Environmental Graffiti

All images courtesy of Mick E. Talbot

With Halloween just around the corner, we’d like to leave scary witches and willowy ghosts aside for just one minute and focus on one helpful critter that might get forgotten otherwise. After ridding crops of plant lice and scale insects, the Halloween lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis) invades homes in October where it prepares for its well deserved hibernation. Before that long period of inactivity, it likes to stretch its wings a bit. That’s probably an understatement – wing acrobatics is more like it.

Orange-coloured Halloween lady beetles are also called Pumpkin ladybirds:

Lady bugs or ladybirds belong to the Coccinellidae family of beetles and the Halloween lady beetle, at around 7-8 mm, is one of the larger lady bug varieties. It is a native of eastern Asia and was already introduced in North America in 1916 and in Europe in 2001 as an environmentally friendly way of dealing with crop pests, especially aphids a.k.a. plant lice. Because of the lady bug’s tendency to overwinter indoors, it is considered a nuisance by some but it shouldn’t be forgotten that in many countries, visiting ladybirds are considered good luck. That their spots indicate their age is a myth however.

Here she goes, stretching her colourful wing covers and wings to the max:

Oh, wait, there’s a bit more length in there:

… and not to forget the cool somersault:

Here’s a closer look at the delicate wings, peeking out from under the sturdy wing covers:

Did you miss the first sequence of acrobatics? Well, here’s another one, this time by the Adalia bipunctata or two-spot ladybird:

Here’s what Adalia usually looks like:

And here she’s getting ready to stretch:

And once again that amazing stretch with somersault:

Her friend, also of the Coleoptera family, seems to be laughing:

Just looking at these tiny acrobats makes one smile – even skeptics not believing in the good luck myth have to admit that temporary happiness is not to be discredited.

With special thanks to Flickr user Mick E. Talbot for sharing his stunning series of lady bugs!

Sources: 1, 2, 3

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Photo: CybersamX

Bunches of grapes grown in a radioactive environment? The genetically modified eggs of some strange unidentified marine species? Or a fungal growth that would call for a hasty trip to the doctor? Nothing of the sort. It’s stunningly beautiful bubble coral, and once we saw it we simply had to blog about it. Don your dark glasses; you’re in for a feast for the eyes that might leave you dazzled.

Club culture coral: Bubble coral under actinic light

Photo: RevolverOcelot

Bubble corals are recognisable by their large, water-filled bubbles, or vesicles. Like light-loving balloons, these inflate during the day and deflate at the night, when tentacles come out instead in search of food.

Bubbles become fingers: Plerogyra sinuosa bubble coral in Timor

Photo: Nick Hobgood

The bubbles – which are white, cream, light green or pink in colour – protect the bubble coral skeleton. Meanwhile, the extended sweeper tentacles fight for space, and hunt prey such as plankton; stinging, capturing and killing their targets.

Wrinkly skin: Dangling tuft of Plerogyra sinuosa bubble coral

Photo: RevolverOcelot

Some bubble corals are also characterised by incredible fingerprint patterns, a nice touch by Mother Nature – at least to humans, apparently keen to recognise themselves in everything they see in the world around them.

Crustacean cameo: Orang-utan crab on bubble coral

Photo: Nick Hobgood

Clearly some aquatic animals love bubble coral as much as we do – at least those big enough not to be on the menu – be it the awesomely named orang-utan crab or this little bubble coral shrimp, Vir Philippinensis.

Shrimp and egg salad: Vir Philippinensis with eggs on bubble coral

Photo: prilfish

The bubble corals collected in our virtual aquarium are all Plerogyra sinuosa. The exception is the striking specimen below, which is not actually bubble coral per se but the more fungal-looking euphyllia ancora, or anchor bubble coral.

Microscopic germs? No, Euphyllia ancora – anchor bubble coral

Photo: Nick Hobgood

Bubble corals are native to the western Pacific and Indo-Pacific oceanic regions as well as the Red Sea. Here they tend to be found in protected, shaded areas with gentle currents, for example under overhangs and on cave walls.

Alien frogspawn: Plerogyra sinuosa bubble coral on Hino Maru

Photo: David Burdick

These beautiful marine organisms are a favourite among reef aquarists, who must be careful if they don’t engage in warfare with each other. Humans should beware as their sweeper tentacles are capable of stinging our flesh.

Blue brain: Bubble coral in the waters of the Tongan islands of Vava’u

Photo: Andrea

Beautiful and belligerent, bubble corals are also extremely sensitive to environmental changes such as those in temperature and salinity. To vouchsafe their future in the wild, they must be protected from potentially damaging human activities such as mooring, fishing and construction.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

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Photo: Phil Marion

Some might assume it to be a mirage. Rising out of the desert in the South Arabian Peninsula, ancient high-rise apartment buildings made of mud meet the eye. Centuries before the modern age of skyscrapers dawned in Chicago and New York, the Middle East had its own skyscraper city – the oldest on earth. This is Shibam in Yemen, a place thought to have existed since the 2nd century AD.

Photo: Phil Marion

Constructed out of mud bricks made from local clay, around 500 of Shibam’s buildings are tower houses standing between and 5 and 11 storeys tall. These are the tallest mud buildings in the world, some of them soaring over 100 feet high. Like the fortified wall that surrounds this fortress city, the building practice was employed to protect inhabitants from attacks by marauding Bedouin tribes.

Photo: Goldzahn

The urban planning is such that the streets are too narrow for traffic to pass through, though it seems the lack of cars does not adversely affect Shibam’s 7,000 or so inhabitants who are content with the peace and lack of pollution this provides. The tightly packed nature of the houses also means that from a distance they appear as one block – a fortified design that made attackers think twice.

Photo: kurvenalbn

Shibam has been around for approximately 2000 years, but is sometimes considered a 16th century city, as this is the period from which most of its houses originate. However, like all cities it has changed like a living organism and its houses have been rebuilt over and over again during the last few centuries.

Photo: Jacques Taberlet

They’ve needed to be. Rain and erosion have been constant threats to the buildings here. To protect their homes, residents must thickly coat the facades and roofs with sealant, and ensure they are maintained and regularly renovated.

Photo: kurvenalbn

Twenty years ago Shibam was in danger of becoming a ghost town as residents left in search of an easier life, but the city was saved from crumbling away by restoration and urban development programmes. Meanwhile, as recently as 2008, serious floods struck following tropical storms, with flood waters undermining the foundations of many of the buildings and leading to their collapse.

Photo: ninjawil

Other recent threats have proven less predictable. In 2009, a suicide bombing blamed on al Qaeda killed four South Korean tourists and left several others wounded. Such tragedies aside, unless a major catastrophe befalls Shibam, this UNESCO world heritage site will remain one of the earliest and best examples of urban planning based on vertical construction – and the pinnacle of what building in clay can bring.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

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Guy de Lusignan and Saladin in Battle / Mathew Paris, c.1250
Medieval Ms ­/ Acoma, Wikimedia

The Templars are Born -

After more than nine centuries of historical scrutiny, the Knights Templar, Europe’s first order of warrior monks, are still a formidable mystery. They were founded shortly after the First Crusade in 1119 by the Burgundian knight Hugues de Payens and Godeffroi de St Omer, a knight from northern France. Their first mission was to protect pilgrims on their journey to Jerusalem and they built a chain of forts to guard the pilgrimage route to Palestine. Baldwin II, ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, allowed the Knights Templar to set up headquarters on the southeastern side of the Temple Mount which is inside the Al Aqsa Mosque.

Baldwin II cedes Temple of Salomon to Hugues de Payns and Gaudefroy de
Saint-Homer in 1119 / Guillaume de Tyr, 13th century
Histoire d’Outre-Mer /­ PHGCOM, Wikimedia

Long sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, the Temple Mount is reputed to be the site of the Temple of Solomon where the Ark of the Covenant may have been hidden. It may also be the legendary Mt. Moria where Abraham believed that he had to sacrifice his son Isaac. The Dome of the Rock at the Al Aqsa Mosque was built by the 7th century Caliph Abd al-Malik to house the rock from which Muhammad ascended to heaven to receive Islamic prayers. The crusaders had made the Al Aqsa Mosque into the Temple of the Lord from which the Order of the Knights Templar take their name.

Temple of Solomon – altars / Jerusalem
19th century engraving ­/ Blumenberg Associates LLC

Templars raised significant amounts of land and money. An early patron was the powerful intellectual abbot and Cistercian monk, Bernard of Clairvaux who wrote a treatise that overcame the initial objection to killing in the name of Christ. New members had to take a vow of poverty and hand over all their material wealth to the Order. Nobles wishing to join a Crusade, but not sign on with the Knights Templar, could deposit their wealth with a Templar bank that would safeguard it and issue an encrypted Letter of Credit. At other Templar institutions, funds could be withdrawn against this LC. As the Templars became powerful bankers, their funds were available to the kings of Europe. Europe’s first order of warrior monks would soon challenge the banking powers in Europe and be perceived as a threat to the sovereignty of France.

Military Orders / Christian warrior monks
Artist /­ Marc Carrie (c) 2007

In 1128, the Council of Troyes sanctioned the Knights Templar. In 1139, the Pope, with Bernard of Clairvaux as advisor, issued a Papal Bull that formally declared the Templars were beholden to no authority but his own, owed no taxes and could freely cross any border. The much feared Templar knights were now able to move unimpeded throughout Europe.

The Rule of the Templar Order contains a wealth of military information. Different ranks of knights are described in detail with their privileges, obligations, and conduct on and off the battlefield. The number and care of horses that attend each rank are clarified, and there can be no doubt about the priority given to mounted warriors.

Templar Knight / Levant
Artist /­ Marc Carrie (c) 2007

The Templars were now charged with protecting the Kingdom of Jerusalem. At most, the Templars could bring 3-400 knights to the battlefield where the size of the Muslim armies confronting them might number over 20,000. Factor in the brilliant leadership of Saladin whom the crusaders often confronted, and the odds on the battlefield frequently did not favor the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the crusaders.

On the battlefield, the importance of the Templar banner cannot be underestimated. Amidst the chaos of the melée, the banner could be used to communicate and direct strategy. The Standard Bearer of the Templars, known as the Confanonier was always present in battle.

Two Templar knights (cf poverty) on one horse
Chronica Majora, Mathew Paris, c.1215
Medieval ms ­/ Acoma, Wikimedia

As a small elite force, the Templars joined larger armies and then took on the most difficult missions. Templar knights trained long and hard but the majority of Templars did not fight. For most brothers, the mission was to fund and equip the small numbers of elite mounted knights. Horses were trained to kick and bite enemy horses in combat. Templar knights believed death in battle was a glorious martyrdom. Their code forbade retreat unless outnumbered 3:1 and ordered to retreat by their commander; or if the Templar flag went down on the battlefield.

The Ferocious Charge -

The Melée 1 / Knights in Battle
18th century print, medieval ms /­ Medieval Warfare, Blumenberg Associates LLC

First and foremost, every brother had to obey those in rank above him. In peace and war, knights rode in squadrons led by a Confanonier with the banner who was guarded by ten knights. As the battle approached, Templar knights took their positions in the line; their squires with lances and shields were before them. It was forbidden to break ranks, or charge without permission, or turn a horse’s head to the rear in order to fight or react to an alarm. Exceptions were allowed: a knight could ride a short distance to adjust saddle and harness, or rescue a Christian under attack. If a knight retreated, he would be humiliated by being forced to walk.

The Melée 2 / Knights in Battle / Advantage Left 1
18th century print, medieval ms ­/ Medieval Warfare, Blumenberg Associates LLC

With his body guard as close by as possible, the Marshall would charge. The ensuing melée quickly developed and casualties were usually light. Therefore, the Régle advised immediate and ferocious pursuit. Reserves were to be close by so they could enter the fray as soon as needed, and/or provide a fresh attack if the first line needed to retire for rest and possibly new mounts. The sergeants were to hold back an enemy that had taken the advantage and/or follow an enemy that was in pursuit of Templar knights. The squires likewise had to be immediately close because they would have fresh horses for their knights.

The Melée 3 / Knights and foot infantry in battle
18th century print / medieval ms ­ Medieval Warfare, Blumenberg Associates LLC

Templar training developed precision techniques by which to achieve a horrifically intense “ferocious charge” of mounted knights that would take on a numerically superior enemy. Templar adherence to the strict Rule of the Order was an attempt to catalyze the manifestation of a supremely disciplined warrior whose fighting stance derived from strict adherence to protocol and superior self control.

Seljukid Turk Archer
Artist ­/ Marc Carrie (c) 2007

Battle of Montisgard -

The Battle of Montisgard in 1177 is a fine example of successful Templar ferocity on a large battlefield. The crusader army of several thousand included 475 knights, most of them Templars. Saladin commanded a force of ~30,000 but they were spread out, disorganized and looting nearby villages on their way to Jerusalem. As the Crusader army slowly approached and the Templar knights were sighted, panic spread amidst the Muslim troops who struggled to form battle lines.

Discovery of leprosy in the future Baldwin IV /
William of Tyre’s “Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum”, c.1250
Estoire d’Eracles / Andrew Dalby, Wikipedia

At the head of this Crusader army, which appeared to be superbly disciplined and barely made any noise, was the young King of Jerusalem. Baldwin IV was only 16 years old and dying of leprosy. He was a young king of extraordinary character and strength, who was much loved by his army and people. With obvious courage although very weak, the leper king was on horse at the head of his army, his hands covered in bloody bandages. Attendant knights were at his side throughout the day and physically supported him when necessary. Templars and the Leper King all in one afternoon; that would unsettle anyone, even the great Saladin.

St Helena finds the True Cross / N. Italy, 825 AD
Biblioteca Capitolare, Vercelli / Jdsteakley, Wikimedia
St. Helena was consort of Emperor Constantius, and mother of Emperor Constantine I. She has traditionally been assigned the discovery of the True Cross and nails of the crucifixion.

The Christian army grew silent. Baldwin IV prayed before a relic of the True Cross and then his army gave out a great shout. They charged cross the sands with the ferocious Templars in the lead. Everyone fought courageously and the Crusaders achieved a total victory. Baldwin’s army had 1100 killed and 750 wounded. The legendary Saladin was surprised and almost captured by the Templars at Jerusalem. He barely escaped on a racing camel and his personal Mamluke body guards were killed. Saladin’s army was annihilated with the loss ~27,000 men, 90% of his original forces.

The Battle of Cresson -

Sea of Tiberius / Sea of Galilee
Panoramic Photo / Gugganij, Pitert, Wikimedia

The warfare between Saladin and the Crusaders with their Knights Templar now encountered the life of Jesus as it moved to the Sea of Galilee. In the decade since his defeat at Montisgard, Saladin had achieved a superior position. Appointed vizier of Egypt in 1169, he was soon ruling the country as Sultan. He imposed his rule over Damascus, extended it to Aleppo in 1176 and Mosul in Persia by 1183. The Kingdom of Jerusalem was now surrounded by a dangerous Islam that was united by one ruler who had a superior mind for the strategies of war. Saladin the Great would return to the battlefield and not repeat the strategic mistakes of Montisgard.

On Mat 1, 1187 at the Springs of Cresson, a small mounted contingent from the Kingdom of Jerusalem faced an Ayyubid army of 7,000. The crusader cavalry was made up of 80 Templars and 10 Knights Hospitaler including their Grand Masters, 40 royal knights, and 300 mounted sergeants. Gerard de Ridefort and Roger de Moulins (Grand Master of the Hospitalers) were the commanders for Christendom.

Jesus at the Sea of Tiberius (Galilee) / Polenov, 1888
Painting ­/ Polenov, User Alex Bakharev, Wikimedia

Saladin’s son, Al-Afdal ibn Salah al-din led the Muslim forces who were seeking revenge for an attack on a Muslim caravan by Raynald of Chatillon. The small mounted crusader army was massacred. Only the Templar Grand Master, two brother knights and two Templar squires at the rear of the fighting survived.

Saladin and the Templars at the Battle of Hattin -

On July 3, 1187, the Battle of Hattin became a turning point in the Crusades and is wrongly described as a Templar defeat. Hattin has a complicated siting and great military and commercial significance because it is connected by mountain passes to the plains of lower Galilee. These plains, with numerous east-west passages, served as routes for commercial caravans and military invasions.

Palestine (Israel) / Hattin Landscape
Photo ­/ Almog, Wikimedia

Gerard de Ridefort was once again the Marshall and in charge of strategy with Raynald de Chatillon. The crusader army was led by Guy of Lusignan (main army), Raymond III of Tripoli (vanguard), Gerard de Rideford, and Balian of Ibelin (rearguard). Saladin’s army was 30,000 strong with 10,000 cavalry. The Crusader army numbered 20,000 with 1200 knights within which an overbearing reliance would again be placed upon the Knights Templar. At times it seemed that all of Christendom believed that Templar ferocity alone would forever secure the Holy Land and Kingdom of Jerusalem. The most arrogant of the Templar leadership believed this as well.

Saladin believed that he could only defeat the crusaders in an open field battle, and his choice in the summer of 1187 AD was at or near Tiberias. In spite of many Muslim victories, the crusaders always seemed to regroup and have an army ready to charge and fight again and again. Saladin respected his European foe for their tenacity and relentlessness. As the crusaders left Sephoria on July 3, Guy led the main army ostensibly heading for Tiberius.

Crusaders at Battle of Hattin, 1187 / fr “Estoire d’Eracles” (Amiens), edition 1400-1450
Medieval ms /­ Guillaume de Tyr, User Acoma, Wikimedia

Muslim harassment began immediately and by noon the crusaders had made only 6 miles to the village of Tu’ran. Inexplicably, they did not stop at the springs to take on water for men and horses. King Guy’s decision was a major tactical error because he was not aware of the vast size of the Muslim army. Saladin had enough men to hold the ridge and also send contingents elsewhere.

The Battle is Won
18th century print / medieval ms /­ Medieval Warfare, Blumenberg Associates LLC

Two wings of Saladin’s army went around the Franks, seized the spring at Tu’ran and thereby blocked a crusader retreat. Continuous attacks forced the crusader army with Templars to halt and camp on the plateau without food or water, and without any possibility of resupply or reinforcements. Saladin set smoky fires that evening which blew into the crusader camp and made them miserable, and he also pelted them with arrows during the night. Guy advised that battle lines and an attack should be organized. Then five of Raymond’s knights defected and gave Saladin an accurate picture of conditions with the crusaders. Thirsty and demoralized the crusaders broke camp and moved towards the springs of Hattin. Two charges for the Sea of Galilee failed and most of the army had moved on to the Horns of Hattin.

Crusaders fighting the Turks
Medieval ms /­ Marc Carrie (c) 2007

Saladin deliberately waited until the heat was at its worst. Guy ordered tents to be pitched on higher ground. The Horns of Hattin provided some protection for crusader archers and a superior highest position. But without infantry protection, horses were killed by Muslim archers and mounted knights were forced to fight on foot. Three desperate attacks by the crusaders from the Horns of Hattin attempted to reach Saladin’s tent and the Muslim army on lower ground. They momentarily frightened Saladin but were beaten back.

The Templars were no longer a factor, no longer the supreme weapon. Without horses there could be no ‘Ferocious Charge’ and Guy refused to send the Templar and Hospitaler knights any relief. Before long, Saladin allowed Raymond and Balian of Ibelin to escape. To look at the Battle of Hattin as a Templar defeat misses the mark entirely. Without horses, the Templars had been negated and removed from the battlefield as the superior fighting force. Finally the red tent of King Guy of Lusignan fell and Muslim victory was assured.

Reliquary Case for the True Cross /
Byzantium, Meuse Valley, ca. 1160–1170
Medieval artisan /­ Jastrow, Wikimedia

The Muslims also captured the True Cross which the Bishop of Acre had carried in battle. Control of the True cross may have been the final blow, the factor that destroyed crusader morale more than anything else. The list of prisoners captured by Saladin reads like a Who’s Who of Templar leadership. Perhaps 3,000 Christians survived to tell their tales.

Battle of Hattin 1187 / Guy de Lusignan at Saladin’s Tent
Painting ­/ Emír Balduin Hallef Omar Ali al-Adid bin Abú Sharee al-Kerak, Wikipedia

At his tent, Saladin gave Guy a glass of iced water which Guy passed to Raynald. Saladin accused the 60-year-old warrior of being an ‘oath breaker’ to which Raynald admitted by replying “ Kings have always acted thus.” Saladin then beheaded Raynald himself and Guy fell to the ground in terror. Saladin then bade him rise, saying “ True kings do not kill one another.” The True Cross was tied upside down to a lance and sent to Damascus.

Two days later a few of the captured Templars and Hospitalers accepted an offer to convert to Islam. A few of the others went off with some of the Muslim elite as slaves. In an extreme act of solidarity, many captured crusaders claimed to be Templar knights so that they would be beheaded as well. These decisions reveal the extreme awe in which the Templars were held by other crusader knights. Islamic mystics asked Saladin for permission to kill an infidel. Saladin would build the Dome of Victory at Hattin to commemorate the victory; a few scattered remains of its structure survived into the 20th century.

Saladin beheads Renaud de Chatillon after Battle of Hattin, 1187 /
Guillaume de Tyr, “Historia” – 12th century
Manuscript Painting ­/ Guillaume de Tyr, User Odejea, Wikimedia

Guy was taken to Damascus and eventually ransomed. Raymond of Tripoli escaped the battle and died of pleurisy later in the year. Saladin told Gerard that he would be freed if he could convince a Templar fortress in Gaza to surrender and this he did. Although in disgrace because he did not fight to the death, Gerard then went to Tortosa upon his release where he led the defense of this castle. He also seized money sent by Henry II which was held in Tyre.

The Régle de Templar could not overcome arrogance and blind conceit. Within a year, Jerusalem had fallen and the French withdrew their support of the crusades to retake Jerusalem. Even Richard the Lion Heart’s charisma could not turn the tide for Europe. By the mid 13th century, Templar losses in battle were often 90% in both men and horses. (Turkish bowmen were ordered to first shoot at Templar horses.) The financial costs were staggering but the Templars were for some time equal to that challenge. In both Europe and the Middle East, they owned vast tracts of land, castles, churches, farms, vineyards, a fleet of ships, and for a time the entire island of Cyprus.

Siege of Acre, 1291 /
Hospitaler Master, Mathieu de Clermont defends the walls / D.Papety c.1840
Painting /­ PHGCOM, Wikimedia

The fortress city of Acre fell on May 18, 1291 after a six week siege, although the Templars held out in their quarter for another ten days. The remaining crusader cities in the Levant fell by mid-August, 1291. The Templars relocated to Cyprus and attempted to continue their military adventures. They acquired fleets and attacked Egypt and Syria but failed to establish themselves on the Island of Ruad in the Tortosa which they held only briefly. Recruits were everywhere, and individual motivation remained religious salvation.

Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master took office in 1292 and toured Europe to garner support for the Knights Templar. Pope Boniface VIII granted the Templars the same privileges on Cyprus that they had in the Holy Land. Edward I of England and Charles II of Naples were particularly sympathetic but the last Templar fortress in Antioch fell in 1299.

Philip IV of France plots the Templar Downfall… to be continued

Military defeats in the Holy Land aside, the Templars remained extremely powerful because of their pan-European banking system and the vast estates and tracts of land that they owned. The Templars’ fatal mistake proved to be refusing a loan request from the French King Philip IV for his war with England. A forthcoming article for EG will look at the relentless persecution of the Templars by Philip IV in France, their survival in Portugal and how the Templars catalyzed Europe’s Age of Discovery. A longer and more detailed version of this article is online elsewhere.

Sources -

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 7, 8, 9

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Photo: The Cool Family

Deception Island. The name alone conjures intrigue, concealment and trickery. Upon approaching this remote, horseshoe-shaped Antarctic outcrop, a desolate and forbidding coastline looms – sheer, snow-capped rocky crags and barren volcanic slopes cloaked in a soup of swirling fog. Occupied sporadically for a century or more, ghost settlements are now all that remain of the island’s earlier human ventures. Several vicious volcanic eruptions have made sure of that.

Spectres of the dead: Graveyard in 1962 later buried by the 1969 eruption

Photo: Rear Admiral Harley D. Nygren, NOAA Corps (ret.)

The sub-zero air above the glacier-covered landscape was cold enough to cause death in minutes, but beneath the trembling earth and frozen sea, the lava was beginning to boil. On 5 December 1967, the first of a series of fierce volcanic eruptions shook Deception Island. The men inhabiting the base posted so precariously on this landmass of ice and fire were forced to withdraw.

Vanquished: Derelict British base in Whalers Bay destroyed by volcanic eruption

Photo: Lyubomir Ivanov

The base was tentatively used again from 4 December 1968, but operations lasted a matter of months. On 23 February 1969, the giant volcano the men effectively lived on grew angry again, forcing an emergency evacuation. The ensuing mudflows were powerful enough to tear out the middle of the scientific station house, Biscoe House. The facility has lain abandoned ever since.

Military remains: The derelict hangar and airplane on Deception Island

Photo: Lyubomir Ivanov

Abandoned but not lost. “Despite the savage incursion of molten lava and scorching volcanic ash, some portions of the old base are still in relatively good shape,” observed photojournalist Roderick Eime. “Rations of scotch oats and canned pilchards remain intact, deep-frozen, in the old storehouse.” An aircraft hanger and bright orange decrepit airplane fuselage stood side-by side here until the latter was removed in 2004, remnants of Deception Island’s secret military past.

Salvaged: Old storage silos were reclaimed during Operation Tabarin

Photo: wili hybrid

There is more than meets the eye to Deception Island – more than the ghost camp left behind can reveal. Up until the eruption of 1967, the island had been occupied as part of Britain’s Operation Tabarin, a covert wartime expedition allegedly aimed at securing control of southern regions, with an eye on the Falkland Islands, in the face of Argentine and German territorial claims. Deception Island provided a strategic location and denied access and opportunities to enemy ships and U-boats.

Sealer’s hut: Buildings from the old whaling station were re-used by the British

Photo: wili hybrid

On 3 February 1944, a team of 14 led by Lt James Marr established a would-be permanent base on Deception Island, proudly hoisting the Union Jack in place of the Argentine flag in the process. It seems the decision to launch Tabarin was not political, with Churchill apparently unaware it had taken place. When the War ended, the Operation Tabarin bases were subsequently handed over to the civilian British Antarctic Survey and the aims on Deception Island have since been scientific.

Rusting remains: As seen from sea during a Chilean Antarctic expedition

Photo: Jorge Valdés Romo

The entire island is formed by a giant volcanic crater. Around 10,000 years ago, a massive, violently explosive eruption ejected 30 km³ of molten rock from Deception Island. Part of the volcanic summit imploded and seawater drowned the breached caldera, creating Port Foster, a huge natural harbour about 10 miles across.

Getting your bearings: Antarctic peninsula map

Published by Zagier & Urruty Publications, Argentina via Air-and-Space

To anchor here, ships must steer through the treacherous channel of Neptunes Bellows, a narrow 230m cleft in the island’s encircling cliffs with a concealed rock in its midst. Navigate this and it’s straight on directly into the centre of a restless volcano – one of the few places on earth where vessels can sail such a passage.

Beginnings: Deception Island’s Hektor whaling station under construction 1912

Photo: Ansgar Theodor Larsen

Deception Island became a haven from the icebergs and storms of the Antarctic seas in the early 19th century with British and US sealers seeking shelter during the 1820s. In 1906, a Norwegian whaling company began using Whalers Bay as a base for a blubber-processing factory ship. By 1914, there were 14 such ships there, and a shore station had been established for servicing them and boiling down the whale carcasses to extract whale oil. The results were grossly wasteful: at one point some 6,000 partly butchered, decaying beasts are said to have floated in the bay.

Early workings: Whaling station with factory ship Hektoria in the background

Photo: Ansgar Theodor Larsen

As the Great Depression set in, whale prices fell, and with the station unprofitable, in 1931 it was abandoned. Technological advances in factory ships soon made shore stations for processing carcasses a thing of the past and Deception Island’s was never reoccupied. A total of 45 men were entombed in the station’s cemetery, but this final resting place was itself buried in the 1969 eruption. Almost the only residual signs of the station are its rusting iron tanks and boilers.

Barely withstanding the weathers of time: Decrepit iron boilers and tanks

Photo: Jerzy Strzelecki

Almost. The ruins of this station are the most complete remains of whaling history in the Antarctic and a constant reminder of immense volcanic power that still hangs over the island. As Robert Eime observed of the old Norwegian relics: “Against the backdrop of stark, yet delicately frosted peaks, bleached and busted barrels, orphaned metalwork and sundry detritus, mixed with randomly scattered whalebones, form an almost supernatural landscape.”

Skeletal landscape: Old storage tanks on Deception Island

Photo: wili hybrid

Today, Deception Island is perhaps less of a ghost island than one might expect. This unique part of the Antarctic draws a slew of tourists eager to spot its colonies of chinstrap penguins or enjoy the novelty of soaking in a tub by turns scalding hot and freezing cold dug into sands heated by the still smouldering volcano beneath. There is, however, concern that unchecked, the increasing numbers of cruise ships and tour groups could impact negatively on this island and its wildlife.

Signs of life: Penguins on the black volcanic beach at Deception Island 1962

Photo: Rear Admiral Harley D. Nygren, NOAA Corps (ret.)

For now at least, though, the steaming beaches and ash-layered glaciers are still serene, while the element-ravaged ruins of human activities are as haunting as ever.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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Mirny Mine Image: Zhivun

With explosions and massive machines scraping into the earth’s crust like a bad case of scabies, it’s small wonder open cast mining has made what many see as an unpleasant impact on the planet’s surface. The face of the earth is beleaguered with giant scars, scoured out in our ongoing bid to the plunder the planet of its natural resources. We’ve selected 10 of the holes most needing a bit of environmental ointment – where rehabilitation of the land could take some time.

10. Kalgoorlie Super Pit

Image: Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines via ABC

Kalgoorlie Super Pit is what it says on the tin. Irishman Paddy Hannan first saw the glimmer of gold here back in 1893, and this gigantic pockmark in Western Australia is now its continent’s largest open cut gold mine at 3.5 km long, 1.5 km wide and 360 m deep. It’s huge. And it’s growing. At least, that is, until 2017 when it is expected to cease being productive.

Threatening to devour the town: The Super Pit, Kalgoorlie

Image: The Super Pit

While the Super Pit has the pull of a benign black hole for tourists into good hole-some fun, air pollution, water usage, noise and vibration issues and mining waste are all bones of contention for local residents. Still, as well as coughing up almost 30 tonnes of gold each year, the pit provides work and silver for around 550 employees.

9. The Big Hole, South Africa

Image: johnbullas

Another open pit whose name leaves little to the imagination, the Big Hole in Kimberly, South Africa, is said to be the largest hole excavated by hand – despite recent claims that the nearby Jagersfontein Mine holds the some might say dubious title. While it was closed in 1914, during its 43-year lifetime, the 50,000 workers who broke their backs using picks and shovels shifted 22.5 million tonnes of earth, yielding almost 3 tonnes of diamonds for their jolly bosses, the de Beer brothers.

Water-filled earth wound: The Big Hole, Kimberley

Image: Irene2005

The Big Hole is 463 metres wide and was dug to a depth of 240 m – though infilling and water-accumulation have left just 175 m of the hole visible. It’s now a show mine complete with a restored old town. Quaint.

8. Diavik Diamond Mine

Image: johnbullas

Diavik Diamond Mine is located in Canada’s charmingly named North Slave Region – hopefully no reflection on the way the 700 workers here are treated. This is an open cast mine like no other. Gouged into a 20 square km island, 220 km from the Arctic Circle, there are particularly jaw-dropping views of this cold spot when the surrounding waters freeze over.

Snow hole: The Diavik Mine encircled by ice

Image: johnbullas

Connected by a treacherous ice road, this remote mine takes some getting to and so even has its own airport big enough to accommodate Boeing 747s. With a lifespan of 16 to 22 years, the owners will be happy as long as this yawning hole continues to throw up 8 million carats (1600 kg) of diamonds a year.

7. Ekati Diamond Mine, Canada

Image: All About Rocks

Another giant crater in the grizzled face of Canada, the Ekati Diamond Mine is North America’s first commercial diamond mine – having opened in 1998 – and those still dazzled by diamond rush fever no doubt hope it won’t be the last. It’s actually only a stone’s throw from the Diavic Mine just 20 km closer to the Arctic Circle – ensuring things here stay colder than a penguin’s pecker.

Iced up: The Ekati Mine in freezing winter temperatures

Image: whutch1 via Weather Underground

Like its brethren blemish in Diavic, the Ekati Mine is accessed by hair-raising ice roads and got its 15 minutes of fame on The History Channel’s Ice Road Truckers programme. Darned crazy canucks? Driven mad perhaps by the 40 million plus carats (8,000 kg) of diamonds the steady scouring has so far produced.

6. Grasberg Mine, Indonesia

Image: Alfindra Primaldhi

Opened in 1973, Indonesia’s Grasberg Mine is the world’s biggest gold mine and third largest copper mine. This industrial eyesore in the mountains of Papua employs a staggering 19,500 workers but is majority owned by smiling US subsidiaries. Built with permission it was not really the Indonesian government’s to give, the mine was attacked by the rebel Free Papua Movement in 1977.

Putting things in scale: Astronaut photo of the Grasberg Mine

Image: NASA

These days, steep aerial tramways ferry equipment and people in and out. In 2006, the mine coughed up 610,800 tonnes of copper and 58 tonnes of gold, but it doesn’t take much digging to find environmental controversy surrounding the site, with water contamination and landslides heading the list of concerns. Contentious.

5. Chuquicamata, Chile

Image: Luiswtc73

Chuquicamata in Chile is a colossus of a mine that has churned up a record total of 29 million tonnes of copper. Despite almost 100 years of intensive exploitation, it remains among the largest known copper resources, and its open pit is one of the biggest at a whopping great 4.3 km long, 3 km wide and over 850 m deep.

Strangely beautiful sight: Chuquicamata Mine from high in the air

Image: Owen Cliffe

Copper has been mined for centuries at Chuquicamata, as shown by the 1898 discovery of a mummy dated around 550 AD found trapped in an ancient mine shaft by a cave-in. A great influx of miners was sucked in by ‘Red Gold Fever’ after the War of the Pacific, when at one stage the area was covered with unruly mining camps where alcohol, gambling, prostitution and even murder were rife. Yee-haw.

4. Escondida, Chile

Image: Minera Escondida

The Minera Escondida Mining Co. runs twin open pit mines cut into the skin of the copper capital of the world that is Chile. Construction began in 1990, and this sucker recently overtook Chuquicamata as the world’s largest annual copper producer, with its 2007 yield of 1.48 million tonnes worth US$ 10.12 billion – a whole lot of dollar.

Escondida from space: The mine is at the bottom of the picture

Image: PD-USGOV-NASA

Environmental impact aside, Escondida has become a key part of the Chilean economy and employs some 2,951 people directly. A strike in 2006 broke out because workers felt they were not sharing in the super high profits being made on the back of record copper prices. After wrangling for pay demands, the union briefly blockaded the road to the mine. Testy stuff.

3. Udachnaya Diamond Mine, Russia

Image: Alexander Stepanov

Like the Sarlacc Pit on Steroids, the Udachnaya Mine in Russia is a gigantic open-pit diamond mine that plunges more than 600 metres into the earth’s crust. Yep, it’s one heck of a hole. Located in Russia’s vast but sparsely populated Sakha Republic, just outside the Arctic circle, it seems that mining for these precious stones demands a good set of thermal undies.

Into the depths: The Udachnanyay Mine from its southern side

Image: Russian Author

The nearby settlement of Udachny was named after the diamond deposit, which was discovered in 1955 just days after the Mir (below). The Udachnaya pipe is controlled by Alrosa, Russia’s largest diamond company, which boasts that it plans to halt open-pit mining in favour of underground mining in 2010. Glad to hear it.

2. Mirny Diamond Mine, Russia

Image: USMRA

Siberia’s Mir Diamond Mine comes close to taking the cake as numero holie. The largest open diamond mine in the world, this Russian monster has a surface diameter of 1.2 km and is 525 m deep. The size of the hole is such that wind currents inside cause a downdraft that has resulted in helicopters being sucked in and crashing. Good to know the area above it is now a no-fly zone.

Earth vortex: The Mir looks as if it might suck in houses as well as helicopters

Image: USMRA

After its discovery in 1955, workers at the Mir had to endure incredibly harsh temperatures that froze the ground and everything else in the winter, making car tires and steel shatter. The mine ceased operations in 2001, having produced 10 million carats (2 tonnes) of diamond per year at its peak. Our survey says: ka-bling.

1. Bingham Canyon Mine, USA

Image: johnbullas

So here it is, the carbuncle supremo, Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah, the world’s biggest manmade pit. This mammoth mine measures 4 km wide and drops a stomach-churning 1.2 km into the ground, the result of extraction begun in 1863. The ore-inspiring fruits of its labour include more than 17 million tonnes of copper and 715 tonnes of gold – a mental load of metal.

The biggest yet: Bingham Canyon Mine laid bare

Image: Elmhurst

In the early 1900s, mining camps lined the steep canyon walls, but several of these were swallowed up by the ever-expanding mine. Now it employs 1,400 people and 50,000 tonnes of material are removed from it each day. What’s more, this giant earth scar and National Historic Landmark is growing – and will continue to until at least 2013.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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Not water waves but sand waves – shipwrecks in the once coastal town of Myunak
Image via artificialowl

Deserts are not the places one would associate with shipwrecks. But ghostly remains of once proud schooners, cruise ships or freighters smack in the middle of a desert are not as rare as one might think. Deserts and accompanying dust storms steering unsuspecting ships off course are often the culprits but also advancing deserts and sadly, increasing desertification worldwide. Here’s a look at five places that can boast of some quite bizarre shipwrecks.

Ships seem to turn into whale bones on the Skeleton Coast:

Image: Patrick Giraud

1. Skeleton Coast, Namibia

Namibia’s Skeleton Coast, named for the huge whale skeletons and ghostly shipwrecks found on its shores, is one of the earth’s most inhospitable and least visited places. Travelling sand dunes rule the area and make travelling on land hardly advisable. Even vehicles with four-wheel drive will not go far for fear of getting stuck in the soft sand, their passengers at risk of running out of drinking water before help arrives. Namibian tribes shun the region that they call “the Land God Made in Anger” and Portuguese sailors once referred to as the “Gates of Hell”. Charming!

Even big ships can’t help fall under the Skeleton Coast’s spell:

Image: Patrick Giraud

The Skeleton Coast’s isolation has given rise to the untouched beauty of the area, which has produced a unique flora and fauna. Cold sea breezes are often accompanied by dense fog that has led many a ship astray, left in desert silence and a barren landscape once the fog has cleared. Among the roughly 1,000 ships that didn’t manage to navigate past this inhospitable area and now litter the coastline, slowly succumbing to the sand, are famous ones like the Eduard Bohlen, the Otavi, the Dunedin Star, and the Tong Taw.

Sand as far as the eye can see and what’s left of the Eduard Bohlen, shipwrecked in 1909:

Image: mistress_f

The Skeleton Coast as seen from space:

Image: NASA

2. The Aral Sea

The Aral Sea, located between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, was once the fourth-largest inland salt lake. It has been steadily shrinking since the 1960s when its two crucial water sources, the rivers Amu Darya and Syr Darya were diverted for Soviet irrigation projects.

An abandoned ship in a now dried up part of the Aral Sea near Aral, Kazakhstan:

Image: Staecker

Since then, the Aral Sea has shrunk to 10% of its original size, leaving behind three separate lakes instead of one, of which two are too salty to support fish. Many former coastal towns find themselves now literally stranded in a desert, deprived of their livelihood and affected by ecological changes. Testimony to this are huge shipwrecks that lie around abandoned like stranded metal whales.

Even the camels seem to be wondering what happened to all the water:

Image via artificialowl

Muynak in western Uzbekistan is one of those once bustling fishing towns that today has problems keeping its few thousand remaining inhabitants. The receding Aral Sea has placed Muynak dozens of miles away from the coast, subjecting it to dust storms and more severe weather conditions than before.

Before and after – the Aral Sea in 1989 (left) and in 2009:

Image: NASA

3. The Sahara

In a list of bizarre shipwrecks, we can’t give the Sahara a miss – just the term Saharan shipwrecks sounds rather strange. The world’s largest hot desert covers almost all of northern Africa or about the size of the United States or Europe. It is one of the harshest climates in the world, with north-easterly winds causing severe sandstorms and dust devils that can even be seen from space. No wonder that many a ship, especially in Western Sahara, had to succumb to the elements.

A shipwreck in Western Sahara that looks in quite good shape:

Image: Urban Bryngeld

A picturesque shipwreck near Tarfaya, Morocco:

Image: gezonkenbootje

A massive dust storm transporting sand westward across the Atlantic Ocean:

Image: NASA

4. The Red Sea

The Red Sea is the Indian Ocean’s seawater inlet wedged between Africa and Asia. As the world’s northernmost tropical sea, the Red Sea climate is governed by two distinct monsoon seasons.

Despite being the world’s hottest and saltiest body of seawater, the Red Sea’s efficient water circulation with the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean via the Gulf of Aden reduces the sea’s high salinity and surface temperature. The region’s corals have adapted to these conditions and have in fact – coupled with dust storms – been the end of many a ship’s journey in shallow parts of the sea.

Abu Soma is a Red Sea resort known for its amazing wind- and kite-surfing opportunities. However, as some of the shipwrecks found on its beaches prove, it is not without dangers for ships navigating along these shores.

Abu Soma, Egypt:

Image: Henning Leweke

The Loullia was a Panama freighter, built in Sweden and launched in 1952. On a voyage from Aqaba to Suez, it ran aground at Gordon Reef in the Straits of Tiran in September 1981. The crew got evacuated after four days but the ship’s remains have become a part of the reef ever since.

Stuck on a reef since 1981 – the Loullia:

Image: Alex Polezhaev

A dust storm over the Red Sea as seen from space:

Image: NASA

5. Greece

Greece is not a place that comes to mind when thinking of advancing deserts but fact is that more than 80% of Greece’s landmass is at risk from desertification and almost 10% already is arid. Most in danger are hilly areas where soil erosion adversely affects the fertility, depth and productivity of the earth. Agricultural machines, a growing population, salination and exploitation of already stressed resources are to blame. Currently, most of the Peloponnese, parts of the Ionian Islands, eastern and central Crete, parts of Thessaly, Macedonia, Thrace and mainland Greece are affected.

A shipwreck at Navagio a.k.a. Shipwreck Beach in Zakynthos:

Image: Anna Oates

… and the shipwreck’s scenic location seen from a bird’s eye view:

Image: Anna Oates

Though there is a certain charm – and not to forget the surprise effect – to seeing ships in a desert, this is not a sight that we hope to see more of any time soon.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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UCAS Mission / Drone War concept
Graphic Art – Northrup Grumman

War in Afghanistan and Pakistan –

The United States wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have proven to be beyond stupid and cruel. The motives behind each war have been clear for some time. Iraq may possess the largest oil reserves on the planet after Saudi Arabia. Afghanistan must be a key player in a long planned, complex Central Asian pipeline network for oil and natural gas as well. The massive oil corporations fully intend to extend the Age of Oil as long as possible, regardless of the consequences to the planet’s economy and ecology. Talk aside, we see nothing but cooperation and collaboration from the major sovereign states of the world for whom the question is not ‘If’ but ‘How’.

X-47B UCAS in flight
Artist -­ Northrup Grumman

Is there any success to report after eight years into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? If you believe that the Age of Oil must be continued at any cost, then stability in northern Iraq where Kurds control vast oil reserves is important. The Kurds view the United States as an ally and sympathetic to their cause of a semi-autonomous province within Iraq. The Kurdish independent movement believes in a greater Kurdistan nation that draws upon territory in Iraq, Turkey and elsewhere.

USA oil companies have been in the northern Kurdistan provinces of Iraq for some time, attempting to lock down major oil deals. The new Iraqi government is now soliciting bids for the development of several major oil fields, and the United States is not given a preferred position. The chaos in Afghanistan has prevented potential energy resources from being adequately mapped and described. Although rarely mentioned in the press, American interest in Iran may stem from that country’s possession of at least 10% of the world’s proven oil reserves, and huge proven gas reserves that are the second largest on the planet next to those in Russia – see Source #11.

Pipelineistan –

Kazakhstan / Russia / North Caspian Oil and Gas
Map -­ Department of Energy / United States government

The strategic value of Afghanistan to the United States and NATO remains its central position within Pipelineistan, a gigantic, complex oil and gas pipeline project that would traverse Central Asia. Pipelineistan requires the participation of Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, India, Turkey, Turkmenistan, China, Russia, and Armenia. Located on the other side of the world, the United States is nonetheless determined to be sitting at the table. China, Russia and Iran envisage a new Silk Road that transports oil and gas extending from the Caspian Sea to Xinjiang Province in China’s far west.

Kazakhstan to China / Proposed Oil Pipelines
Map ­- Department of Energy / United States government

The United States counters with the Albanian Macedonian Bulgarian Oil Corporation and the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. At the end of the day, it has to come down to which routes are chosen to bring Kazakhstan’s enormous oil reserves to market after production starts in 2013. Whoever controls Pipelineistan may well control the world’s strategic energy supplies for the remainder of this century. See the important analysis of Central Asian pipelines and oil wars by award winning international journalist Pepe Escobar in Source #12. Yes, Virginia, Black Gold still rules and this is why the “Bull in the China Shop ( re United States) cannot afford to leave Afghanistan, nor give up control over Pakistan’s military policy.

B-1 Lancer bomber over Afghanistan
Photo -­ Master Sergeant Andrew Dunaway / USAF

“Full Spectrum Dominance” Falls on Its Face –

Attempts to redefine reality to suit USA objectives have met with little success because the fundamentals are well known and not overly complicated. The Taliban is not Al Qaeda, has not fused with AQ and has a very different and locally focused agenda – takeover over the Afghanistan government. The Taliban are not a global terrorist organization, and have no plans to become one. To the extent that Taliban controlled territories are made available to Al Qaeda for base of operations, the United States has only itself to blame.

Are Drone attacks justified? This is an interview in the United States at Fora TV with Hamid Mir, a prominent Pakistani journalist who was the only journalist able to interview Osama bin Laden after 9/11. Drone missions are far less costly than military aviation sorties that require a human pilot and crew.

Military operations brought to Afghanistan, and forced upon Pakistan amidst the AfPAK War, have created a new huge refugee problem in the northwest provinces of Pakistan. These refugees hate the United States because of the civilian casualties caused by the drone missions. To continue to talk about “winning hearts and minds” in Afghan and Pakistan villages is ludicrous. The score card of terrorist leaders killed is beside the point because there is an endless supply of good candidates ready to fill vacant leadership positions as the past eight years has demonstrated.

MQ-9 Reaper drone in flight
Photo -­ Lt. Colonel Leslie Pratt / USAF

Propaganda about the birth of ‘fledging democracies’ would be laughable, if the human costs were not so severe. Sectarian Sunni-Shi’ite warfare in several disguises continues in Iraq. There are political analysts who believe that Iraq is the most politically corrupt state of all. Afghanistan remains as it has always been, a tribal federation where alliances shift and move in complex patterns yet to be understood in the West, and it remains the premier narco state on the planet. The United States is now deeply enmeshed in a plot to remove Hamid Karzai from office as the President of Afghanistan. His opponent in the recently held corrupt elections is believed to be more easily manipulated by American interests. So much for genuine ‘fledgling democracy’; the energy stakes are much too high for that.

The human cost in civilian casualties and social/cultural destruction in Afghanistan, and now Pakistan, is well known, thoroughly documented and apparently of little concern to those obsessed with ‘full spectrum dominance’. Tons of verbiage attempting to convince the world otherwise have accomplished little except to lower America’s integrity and trust index to near zero After eight years of these two wars, USA prestige and influence in the world has reached a new low point.

Trillion Dollar Bill
Graphic Art ­- methodshop

The National Priorities Project / Cost of War Counters Trade-Off –

As always, the Bottom Line is Money. There are a number of cost of war counters on the web, but a new web site has developed an exceptional presentation. The National Priorities Project mission is to analyze “complex federal spending data and translate it into easy-to-understand information about how [United States] federal tax dollars are spent.”

The National Priorities web site is an education for the world, not just American voters. The expected running tally, cost-of-war counter is present. In addition, there are separate Cost of War in Afghanistan and Cost of War in Iraq counters. The visitor can choose a specific defense program and home state, and the counter will calculate what non defense programs could have been funded in that state if the chosen defense program were not funded. These counters are the bottom line look at an oft discussed topic, ‘what would we get if this or that defense program was not funded?’

Military Cost to Secure_Energy FY2009 / HI
Chart ­- National Priority Project

For those with blogs or web sites, National Priority makes available free code snippets so you can place these calculators on your page. This is a great site with superb calculators. Spend some time at National Priority Project and think again about where America is taking the world.

Disclaimer: The author of this post has no professional relationship with the National Priorities Project.

Sources -

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. 11, 12

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Racing. All images by Magnus Muhr via Acid Cow

Playing with dead insects is something we’d normally deem excusable in children but slightly weird in adults. Not necessarily so when you consider the work of Swedish photographer Magnus Muhr, who takes the carcasses of dead flies, lays them on paper and imbues them with new life through a few strokes of his pencil.

Peeing

Never has the gap between man and arthropod been smaller, as flies swap six limbs for four, and engage in all kinds of human activities – from peeing and sunbathing to dining and gymnastics.

Sunbathing

Photographer Magnus Muhr is 39 and lives in the small Swedish town of Karlsoga. He works as a carer for the mentally ill, but still finds free time and inspiration to be a photographer.

Horse riding

Muhr’s portfolio ranges from nudes and portraits to landscapes and nature. He regards his dead fly photography as his humorous work.

Acrobatics

Some might call it strange, but we just call it a minimalist yet über-imaginative and horribly funny example of the art of recycling.

Diving

Don’t you agree this is one fly artist? We just wish we could have been a fly on the wall when he was coming up with this stuff. Sorry. On with the art.

Toilet queuing

Well, we’ve all been there…

Dining

Apparently the conversation above reads something like this:
“Was it good?”
“Mmm… You really succeeded with this, Britta… It tastes like shit!”

Tête à tête

According to one translation:
“Are you bi-sexual?” (bi = bee in Swedish)

Fly in boots

Translation: “It’s the latest craze” (fluga = fly and craze in Swedish)

Pyramid stunt

“Guys, I have to sneeze”

Gymnastics

They seem so alive.

Holding hands

Is the moth giving the fly a helping hand to cross the road?

Long legs

More circus antics? Stilt wearing perhaps?

Wouldn’t like to say

We were tipped off about Magnus Muhr by Acid Cow. Extra translation help from here. Muchos.

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Image: Francisco Trinidad

When the people of the small Mexican town of Parícutin heard rumbling and felt the earth shake on February 20, 1943, they thought of an earthquake. When they witnessed a mountain growing out of their cornfields, plus fissures in the earth that emitted sulphurous smells, many thought God had sent them a sign that the end was near. What they would witness was the birth of Parícutin, the youngest volcano in the western hemisphere and one of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World. Today, it is extinct and only the steeple of the small church of San Juan Parangaricutiro stands like a beacon amidst a sea of volcanic rock.

An amazing aerial view:

Image via artificialowl

Recalls Dionisio Pulido, a farmer in whose field the volcano rose: “I then felt a thunder… the trees trembled, and it was then I saw how, in the hole, the ground swelled and raised itself 2 or 2 1/2 meters high”.

A farmer watching the Parícutin eruption in 1943:

Image: K. Segerstrom, U.S. Geological Survey

Over the course of the year, the volcano grew to its current height of 410 m (1,345 ft) – 9,210 ft above sea level – a year during which roads and fields were covered with volcanic ash and the remaining residents endured respiratory problems due to air pollution and a constantly ash- and particle-filled sky.

Sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, hydrofluoric acid and chlorine gas are just some of the dangerous gases that volcanoes produce and that come down in the form of acid rain.

One of the spectacular Parícutin eruptions:

Image: R.E. Wilcox, U.S. Geological Survey

As a result of the ongoing eruptions, the towns of Parícutinand San Juan Parangaricutiro were completely engulfed, save for the steeple of the church. Nine other villages were damaged by lava flow and fires – altogether an area of about 25 sq km (10 sq miles). The damage for the villagers was substantial as most lost their homes, crops, livestock and livelihood but all were relocated and miraculously, no casualties were reported during the birth of the youngest volcano.

San Juan Parangaricutiro framed by volcanic rock:

Image: Luis Lopez Franco

Two complete villages are still buried under all that lava:

Image: Josh Jackson

People were not that lucky in 1949 when about 1,000 villagers died during a major eruption. Paricutin continued to spew until February 1952 when it ceased activity. Like most cinder cone volcanoes, Parícutin is a monogenetic one, meaning that it will never erupt again, at least not in the same location. Any new eruption would occur in a random, new location.

Parícutin is the youngest one of more than 1,400 volcanic vents in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt and North America. What is unique is that its formation was witnessed from the very beginning.

Paricutin’s location in central Mexico, close to Mexico City:

Image: Mixcoatl

Cinematographically, shots of the active volcano were used in the 1947 film Captain from Castile, and the ruin of San Juan Parangaricutiro featured in Henry Hathaway’s 1954 western Garden of Evil.

San Juan Parangaricutiro from afar

Image: sharloch

In the volcano’s early years, the impression of destruction and the contrast between the church ruins and the black landscape created by lava was starker than later on when vegetation started to reclaim the area. In fact, volcanic soil contains a wide variety of chemicals that make it easier for plants to absorb water and nutrients and hence makes them grow faster. That’s why today, this rich soil has turned the once dark landscape into an agricultural paradise.

The lonely church, now surrounded by greenery:

Image: Petr Jan Jura?ka

Today, the area attracts many tourists who are still fascinated by the story of the birth of the Paricutin volcano. Even 66 years later, the cataclysmic events feel real and it is easy to imagine what must have happened that fateful night in 1943.

The church ruins attract many visitors:

Image: Josh Jackson

Tourists exploring the church ruins:

Image: Josh Jackson

The Paricutin volcano today – all quiet on the western front:

Image: Jim Luhr

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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