The Amazing Pictures Thread

[ShadyKnight]

^^^ - Wow, that's so cool. Like a modern day - and real - Bagg-End (Bilbo's house).

[01srainey]

[danny275]

Love that pic

Sailing stones, sliding rocks, and moving rocks all refer to a geological phenomenon where rocks move in long tracks along a smooth valley floor without human or animal intervention. They have been recorded and studied in a number of places around Racetrack Playa, Death Valley, where the number and length of travel grooves are notable. The force behind their movement is not confirmed and is the subject of research.

The stones move only every two or three years and most tracks develop over three or four years. Stones with rough bottoms leave straight striated tracks while those with smooth bottoms wander. Stones sometimes turn over, exposing another edge to the ground and leaving a different track in the stone's wake.

Trails differ in both direction and length. Rocks that start next to each other may travel parallel for a time, before one abruptly changes direction to the left, right, or even back the direction it came from. Trail length also varies – two similarly sized and shaped rocks may travel uniformly, then one could move ahead or stop in its track.

[danny275]

World's Biggest Known Cave

Hang Son Doong in Vietnam. It is vast, contains its own jungles, river and of course new species of life.
A half-mile block of 40-story buildings could fit inside the lit stretch in the first photo, which may be the world's biggest subterranean passage.

[G7SEV]

Bloody breath taking! Would love to visit that. Would be amazing.

Also love the pic that Aron posted of the house

[nani17]

Love this thread

[Arsenalisti]

The jungle is inside the cave? That's . From the picture it looks like the junge is kinda the entrance/exit of the cave.

[x Tru3 Blu3]

This thread has potential , I'll be on the hunt for some pictures tonight

[danny275]

Mirny Diamond Mine of Siberia

The mine is 525 meters (1,722 ft) deep (4th in the world) and has a diameter of 1,200 m (3,900 ft) and is the second largest excavated hole in the world, after Bingham Canyon Mine. The airspace above the mine is closed for helicopters because of a few incidents in which they were sucked in by the downward air flow

Burning Gates of Turkmenistan

The Derweze area is rich in natural gas. While drilling in 1971, geologists tapped into a cavern filled with natural gas.The ground beneath the drilling rig collapsed, leaving a large hole with a diameter of about 70 metres (230 ft) To avoid poisonous gas discharge, it was decided to burn it off. Geologists had hoped the fire would use all the fuel in a matter of days, but the gas still burns 40 years later. Locals have dubbed the cavern "The Door to Hell"

[Arsenalisti]

Atlantic Ocean Road in Norway

http://anewlifeinnorway.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/atlantic-road-norway.jpg
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_-CNALPZiyU0/RqdrbDkaz1I/AAAAAAAAANU/yBnORNghjps/P1020499.JPG

[danny275]

Awesome, Aron

[Peruzzi]

Oresund Bridge



Connects Copenhagen, Denmark to Malmo, Sweden. A 3 mile bridge, which then dives down into a 1.5 mile tunnel, carrying cars and trains.

Would be amazing to drive it, just diving down into the sea!

[moeom]

This thread is what the thread title suggests. AMAZING!

Göbekli Tepe: World's First Temple?

Before them are dozens of massive stone pillars arranged into a set of rings, one mashed up against the next. Known as Göbekli Tepe (pronounced Guh-behk-LEE TEH-peh), the site is vaguely reminiscent of Stonehenge, except that Göbekli Tepe was built much earlier and is made not from roughly hewn blocks but from cleanly carved limestone pillars splashed with bas-reliefs of animals—a cavalcade of gazelles, snakes, foxes, scorpions, and ferocious wild boars. The assemblage was built some 11,600 years ago, seven millennia before the Great Pyramid of Giza. It contains the oldest known temple. Indeed, Göbekli Tepe is the oldest known example of monumental architecture—the first structure human beings put together that was bigger and more complicated than a hut. When these pillars were erected, so far as we know, nothing of comparable scale existed in the world.

Read More...

The article also mentions that by the time they finish excavating the site, that the temple might end up being bigger than Stonehenge. Damn...

[nani17]

Gotthard Pass switzerland
http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/2368 ... assswi.jpg

[ShadyKnight]

[Manutd4life]

I dunno where y'all find the pictures but there is some brilliant ones here. Great thread

[moeom]

Starfish (Sea Star): Amazing Creature

*Bigger version: Click Here

Marine scientists have undertaken the difficult task of replacing the beloved starfish’s common name with sea star because, well, the starfish is not a fish. It’s an echinoderm, closely related to sea urchins and sand dollars.

Beyond their distinctive shape, sea stars are famous for their ability to regenerate limbs, and in some cases, entire bodies. They accomplish this by housing most or all of their vital organs in their arms. Some require the central body to be intact to regenerate, but a few species can grow an entirely new sea star just from a portion of a severed limb.

Most sea stars also have the remarkable ability to consume prey outside their bodies. Using tiny, suction-cupped tube feet, they pry open clams or oysters, and their sack-like cardiac stomach emerges from their mouth and oozes inside the shell. The stomach then envelops the prey to digest it, and finally withdraws back into the body.

[Arsenalisti]

Shots of thunderheads from above taken by a space shuttle.

http://texasscribbler.com/images/Thunderheads.jpg

[danny275]

Shots of thunderheads from above taken by a space shuttle.

http://texasscribbler.com/images/Thunderheads.jpg

Moraine Lake, Canada


This next pic may not be awesome by itself but the man in it is

Simo Häyhä


Simo Hayha had a fairly boring life in Finland. He served his one mandatory year in the military, and then became a farmer. But when the Soviet Union invaded his homeland in 1939, he decided he wanted to help his country.
Since the majority of fighting took place in the forest, he figured the best way to stop the invasion was to grab his trusty rifle, a couple of cans of food and hide in a tree all day shooting Russians. In six feet of snow. And 20-40 degrees below zero.

Then they tried getting together a team of counter-snipers (which are basically snipers that kill snipers) and sent them in to eliminate Hayha. He killed all of them, too. Over the course of 100 days, Hayha killed 542 people with his rifle. He took out another 150 or so with his SMG, sending his credited kill-count up to 705.

Finally on March 6th, 1940, someone shot Hayha in the head with an exploding bullet. When some other soldiers found him and brought him back to base, he "had half his head missing."

In spite of having come down with a nasty case of shot-in-the-face syndrome, he was still very much alive, and regained consciousness on March 13, the very day the war ended.

Just thought i'd throw this in here too while i'm on a roll (although i'm sure most have seen it)


Lump in my throat every time

[G7SEV]

Christian the lion is a great story. It's so feel good/sad. The Simo one is amazing. I read that ages ago and was captivated by it. It needs to made into an epic film

Regards the Canadian pic. Looks so perfect.

I also love the pics of the roads. Amazing