A crater lake is a lake that forms in a volcanic crater or caldera, such as a maar; less commonly and with lower association to the term a lake may form in an impact crater caused by a meteorite, or in an artificial explosion caused by humans. Sometimes lakes which form inside calderas are…
THE MUSHROOM KINGDOM Photograph by A.A.C. on PhotoSight.ru In this fascinating closeup, we see hundreds of ‘little brown mushrooms‘ covering a tree. Some see little umbrellas, some only see the dying/decaying one in the middle; and many, apparently, are simply repulsed by such a large amount of fungi in one place. I’m…
NIGHT FISHING IN YANGSHUO, CHINA Photograph by YURY PUSTOVOY In this incredible night-time capture by Yury Pustovoy (click the photo for a much higher-resolution version), we see a group of fisherman departing for an evening fishing excursion with their trusty birds (cormorants) in tow. Comments on Reddit strongly suggest this was taken…
OVERLOOKING THE BOUDDI PENINSULA Photographs via PrettyBeachHouse.com.au Pretty Beach House is a private guesthouse situated 100 kilometres (62 miles) north of Sydney on the Bouddi Peninsula. The property is set high on the escarpment above Pretty Beach and nestled into the Bouddi National Park. Guests are welcomed as if in a…
THE WORLD’S OLDEST DESERT Photograph by STEFAN CRUYSBERGHS The Namib is a coastal desert in southern Africa. The name Namib is of Nama origin and means “vast place”. According to the broadest definition, the Namib stretches for more than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) along the Atlantic coasts of Angola, Namibia, and South…
FLIGHT OF THE DEVIL RAYS Photograph by FLORIAN SCHULTZ The phenomenal picture above was taken in 2009 in the Sea of Cortez off the coast of Baja California in Mexico. It was the winner of ‘Underwater World’ category at the 2010 Environment Photographer of the Year awards organized by CIWEM. German photographer…
A SANDSTONE MONOLITH IN THE BLACK SEA Photograph by SERGEY S. DUKACHEV Sail Rock, or Parus Rock, is a natural sandstone monolith of the late Cretaceous age, located on the shore of the Black Sea, in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It resembles the outline of a ship’s sail, hence its name. The monolith…
PHOTO FINISH AT THE ALLIGATOR GRAND PRIX Photograph by Gabygz on Reddit SEA WORLD, SAN ANTONIO, TX: In a dramatic photo finish, Raphael edged out Donatello for the driver’s championship at the annual ‘Alligator Alley Grand Prix’. On the final lap, Michaelangelo squandered a huge lead as he led his alligator ‘Anchovy’…
GÁSADALUR VILLAGE IN THE FAROE ISLANDS Photograph by GARETH CODD PHOTOGRAPHY on Flickr Gásadalur is located on the west-side of Vágar, Faroe Islands, and enjoys a panoramic view over the island of Mykines. The tiny village (of 17 in 2007) is surrounded by the highest mountains on Vágar and lies at 62°6’44’N…
The Sifter has already featured photographs from NASA’s incredible archive (see here, here and here), and we continue that tradition with this series that documents the history of NASA’s various rocket launches from as early as 1950 up to 2003. Nothing captures the imagination like space travel, and these amazing images mark the beginning…