordinary technique would actually work.It is possible to construct rudimentary batteries out of everyday objects such as potatoes, wire and nails. However, it is absurd to suggest that enough energy to charge a mobile phone battery could somehow magically flow from ordinary tree leaves just by touching them to a battery terminal, especially in only a minute or so. Even purpose-built, mains connected phone chargers take much longer than a minute to recharge a phone.


However there are certain videos on youtube which is showing this technique,but the result shown is very Vague and inconclusive.
Well this might be a hoax until we get a scientific point of view on this,but it is still very fuzzy itself because lot of people believe it.
[Source]

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"Burning Bush" which emits a flammable, oily substance which can be lit on fire

The "burning bush" from the bible is real. It has volatile oils that catch fire in really hot weather,plant name "Dictamnus", also known as burning bush,gas plant and Fraxinella.

Image source

In the summer months, the whole plant is covered with a kind of flammable substance, which is gluey to the touch, and has a very fragrant, lemony aroma; but if it takes fire, it goes off with a flash all over the plant. The name "burning bush" derives from the volatile oils produced by the plant, which can catch fire readily in hot weather, leading to comparisons with the burning bush of the Bible, including the suggestion that this is the plant involved there. The daughter of Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus is said to have ignited the air once, at the end of a particularly hot, windless summer day, above Dictamnus plants, using a simple matchstick.(source: wiki)

Take a look at this video: 

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There is a river which shoot fireball in to air in thailand

Strange things are happening in some 70 - 100 kilometres downstream from the Vientiane - capital of Laos. In the nights from the muddy waters of Mekong river appear red glowing balls which quickly rise up in the air and disappear without noise (some, who manage to be close to the lights, report silent hiss). These mysterious sparkles are small, but sometimes they reach a size of a basketball. 

Image courtesy: Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Image courtesy: Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Fireballs are observed in some 250 kilometres long sector of Mekong, Balls have also been reported rising from smaller rivers, lakes and ponds in this region.

Phenomenon of Naga fireballs is not too well documented in earlier times. Some say that Wat Luang temple contains centuries old written records mentioning them. There are mentioned also occasional written reports from British soldiers in 1960ies - although nothing concrete is cited. Numerous local people claim that they have seen the lights for all their life and their parents and grandparents did it as well.

Although the appearance of fireballs is celebrated at certain days in October, in fact this event is not predictable. There have been cases when the official festivity "ends without results" and fireballs come unexpected in another night. Many people have tried hard to see them for years without success, many are lucky and see them at first visit to this site. For example, in 2001 there were reported 3,000 fireballs, the festivity of 2004 was disappointing in this respect but in 2008 the illumination was excellent.

Scientific Explanation:

These are not some ghosts seen by occasional people and questioned by majority. Ghost fireballs of Mekong have been seen by thousands of people, photographed and captioned on movies and, after all, investigated by scientists looking for the explanation of this interesting phenomenon.

Image courtesy: Tourism Authority of Thailand.

some scientific reports mention an upward movement of gas bubbles in Mekong water. According to them - as the gas bubbles reached the surface, the gas started to burn and raised up like a glowing orange bubble.

Earlier some scientists considered that the most likely reason for flames is phosphine or methane, but later on this theory was neglected due to following facts:

1. Phosphine is not a light gas, it is heavier than air. Naga lights though rise up in the air very quickly.
2. When phosphine burns, it produces dense, white and highly toxic cloud. None of these effects (luckily) have been observed on Mekong.

Some consider that these igneous gases are somehow pulled out of the river sediment by full moon and some researchers even build up highly complex theories involving specific composition of gases in sediments coupled with the action of moon, ultraviolet rays, Sun etc. All of this at the end looks too laborious and unlikely.

Till now day, scientists have no definite expiation of this unusual phenomenon in Mekong river.

Hoax Point Of View:

Often it is considered that fireballs are created artificially - just like some people find fun in making crop circles or other weird things. Now it is essential to keep the big festivities running - after all this event has been turned into highly profitable show (but spread among huge local communities - what isn't bad at all). One can easily see that there might be a commercial interest to "maintain" this phenomenon artificially.

In addition to this - some locals tell that in earlier times naga fireballs were much smaller and nearly white, they rised above the water just for a few metres. Now, with increased popularity they somehow have evolved, increased in size, fly high and fast and have orange color. A bit heretical thought - may be naga serpent has changed diet?

Locals deny a possibility of hoax - naga fireballs often are observed in very secluded places where the putative "organiser" of fireballs has nearly no chances to impress anyone. It is just weird to imagine countless Thai and Laotian people keeping themselves busy by making illuminations in remote lakes and rivers.

Appearance of fireballs has been reported in more than 45 kilometres long section of river in one night. River has been closely watched by numerous people for many days before. In such circumstances the possibility of fraud seems to be quite low - who would manage to organise such illumination without getting caught in the act?

Naga fireballs rised from the river during the hostilities between Thailand and Laos: the border was heavily guarded then and it is little likely that somebody would risk his life to organise the fraud.
[Source: www.wondermondo.com]

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Adding salt to pineapple will actually cause it to taste sweeter

Dr Hannah Williams famous food scientist from Curtin University of Technology said
When the sodium chloride dissolves into the pineapple it will break apart into sodium and chloride ions.

The sodium ion will then react with the malic and citric acids present in the pineapple to form neutral sodium salts.Acids normally have a tart or sour taste but when they are converted into neutral compounds they lose this sourness, and so the pineapple tastes sweeter.
[Source]

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Mysterious Blue Holes In sea

Blue holes are amazing,wonderful and mysterious creature of nature and also thousands of year old. blue holes are underwater sinkhole also called vertical caves.There are many different blue holes located around the world,but the best known 'The Great Blue Hole' ofBelize.you can see in picture below.

The Great Blue Hole is located in Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, about 60 miles away from Belize City. It is believed that this hole is the world’s largest sea-hole. It is about 125 meters deep and its diameter is about 300 meters wide. It has been created as a cause of sea level increase about 65,000 years ago.

Deep sea divers are able to explore some of them.some blue holes, however, contain ancient fossil remains that have been discovered, preserved in their depths.


The deepest blue hole in the world—at 202 metres is Dean's Blue Hole, located in a bay west of Clarence Town on Long Island, Bahamas
Courtesy : wikipedia

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Nature's Marvel: Living Root bridges of Cherrapunji

On listening to the word ‘bridge’, we all form an image of a well structured iron bridge in our minds. But ever heard of natural bridges? Well here’s an interesting example of a natural living bridge.

 

Cherrapunji, a town in North-East India, which is known to be the second wettest place on earth, is also known for its living bridges. Here the bridges aren't built but grown. The living bridges are made from the roots of Ficus elastica tree whose secondary roots grow above the ground surface. 

Long ago, War-Khasis, a tribe of Meghalaya, used this tree to cross rivers. Using the same technique, villagers of Cherrapunji grow their own bridges whenever required. The villagers have created a root-guiding system that forces the tender roots of the rubber tree to grow straight. Such roots make a strong, living bridge in about 10-15 years.

 

Unlike the conventional man-made bridges which grow weak over time, these living bridges gain strength over time. Some of these bridges are more than five hundred (500) years old and can support 50 people at a time. A unique bridge called Umshiang Double-Decker Root Bridge is believed to be only one of its kinds in the whole world. It is actually a combination of two bridges, one stacked on top of the other.

 

[SOURCE: Atlasobscura]

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