The photo above shows a jaunty rainbow stretching over a cornfield near Piberbach, Austria. My shadow clearly shows the direction of the antisolar point — the only direction where rainbows can be observed. Photographer: Herbert Raab; Herbert’s Web site
Ultra high precision analyses of some of the oldest rock samples on Earth by researchers at the University of Bristol provides clear evidence that the planet’s accessible reserves of precious metals are the result of a bombardment of meteorites more than 200 million years after the Earth was formed. The research is published in Nature.
Artist John Quigley recreate Leonardo da Vinci’s sketch ‘The Vitruvian Man’, from copper on the Arctic sea ice, with the help of the crew of the Greenpeace icebreaker Arctic Sunrise. Greenpeace commissioned the work to highlight the fact that the Arctic is melting and the need for world leaders need to take urgent action on climate change. Picture: Nick Cobbing/Greenpeace
This is a type of arcus cloud called a roll cloud. These rare long clouds may form near advancing cold fronts. In particular, a downdraft from an advancing storm front can cause moist warm air to rise, cool below its dew point, and so form a cloud. Photographer Megan Hanrahan.
Japan after the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami earlier this year, is now beaten by Typhoon Talas, a tropical storm that was just as bad as Hurricane Irene.
In classical Greek mythology, the island of Crete was home to King Minos and the terrible Minotaur, a beast that was half man and half bull. The known historical record of Crete is no less impressive. The island was the center of the Bronze Age Minoan civilization that flourished from approximately 2700–1420 BC.
