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Thursday, November 30, 2006

Birth of an Island (and the Sea of Stones)


"QUANTUM SHOT" #47


A new volcanic island has risen from the South Pacific,
generating huge fields of floating pumice stone.


Something rarely seen... The volcanic birth of a new island and a surreal aftermath: a sea of floating stones (pumice), and a yacht making its way over (seemingly) the rocky plain.

The crew of yacht "Maiken" has posted on their web log the full account of this phenomena, and FoxNews followed it up with an article.

...first they saw some floating sand:
Ocean Boat
Ocean Boat

which gave way to a stranger sight: not a strip of land, but a surreal floating stone field (porous pumice raft, to be precise). Generated by volcanic eruptions, these "rocky plains" drift toward Fiji, some of them reportedly as wide as 30 kilometers.
Ocean Boat
Ocean Boat
the yacht seems to drift over a sandy plain...
Ocean Boat
leaving behind a trail of water:
Ocean Boat
Ocean Boat

Finally the crew spots the cause of all this excitement:
a newly-born volcanic island!

Ocean Boat
Ocean Boat
Ocean Boat

One mile in diameter, still active with outbursts of lava and ashes and a smoking central crater, this tropical baby-island is brand new and not put up for sale on EBay or elsewhere... yet.
(more pictures here)

Read the article about another island that was born recently off the coast of Iceland Link

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1 Comments:

Anonymous Marjorie M. said...

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  • Weird. At first sight it seems like an over-sized catamaran. But it also looks military in nature, so I don't understand why they'd need to make it so wide and tall. The cabin, where the pilot sits, is actually pretty small, so the payload of this ship couldn't be too big. I wonder what the heck it's used for.
    Read more

  • This thing either looks seriously awesome, or like a joke.

    I'm torn, but it IS interesting.
    Read more

  • The payload box is about the right size for the SEALs small submarine. The height of the catamaran is enough to cruise over a nuclear powered submarine then lower the payload down onto the deck.
    Read more

  • Very interesting, Mr. Bond.
    Read more

  • an extra pair of legs, airfoil in shape, and the dang thing could fly as well
    Read more

  • NEAT!! I want one!
    Read more

  • Perhaps it's really an arthropod parasite of the Krupps giant earth-moving machine.
    Read more

  • If I was out boating and that thing came out of the fog i would think we had been invaded by aliens. That has to be the wildest thing I have ever seen. What a lucky catch. Would love to learn more about the craft.
    Read more

  • Seems to me such a design would be used as small-high-density goods transport for the military. Such a design would allow easy attachment to submarines aand small ships, and, given that this is a prototype, a larger version would have the room to load even larger goods on even larger vessels.

    Perhaps it is a sea-crane? Such an idea might be useful, for submarines can only easily reload their larger missiles at ports. Having the ability to do this out of sight of any ground-based surviellance would certainly be handy.
    Read more

  • Look at this cool trimaran, operating as car/passenger ferry between the canary islands. Build in aluminum and specially coated, rather fast and efficient. see http://www.austal.com/go/news-and-images/photo-galleries?DELID=6955E09C%2DA0CC%2D3C8C%2DD9FD2E4C71CE8F0E
    http://www.ship-technology.com/projects/benchijigua/
    Read more

  • I think it's key is the flexible legs that react to waves so the craft can simply glide on top of the water rather than pushing its way through. No other crafts have that ability to adapt and so must move through and sometimes against the waves. In other words, this innovation can probably allow for added speed (due to reduce friction) and more mileage on a single tank of gas.
    Read more

  • "and his bow tie is really a camera..."
    Read more

  • Thank you so much for the info regarding this product. I'll share this to my friends
    so that they could get some infos. With this also, i would like
    to share great ideas where dmc lumix lx2 panasonic
    is related to and lots of great products. Thanks again!
    Read more

  • It's a pitty your interesting article doesn't include Mikroma, a really nice piece of mechanic. See here, for example. The Mikroma II: http://www.subclub.org/shop/mikromii.htm
    Read more

  • Thank you - good tip there
    Read more

  • Great...now I've got another place to add to the thousands of places I want to visit.
    Read more

  • I do not need to go around the world to see amazing thing, just by read your blog, watching your picture, I can see all of them,
    thank you for the picture..!
    Read more

  • Totally cool.
    Read more

  • like christmas lights...
    Read more

  • what's Japanese for "honey, did you leave the lights on?"
    Read more

  • My brain just wrote an entire screenplay around these pictures.

    It doesn't have a happy ending.
    Read more

  • Where's the coinslot?
    Read more

  • Wow, with so many light, I think the truck need huge electryicity power backup!
    Read more

  • WOW! i dont know anything about cars but I LOVE THIS!
    Read more

  • Just saw these on g4, the guy said it took 10 years and 135,000 dollars to make the van on top.
    Read more

  • Hmmm. Futuristic leather helmet isn't flying helmet, but a Russian tankers headgear. The wedge shaped padding on top kept them from wounding their gourd on solid interior surfaces.
    Read more

  • Someone should call ACS on this woman!
    Read more

  • what a cute animal.. very small, at least they wont bite!
    Read more

  • This post has been removed by the author.
    Read more

  • moths are animals technically.
    Read more

  • Doesn't look "that" bad. Any highway looks complicated from above.
    Read more

  • They look pretty from above :)
    Read more

  • most are NOT that bad, and actually work if the signage is right.

    that moscow situation tho, is REALLY screwed up. i bet a lot of drivers take the "short cut." no doubt, it is an illegal left turn.
    Read more

  • Hmm... That seems a little complicated, they should do it the same way as in India:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9OoitJcNrA
    Read more

  • I don't know about you, but that's just about the scariest, most disturbing thing I've ever seen...

    I will never ever again complain about botched roundabouts.....
    Read more

  • Aside from the difficulties these pose the driver, compare the amount of land used for these intersections compared to the land that is developed with buildings or left green. Infrastructure for private vehicles takes up a massive amount of space.
    Read more

  • I knew about this one but forgot the name. It's in England:

    http://www.swindonweb.com/life/lifemagi0.htm

    I've never done it myself but it's almost worth a trip !
    Read more

  • FYI dutchdropper

    I have to frequent Swindon on a regular basis and one of my offices is on the other side of the magic roundabout. At first I was daunted about the task of tackling such a monstrosity, but I quickly realised it really works as it has a series of contraflow movements that keep the traffic moving and always give you an opportunity to circumnavigate around it. You can also go loads of different routes through it which boggles the mind sometimes.
    Read more

  • Too bad it"s a fake! The last image, the one with "imagebank" in the bottom-right corner, is so obvious for a number or reasons - floating roads with no supports, inconsistent shadown, and for god"s sake, cut-and-rotate 35 degrees-and-paste! The world IS a fkd place, but geez, don"t believe everything you see.
    Read more

  • Another view of the supposedly fake interchange.

    I found the original photo on imagebanksearch, and this alternate photo on fotosearch. Each photo was taken by a different photographer/group.
    Read more

  • Nice view. Looks very tangled and complicated from above.
    Read more

  • That one is fake...the interchange has been cut out and pasted over itself at a different angle. Note the lack of shadows and roads going over buildings (which is real in some parts but not in that photo).
    Read more

  • LOL..
    I interested with the last picture, the cartoon,
    and I want to say if all of these idiot would just take the bus, so there will no confusing intersections..
    Read more

  • 好强的立交桥,呵呵.....彻底崩溃中....
    Read more

  • Hence the reason why I avoid larger cities. I'm perfectly fine in my small town ;)
    Read more

  • I've found the russian intersection in Google Maps - it is not so compact, but still the image looks convincing.

    link
    Read more

  • Doesn't look "that" bad. Any highway looks complicated from above
    Road traffic accidents interesting video articles
    Read more

  • These are the pyramids of our civilization. Those borne in the decades ahead will have something relatively permanent to remember their Fore Fathers and Moms. Perhaps they will understand how hard it is to let go of a steering wheel. A century from today, agriculture may be one of the few reasons people have to go outside.
    Read more

  • For those who didn't beleive the Moscow one:

    http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Moscow&ie=UTF8&ll=55.773351,37.551548&spn=0.005998,0.019956&t=h&z=16&om=0
    Read more

  • And because I post like an idiot:

    http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?

    f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Moscow&ie=UTF8

    &ll=55.773351,37.551548&spn=

    0.005998,0.019956&t=h&z=16&om=0
    Read more

  • Image number 6 is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravelly_Hill_Interchange

    Well done those engineers!

    Many a time I have intended to go south on the M6 only to find myself entering Birmingham instead.
    Read more

  • Its too bad that most of those images were just Mix-masters, or at least that is the name I learned for them, basically a system of exits and on-ramps for a road with a lot of traffic flow. I've seen ones about those size in Texas, quite impressive in person, but perfectly comprehensible as long ,as apexalex said, the signs are posted correctly.

    Not to say that there aren't some insane intersections that are actual intersections as I think of them (where roads converge around a stop light. There is one that i loath trying to navigate. Its a five point intersection that cuts across a major highway that leads to a residential area on one side, and an even more confusing system of entrances and exits to a shopping center, which is also focused around its own stop light, on the other. There are absolutely no directional signs, lines, or lights and about six ways you could end up going against the flow of traffic, and about three points that you might very well get into an accident. You just have a pick a direction, and pray.
    Read more

  • easy, this is hard http://hacjenda24.com.pl/?p=93
    Read more

  • I get the sudden urge for a cup of good coffee.
    Read more

  • Great post. I wonder, did these people actually get confused while building roads like this? Great pics and a post well done. Which reminds me, I like most of the pics I see here. Nice work!!
    Read more

  • Oh my word, I didn't know if I should roll on the floor laughing or shake my head in disgust. Those are definitely engineering MARVELS but they're so confusing and ridiculously useless. Who the heck came up with that? There must have been far simpler ways of doing it – or, at least, rather put a turn off somewhere else. I can't believe those roads even stay solid in the air like that – it looks like they'll fall at any moment!
    Read more

  • I would take these "Spaghetti Highways of the West" over the confusing 1 way streets and insane drivers that Boston offers any day
    Read more

  • I live within 10 minutes walk from this crossing in Moscow.

    In fact, this red line is a result of some routing software developed when the construction of a major Moscow road, the Third Circle, was over.

    Though rhere is no left turn indeed, one can drive straight (well, slightly to the left) to the 1st Khoroshevsky Lane, turn back (allowed across almost all the lane) and make a right turn to this very Khoroshevskoye Shosse/Highway at green light.
    Read more

  • They don't look as scary as traffic circles.
    Read more

  • the junction in moscow.. you could just have turn left, but you have to go round and round and round like that.. i'm so amazed haha.

    i hate intersections, though. once you take the wrong way it'd take like hours to go back to the way you should've taken.
    Read more

  • The common name for the one in Atlanta is Spaghetti Junction
    Read more

  • As I was reading, I was waiting for Highway 6 to appear. You didn't let me down. :)
    Read more

  • I think a doctor did a better job on a triple bypass than these road engineers. Perhaps they were on something whilst drawing up the plans.
    Read more

  • All those places will became a paradise after you visit India and try to drive with people, pigs, monkeys, cows crossing the roads...
    Read more

  • The one in New Zealand has been photoshopped to include about 3 or 4 overpasses... it's not bad at all in real life and shouldn't be in this collection.
    Read more

  • Okay, the "Overburden Conveyor Bridge F60" is bigger... but "Bagger 288" just has a more predatory air. Kind of like a brontosaur compared to a tyrannosaur...
    Read more

  • Amazing machines. I saw some of them before. Germany is being famous for their big aggregates.
    Read more

  • Big Muskie
    I live in Ohio not far from the big muskie site. Just take state route 83 and it's right along the side of the road. Note: Just the bucket is there now. The SMALL bucket. There were two in service. The small one is what's left.
    Big enough to hold two greyhound buses! -Seth Leedy
    Read more

  • wow, this is the biggest machine I ever see, how many gazoline needed to run this huge machine for one hour?
    Read more

  • any more pics of the Krupp excavator in action?

    Heavy Equipment News and Reviews
    Read more

  • Theres some footage of the Bagger on YouTube. What a beast.
    Read more

  • WOW! You made my three year old son's day. He loves construction equipment of all types. Thank you from him and I.
    Read more

  • The kennicot open pit copper mine in Utah is the largest in the world its 845.36M deep and 4065.27M across with it going even 152.4M deeper by 2015 and its expected to be in operation for 50 more years
    Read more

  • i dunno what it is but it is cute and fuzzy! ^__^"
    Read more

  • AWWWW, it's a baby bunny :)
    Read more

  • It's a young rabbit, photographed from a low angle.
    Read more

  • I think "thing #2" must be a snake of some sort.
    Read more

  • animal 1: Looks very baby-bunnyish to me! What a sweetie pie!!!
    Read more

  • Looks like a baby bunny to me too, and oh, so cute! What is it?
    Read more

  • it is an infant dwarf rabbit.
    Read more

  • Oh, and you're absolutely right. ADORABLE!!!!!!
    Read more

  • Then again, it could be a squirabbit ;-)
    Read more

  • Sweet little critter whatever it is. Does anyone recall the rabbitcat that was found some years ago and put in some newspapers? I kept the picture of the rabbitcat for a very long time but can not recall any other details about it.
    Read more

  • Looks like the Netherland Dwarf Bunny I once had...
    Read more

  • #2 is most definitely a New Caledonian Crested Gecko...great lizards to own.
    Read more

  • #1 does resemble a young Netherlands Dwarf Rabbit, ive had one myself, but could it be a chinchilla instead?
    Read more

  • It's a Chinchilla...but it is a baby. CUTE!

    http://www.babyanimalz.com/images/baby_chinchilla6.jpg
    Read more

  • #2 is a crested gecko :)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhacodactylus_ciliatus
    Read more

  • #1 is a photo of an approximately 2 week old chestnut colored netherland dwarf rabbit
    Read more

  • Rabbits.. ok, cute, but lousy pets. Don't believe me, get one for a pet.
    Read more

  • They're actually excellent pets if you take care of them right.
    Read more

  • My eyes burn from looking at that atrocious creation.
    Read more

  • Why does it hurt your eyes? That's almost exactly how the '62 'vette looked... They almost have it spot on, save for some minor modern cues. I think it's an excellent job for a conversion.
    Read more

  • No, that is not almost exactly how the 62 vette looked. It's been chopped and shopped and not a good job if you ask me.

    Making a old classic like that modern does not do anything for the car. All it does is make a couple of special editions to be auctioned off for a profit.
    Read more

  • I like this... Got more curves than the Pa Tpk. :)
    Read more

  • Very sexy..seen that kit before. Uses a C5 for a donor car I believe.
    Read more

  • I don't particularly care for slammed cars, but that is nice, very nice.
    Read more

  • I've seen more of these around lately and I have to say they are REALLY well done. The builder is using higher quality body materials than GM is using. I should have gotten one when I had the chance. CRC is now selling exclusively through a high-end dealership in Seattle because they had too many orders to handle. The price is way beyond me now.

    But really, you have to see one of these bad boys up close before you can decide if you like it or not. (I don't know why you wouldn't love it...)They're a car show in themselves. I've driven one and when we stopped for lunch, everyone at the joint was coming over to ask questions. It's the best of both worlds: new tech and comfort with the graceful looks of a 1962 Corvette. You can get in and DRIVE, no guilt, no stress that you're putting wear and tear on 45 year old materials. They are amazing cars!
    Read more

  • Anonymous, thanks for this

    I rather like these cars, too
    Read more

  • just a little fyi...these cars are far from being chopped and shopped and auctioned for profit. These cars aren't even "kits". They are hand built from the beginning of the process. Carbon fiber is used for the body mods, there are modified original 62 parts and everything else is fabricated in house. All of the work done is very meticulous. These cars have been featured in several magazines like hotrod, corvette enthusiast and even motor trend to name a couple. Crc has sold over 40 of these cars and sales show no sign of slowing. Ken Lingenfelter even bought two himself. Clearly mark does not know what he is looking at if everyone else who has seen one absolutely loves them
    Read more

  • I just wonder what somehing like this will cost.
    Read more

  • Wow. I wish I had kept my '99 for this conversion.....always wanted a '62 that was up-to-date.
    Read more


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