7 Awesome Acts of Nature (That Science Can't Explain)
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We may look down on all the primitive peoples who are confused by lightning and think thunder is the voice of the gods, but the truth is to this very day there are natural phenomena that our scientists still don't being to understand. We're talking about events that are witnessed by thousands, photographed, well-documented and yet are utterly baffling. Such as... #7.
Naga Fireballs
What would you do if you were walking along a tropical river at night and it suddenly began burping up egg-sized balls of red light? It happens every year in October along the Mekong river (the same one featured in classic Vietnam movies like Rambo II and the flashbacks from Rambo III). The phenomenon is known as the Naga Fireballs, and experts agree that it is "just weird as shit."
What happens is this: starting under water, tens to thousands of glowing red lights are seen rising out from the bottom of the river, then lifting hundreds of feet into the sky before disappearing. It literally appears that the river is spitting out flaming M&Ms. They have never harmed anyone, and don't even seem to touch anything let alone set anything on fire. However, both of those facts were probably unavailable to dull the ferocity of the pant-crapping that took place when the event was first witnessed.
The Naga Fireballs are viewed by thousands of people every year, and a healthy number of videos documenting the phenomenon are hosted on YouTube, which is the most reliable scientific journal on the Internet next to Wikipedia. So, What do the Smart People Think is Happening? The number one theory suggests that fermented sediment in the river, things such as decomposing remains and animal waste, release bubbles of self-immolating gas that rise to the surface and combust. That's right, the best explanation science has come up with for the Naga fireballs is essentially that it eats too much meat. Suspiciously absent from this theory is a reason why the phenomenon occurs around the same time every year. Unless the Mekong eats a regimented diet of Activia yogurt, those meat eaters among us have to be somewhat suspicious of such a regular rate of expulsion.
The locals are simply unwilling to accept any scientific explanation for the Naga Fireballs, preferring to preserve a sense of mysticism. Scooby-Doo could roll up in the Mystery Machine and uncover a giant underwater cannon shooting phosphorous balls into the sky and he'd probably be told to fuck off. Also, they would probably eat him. #6.
Star Jelly
It is no surprise that shit falls from the sky during a meteor shower (that's pretty much 90 percent of the definition). But sometimes what rockets to the Earth is not what you would expect. Rather than a big hunk of stone or metal, sometimes people find what looks like a jellyfish that splattered down from outer space.
There have been reports for over a century of people finding what the Germans call sternenrotz (which literally means "star snot") in conjunction with meteors falling from the sky. It's usually clear or yellowish, smells awful and disintegrates after being handled, much like one of our erections. Despite being described thoroughly in numerous newspaper and police accounts for over 150 years, no one has ever really been able to study it in depth because the substance falls apart too quickly to allow for a sample to be obtained. Case in point: in 1950, four Philadelphia police men found a six-foot lump of star jelly outside of town. When they tried to pick it up, it dissolved into "odorless, sticky scum." No doubt they all took a shower afterward and couldn't look each other in the eye ever again. So, What do the Smart People Think is Happening?
Most scientists are more than happy to say witnesses are full of shit and leave it at that, but some at least try to explain it. The glob found by the policemen in Philadelphia was a half mile away from the Philadelphia gas works, so some assert that it was a discharge of some sort (which is simultaneously plausible and just as unlikely as space boogers). Other theories have included bird vomit, frog spawn vomited up by other animals and generally a bunch of other vomit-related ideas. The goo could also be mundane types of algae slimes that people just happen to notice around the time of a meteor fall. By far the most ball-crushingly awesome theory claims that star jelly is the remains of atmospheric beasts, mythical creatures that some claim float around in the atmosphere. Why we're not constantly scraping such creatures from the windshields of airliners is not explained. #5.
Blue Jets and Red Sprites
While they may sound like two squads of a gay relay team, blue jets and red sprites are actually the names of what occurs above the clouds during a lightning storm. Only visible from space or from an airplane (or from a space airplane), these things look like the exhaust ports on a Megazord and we are totally putting them on our Christmas list. Sprites and jets are always associated with lightning storms. Sprites are red most of the time and happen as high as 50 miles off the surface of the ground, while jets shoot directly out of the tops of storm clouds, sometimes traveling as far as 30 miles up into the Ionosphere.
So, What Do the Smart People Think is Happening? Top minds are pretty sure the phenomena has something to do with whatever is causing the lightning we see in every storm, but beyond that, they don't seem to know. They know the sprites kick off as a result of a lightning strike on the ground, but the jets seem to fire whenever they goddamn please.
Jets also sometimes come in the form of the imaginatively named gigantic jets, which can shoot up as high as 43 miles above the cloud cover and look like something you uppercut your opponent into after a spirited game of Mortal Kombat. For now, science is content to shrug its shoulders and see what else is on The Discovery Channel. #4.
Earthquake Lights
As far back as 373 BC people have claimed to see weird lights in the sky during earthquakes, and sometimes for minutes before the shaking actually starts, as seen in this video: They seem to occur in China quite often, probably because the government only permits people to see a rainbow if they are moments from cataclysmic natural destruction. The lights were also witnessed during the recent earthquakes in Peru.
So, What Do the Smart People Think is Happening? There are a number of theories surrounding earthquake lights, but unfortunately none of them are very conclusive. One suggests that the imminent earthquake releases gases that are electrically charged in the air, while another says that the tectonic stress fucks with the magnetic field of the earth and creates an aurora. Yet another claims that the ground beneath contains a lot of quartz, which sparks up like Blanka from Street Fighter 2 when shaken by a tremor. Not one of these theories has a shred of evidence to back it up, though, so really we would accept any theory as long as we can tie it to some kind of fighting game reference.
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As a general rule I do not drink cow's milk, but I'm pretty sure I would make an exception for 'Fear Milk'.
You got me snorkel. I missed the obvious "research" part of the article due to the overwhelming number of resources that said "WTF" and just ignored all of the ones that had the real explanations.
When people say "Science can't explain it", that means they did not know how to look it up, or were too lazy to try. Items 1, 2, 3, and 6 have explanations for those occurrences that have been studied. Many other occurrences were never studied (or were apocryphal), so the proper terms would be "science didn't bother". Item 5 is well known and has been studied quite a lot, especially from satellites. Item 4 is simply a form of noctilucent cloud, and has nothing to do with earthquakes. People see something they haven't seen before, and attribute it to whatever memorable thing happened lately. Number 7 would also be fairly easy to replicate if someone would only take a sample of one of them. I would bet a mixture of silane and methane would do that if allowed to bubble up from the bottom of a river. It would make a self-igniting (pyrophoric) smoke ring that would stay intact until it burned out.
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#4. Earthquake Lights
There is an easy explanation to that. Ever heard of the Northern & Southern Lights? Know what causes them? Well let's have a quick lesson on them ^_^
The lights seen around the north and south poles are as a result of solar winds, high speed radiation particles fired from the sun. When these particles reach the other planets in the solar system, they wiped away the atmosphere, but earth is kinda special because we have a liquid iron core which creates a magnetic field around earth*. This magnetic field deflects a percentage of the radiation, and as the magnetic field is strongest at the north and south poles, the radiation is fired through our atmosphere (O3) creating the Northern and Southern lights/Aurora.
These are what can be seen in the aftermath of earthquakes and I'd hazard a guess at large volcanic eruptions too. And now for why, earthquakes are the moving of tectonic plates (the earths crust) over the liquid mantel within the earth. Tension builds up and sometimes the plates move against each other causing an earthquake which ripples out causing wide spread damage and destruction. But why would the ripples just stay on the earths crust when we know a liquid has a lot more movement of particles (drop a pebble in a pond and you get ripples effecting the surface and underneath the surface of the water), these ripples through the liquid mantel won't take long to reach the earths magnetic core which will no doubt cause a disruption of the magnetic field, giving areas that have suffered from earthquakes a stronger magnetic field and as such small Aurora's.
As for large volcanic eruptions, the process of expelling large amounts of molten rock will have a similar ripples effect through the earths mantel to the core.
*Think back to high school physics, iron coil electro-magnet and iron filings, you get to see the magnetic field going through the centre of the coil and looping round from the positive to the negative end of the coil.
So Ned, EVERY case of SHC has involved a smoker or an ex-smoker? Really? Where is your source for this amazing, empiricly proveable information?
One issue with the SHC. The Cigarette theory is the most accepted theory for 2 good reasons. The Cigarette could land on something else that could start burning and heat up to 570 degrees and start the Wick Effect. Yes, I know, that means they have to have fallen asleep while smoking with kindling on them! OMG! You mean like paper?! That is highly unlikely! Well, SHC is a very rare phenomenon. Also, every case of SHC has involved a person who was a smoker or ex-smoker in a relaxing situation, ie, sitting in a chair or laying in a bed. But, wait? ex-smoker? They don't smoke anymore? Did God lite them a flame to make up for the cancer they hadn't received yet? They obviously didn't smoke anymore. Well, ever have an addiction. I have had a few, granted none of them drinking of smoking, but strip clubs get addictive, boobies are always addictive... And I kicked that habit, but every once in a while I want to go to a strip club and talk to a half naked girl while she is sitting in my lap, most guys and some women won't hold me to blame for that. Now, imagine what it's like to have a mind influencing drug like Nicotine give you the old siren's call. Can't prove that the ex-smokers didn't pick the habit back up for a night. And good luck on the Youtube footage. Almost all of the victims have either lived a lone or were their living companions were out for the night. Makes sense, if you saw a friend on fire while their own clothes worked as a wick to burn away their fat, you probably would put them out before getting the camera. Well, some of you would.
I swear this site is a goldmine for good band names.
Mattress: "Funny? Check ("So what do the smart people think is happening" lol)
Good pictures? Check
Right length? Check
Initially sarcastic but ultimately insightful / educational message? Check
Cracked Win!
Bonus points for correct spelling throughout.
Points off for lack of boobs / hot chicks.
That is all."
Nearly all perfect spelling; "but the truth is to this very day there are natural phenomena that our scientists still don't being to understand." begin*
Loved the article though. :)
While earthquake lights have been reported for centuries, the "lights" shown in this article from the Sichuan earthquake are bogus: Those are just a Circumhorizontal arc (see relevant Wikipedia article), a not-that-uncommon optical phenomena involving icy clouds.
They're spelling out "sfx", not sex. As in special effects.
Hasn't anyone noticed that, like the dust in The Lion King, those rainbow cloud things are CLEARLY spelling out "sex"?
SHC: As Richard Pryor famously said when he was observed running down the street screaming from torching his head in a cocaine-freebasing accident: "People respect you, when you on fire."
Good old Cracked stuffs. Here are more fun stuffs, “Week’s Most Hilarious Videos 8/17” http://tv1.com/playlists/508
I remember one time last year at the beach there was a little rainbow in the sky on a hot sunny day; that same day we had a four-point-something earthquake. I didn't think the events were related at all.
Weird.
One minute your sitting on the couch, and the next, your up in 600 degree flames; I would say it is a good way to go.
I remember reading about raining animals as a kid and i wondered if somehow the eggs of frogs ,fish or worms evaporated with the water and then ????? and they fall back down
CozmoNZ, as a synesthete I think it's within my right to correct you- it's spelled 'synesthesia' :3
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I was once told that earthquake lights were caused by certain minerals being agitated. The same minerals you find in wintergreen flavour lifesavers. In case you don't know, if you crunch them in a dark room while looking in a mirror, you'll see green sparks in your mouth.