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5:06 AM
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Why is it that Greenland isn’t called Iceland and vice versa? After all, we know that Greenland is nearly entirely covered in ice and Iceland, well, isn’t!
Iceland had a few other names throughout history, including “Snæland” (snowland) and Garðarshólmur ("Garðar's little island"). Iceland current name came from a Norwegian Viking called Flóki Vilgerðarson. He chose the name after seeing a distant fjord full of sea-ice from a mountain. He didn’t think very much of Iceland, and that may be why he chose this uninviting name. You sometimes hear the story that Iceland was so named to discourage excessive immigration, but there seems to be no basis for this claim as thousands of people did in fact immigrate from Norway.
Greenland is said to have gotten its name from the Viking Erik the Red. After being banished from Norway and then Iceland, he settled in what is now Greenland. When his term of banishment expired, he returned to Icleand to invite his neighbors and friends to settle the new country with him. He purposely chose the pleasant name Grænland ("green land") to attract settlers, and he wasn’t really lying. Some parts of Greenland, especially where they settled, really are green, as these pictures from the tourist board attest (www.greenland-guide.dk/outdoor_life_photo.htm).
Mystery solved!
9:17 AM
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Its Phyllomedusa sauvagii, commonly known as the Waxy Monkey Leaf Frog.They belonging to the subfamily of South and Central American leaf frogs that inhabits the Chaco (dry prairie) of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay.
Males and females range from about 2 to 3 inches in length, with the females usually about 25% larger than males. They move by walking rather than hopping, which is the reason for the “monkey” in their name.
3:23 PM
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Gate Tower Building With a Highway Through it
One of the most curious building in Japan is the Gate Tower Building in Osaka, Japan. The 5th, 6th and 7th floors of this 16-story office building is occupied by an express highway - passing right through the building. On the building's floor information board on the ground floor, the tenants for the three floors are listed as the Hanshin Expressway. You can’t alight there tough as the elevator skips from the 4th floor to straight to the 8th
12:09 PM
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The Reed Flute Cave is a landmark and tourist attraction in Guilin, Guangxi, China It is a natural limestone cave with multicolored lighting and has been one of Guilin’s most interesting attractions for over 1200 years. It is over 180 million years old. The cave got its name from the type of reed growing outside, which can be made into melodious flutes. Reed Flute Cave is filled with a large number of stalactites, stalagmites and rock formations in weird and wonderful shapes. Inside, there are more than 70 inscriptions written in ink, which can be dated back as far as 792 AD in the Tang Dynasty. These aged inscriptions tell us that it has been an attraction in Guilin since ancient times. It was rediscovered in the 1940s by a group of refugees fleeing the Japanese troops.
12:00 PM
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The relics of St Gratianus on the Marienaltar of the Basilica of Waldsassen, Germany.
St Gratianus is enrobed in rich jewels and fine fabric be fitting his state as a martyr. It is known he died for his faith because his bones stand above a chalice filled with dried blood. His remains are on display in the Basilica of Waldsassen in Germany.
Photography Paul Koudounaris
11:50 AM
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Knabstrupper horses were bred in Denmark as far back as 1671 when they were called "The Tiger Horses." In 1750, this royal breeding line came to an end. The spotted horse returned in 1812, not as the "Tiger Horses," but with a new bloodline. A mare was purchased of Spanish origin with unusual markings. She was covered by a Frederiksborg Stallion in 1813 and had a colt. The colt was the foundational Sire for the new spotted breed.
11:07 AM
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which dictator killed the most people.
10:52 AM
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Katla is one of the largest volcanoes in Iceland. Its peak reaches 1,512 metres (4,961 ft)
The caldera of the Katla volcano has a diameter of 10 km (6 mi) and is covered with 200–700 metres (660-2,300 ft) of ice. The volcano normally erupts every 40–80 years. It has not erupted violently for 95 years. Its present dormancy is among the longest in known history. Katla has been showing signs of unrest since 1999, and geologists have concerns that it might erupt in the near future
10:38 AM
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The Mir diamond mine in Siberia is the deepest ‘proper’ man-made hole. It’s 525m deep and 1,200m across. There’s a no-fly zone above it because the downdraft created by the hole had caused several helicopters to crash.
10:33 AM
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In 1995 a group of NASA scientists repeated and refined some earlier tests on the effect that various drugs have on the web building abilities of the common garden spider. They tested the the effect of caffeine, benzedrine, marijuana and chloral hydrate and as you can see the results were pretty extreme!
Noever, R., J. Cronise, and R. A. Relwani. 1995. Using spider-web patterns to determine toxicity.
8:09 AM
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CAVERNAS DE MÁRMOL OF GENERAL CARRERA, CHILEThese marble caves are found in Patagonia, Chile in the second largest freshwater lake in South America. The lake has an area of 1850 km²; 970 km² are in the Chilean Aisén Region, and 880 km² in the Argentine Santa Cruz Province, making it the biggest lake in Chile, and the fourth largest in Argentina. The lake has a maximum depth of 586 metres, and is fed by rivers coming from several glaciers of the Patagonian Andes. Marble Cave is located approximately in the middle of the lake, on the Chilean side.
The blue colour of General Carrera Lake is due to small particles carried by the ice in the glaciers, which remain suspended in the water once the ice melts. The glacial meltwater is slightly turbid and refracts the blue part of sunlight.
The caves are made entirely of marble: marble forms when limestone or dolomite is metamorphosed. The whole block of marble has been calculated as weighing 5 billion tons; the stone is light grey in colour with some darker striations. The marble was exposed by the movements of glaciers during the Pleistocene. The caves were formed from wave action over 6,200 years, as water penetrated the huge blocks of rock and carved them in such a way that they formed beautiful caves and tunnels.
Marble, being made of calcium carbonate, is slightly soluble in water. When the lake reached its present level, the process of solution started. The marble began to dissolve, and it dissolved faster at the water surface. Small cracks within the marble were gradually worn into wider fractures; waves washed away the dissolved material. It took only a few thousand years to create these caves and tunnels.
2:07 PM
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Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque is a royal Islamic mosque located in Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of the Sultanate of Brunei. The mosque considered one of the most beautiful mosques in the Asia Pacific and a major landmark and touristattraction of Brunei.
The mosque unites Mughal architecture and Italian styles. The plans were done by Booty and Edwards Chartered Architects according to designs by the Italian architect Cavaliere Rudolfo Nolli, who had already for decades been working at the gulf of Siam.
The mosque's most recognizable feature, the main dome, is covered in pure gold. The mosque stands 52 m (171 ft) high and can be seen from virtually anywhere in Bandar Seri Begawan. The main minaret is the mosque's tallest feature. In a unique way it mixes Renaissance and Italian architectural style. The minaret has an elevator to the top, where one can enjoy a panoramic view of the city.
The interior of the mosque is for prayer only. It has magnificent stained glass windows, arches, semi-domes and marble columns. Nearly all the material used for the building has been imported from abroad: the marble from Italy, the granite from Shanghai, the crystal chandeliers from England and the carpets from Saudi Arabia.
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