Currently on-board the International Space Station, NASA astronaut and Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Don Pettit, recently uploaded an incredible gallery of star trails to NASA’s Johnson Space Center Flickr page. Speaking about the star trails that result from taking long exposure images (i.e., a photo taken with a slow shutter speed), Petit relayed some…
ROOTED IN THE CONCRETE JUNGLE Photograph via Mind_Virus on Reddit Although the Sifter has already featured ‘adaptive roots growing into concrete‘, I couldn’t resist sharing this awesome example as well. Unfortunately a reverse image search on Google and Tineye did not reveal any additional information as to the photographer or where this…
MOUNT RAINIER CASTING A SHADOW ON CLOUDS Photograph by Nick Lippert (via Komo News) This rare and remarkable phenomenon only happens when the sun rises farther to the south as Winter solstice approaches. At the right place and time, Mount Rainier blocks rays of morning sunlight, casting a shadow like you see…
Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at temperatures from 700 to 1,200 °C (1,292 to 2,192 °F). Up to 100,000 times as viscous as water, lava can flow…
FIRST CONTACT Photograph by CMGW Photography on Flickr In this wonderful photograph by Chirstoper @ CMGW Photography, we are witness to an amazing encounter between a little girl and a manatee. You can really feel the wonderment this little girl must be experiencing. The contrasting size and age between these two really…
THE MILFORD SOUND FJORD IN NEW ZEALAND Photograph by Trey Ratcliff on Facebook In this incredible photograph by Trey Ratcliff @ Stuck in Customs, we see the dramatic entrance to the world famous Milford Sound Fjord in the south west of New Zealand’s South Island. Located within Fiordland National Park, Piopiotahi (Milford…
CLIFF CAMPING IN NORWAY Photograph by Peter Przybille on Flickr In this stunning evening photograph, we see a group of hikers camping out on the famous cliff of Preikestolen in Norway. In English this place may be known as Preacher’s Pulpit or Pulpit Rock, or by the old local name, Hyvlatonna (“the…
THE WORLD’S LARGEST STOCKPILE OF WOOD Photograph via bloggmaster on LiveJournal According to Gizmodo, this massive stockpile was the result of a huge category 1 hurricane that hit Sweden and Denmark on January 8, 2005. The name of the hurricane was Gudrun and it blew at sustained speeds of 78.3 mph (126…
Photograph by yatpay on Reddit On May 25th, 2012, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) made history when its Dragon spacecraft became the first commercial vehicle in history to successfully attach to the International Space Station. Previously only four governments – the United States, Russia, Japan and the European Space Agency – had achieved this…
WATCH YOUR STEP Photograph by Florin Biscu In this dramatic photograph by Florin Biscu, we see Les Dents du Midi as seen from Champoussin, Switzerland. We also see a hut hanging precariously over the edge of a seemingly steep drop (could just be the angle). Unfortunately I was unable to find out…