Thor’s Well in Oregon looks a lot scarier than it is. Nonetheless, it’s still quite majestic. At high tide, it looks like the Pacific Ocean is draining into a circular hole in the middle of Cape Perpetua, just south of Yachats, Oregon. The bubbling water falling into a seemingly bottomless hole has led some to call it “the drainpipe of the Pacific” or even “the gate to hell.” But most know it as Thor’s Well....
In 2011, Pakistan’s markhor population reached a worrisome low of 2,500. Officials responded by banning local poachers from hunting them while welcoming foreigner trophy hunters like Bryan Harlan. Wikimedia CommonsA group of protected grazing Markhors. 2001. A longtime Texas trophy hunter traveled across the world to explore Pakistan’s northern Himalayas — and to trophy hunt a rare mountain goat for $110,000. His actions, unsurprisingly, resulted in massive outrage. Bryan Kinsel Harlan posed for a triumphant photo with his kill on Tuesday....
Only 30 vaquita porpoises remain and there’s no sure way to save them. Wikimedia CommonsFew pictures of living vaquitas exist. Very few people have ever glimpsed a vaquita, the world’s smallest porpoise. Those who have seen the undeniably cute, snub-nosed creature are typically fishermen, who mistakenly pull their bloodied and shining bodies into the tangles of gillnets — preventing them from surfacing for air. The 120-pound, four to five-foot-long porpoises are distinguished by dark patches around their eyes and mouths, which make them appear to always be smiling....
Dancing With Light Who would have thought that one of man’s harshest adversaries–at least in these amazing GIFs–is not some behemoth creature but light? Every morning we wake up with it (wanted or not) and, pending the day’s following events, either attempt to push its inevitable fading back into the distance and accomplish as much as we can within that time. Or, alternatively, we try our damnedest to rid light from ourselves in exasperated anticipation of another day....
The story starts with workers accidentally finding a cache of hundreds of thousands of skeletons underground. Like this gallery?Share it: Share Flipboard Email And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts: 1 of 13 2 of 13 3 of 13 4 of 13 5 of 13 6 of 13 7 of 13 8 of 13 9 of 13Photo by Paul Koudounaris 10 of 13Photo by Paul Koudounaris 11 of 13Photo by Paul Koudounaris 12 of 13Photo by Paul Koudounaris 13 of 13Like this gallery?...
Donald Trump has invigorated the idea of the border wall. Historically, he isn’t alone. Wikimedia CommonsThe border between Mexico (right) and the United States (left). On June 23, 2015, Donald Trump announced a crucial detail of his plan for a U.S.-Mexico border wall: he was going to build it (and “very nicely”), but Mexico was going to pay for it. This wall along the southern border of the United States — which Trump argued would keep the Mexican “rapists” and “criminals” out of the country — has since become a key component of Trump’s successful bid for the Republican presidential nomination....
This first-hand account of a mother and child in peril denied an abortion is a harrowing reminder of how prohibition often works only against itself. PixabayAnencephaly affects 1,206 pregnancies a year — and has a zero-percent survival rate for the child. A woman’s right to choose has become increasingly limited in the United States, especially with the recent illegalization of abortion in Alabama. In the midst of this environment, a U....
What began as a quiet photography project in northeast England quickly developed into a worldwide photojournalistic commentary on the 500 year old institution of in-classroom education. From Ethiopia to Yemen to Russia to Missouri, when we look at the classrooms featured in this wonderful photo series, we aren’t just viewing desks and chairs. We’re looking at the future. Ethiopia, Gambella Elementary School, Gambella Bahrain, Saar, Grade 11, Islamic Argentina, Buenos Aires, Grade 4, Natural Science...
The shining white marble-based structures were designed to glisten in the sun and potentially symbolize ancient creation myths for those within viewing distance. The summit was a sacred site of religious offerings. Wikimedia CommonsThe tiny islet of Dhaskalio is situated off the larger island of Keros, which is 125 southeast of Athens. New excavations on the Aegean islet of Dhaskalio are giving archaeologists an entirely new understanding of ancient Greece. According to The Independent, a dig on the small island 125 miles southeast of Athens has revealed a stunning 4,600-year-old complex of buildings....
Dumbo was forced to perform so many “rave” dance routines for laughing tourists that his legs literally snapped — and the zoo is calling it an accident. Moving AnimalsDumbo the Elephant. He was forced to perform so many tricks for tourists that it literally killed him. According to the Moving Animals activist group, a baby elephant named Dumbo died last month at the Phuket Zoo in Thailand after suffering broken legs resulting from his grave mistreatment....
RALPH GATTI/AFP/Getty ImagesDavid Bowie poses during the 31th Cannes Film Festival on May 30, 1978. When David Bowie died earlier this year, the world lost one of the most dynamic musicians of the 20th century. Bowie pushed the boundaries of music, fame, and gender throughout his career, establishing himself in pop culture history not just as an acclaimed musician, but perhaps as one of the first people to be visibly, famously bisexual and androgynous....
Though Aaron Hernandez’s death brought his tragic story to an end, the suicide notes and brain examinations that surfaced afterward only deepened the mystery surrounding his violent crimes. Before Aaron Hernandez’s death in 2017, he was a world-class athlete who received the largest signing bonus ever given to an NFL tight end — $12.5 million — which went a long way to giving him the kind of life most of us could only ever dream about....
No one can argue Jumbo the Elephant’s larger-than-life stature both as an animal and as a legendary performer. Wikimedia CommonsJumbo and his trainer, Matthew Scott. Jumbo the Elephant brought joy to the children he saw throughout his life, whether it was in a zoo in London or touring all over North America. Jumbo’s interactions with humans caused his meteoric rise and untimely fall. Arabian hunters first spotted Jumbo in 1861 near a watering hole along the scorched plains of Ethiopia....
The surprising ways in which the “water of life” has helped determine Russia’s religious, political, and economic fate for hundreds of years. In 1223, when a Mongol and Tartar expeditionary force annihilated a Russian army multiple times their size, they realized it was partly because the Russians had charged the battlefield drunk. Taking no sympathy for their drunken conquered, the Mongols took dozens of princes and lords and rolled them up in rugs, which sat beneath a table used for a massive banquet....
One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon has baffled historians for millennia. But recent research may finally offer some answers. Imagine yourself traveling through a scorching-hot desert in the Middle East. Like a shimmering mirage rising from the sandy floor, you suddenly see lush vegetation cascading over columns and terraces as high as 75 feet. Beautiful plants, herbs, and other greenery wind around stone monoliths....
A gentleman gunslinger who could quote Shakespeare, Johnny Ringo was a mythic gunslinger who died a mysterious death befitting his legend. Everyone has heard of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the James-Younger Gang. But most know very little about the man whose story intersects with them all. Cousin to both the Younger and James brothers, and for a time the chief antagonist of Wyatt Earp, this other man has been somewhat overshadowed in history....
King Aethelred II of England was crowned when he was just 10 years old, and his reign was marked by a series of blunders so bad that he was usurped by the King of Denmark in 1013. Public DomainAn image of Aethelred the Unready from the 13th-century Chronicle of Abingdon. In 1013, King Aethelred II of England lost his throne to the King of Denmark, Sweyn Forkbeard. He’d been crowned king 35 years earlier and the age of 10....
The parents’ lawyer argues that they had the baby’s best interests at heart and were unaware that he was in danger. The parents of a seven-month-old baby, who died after being fed only an alternative gluten-free diet, are standing trial this week on charges that they intentionally malnourished their child. When baby Lucas passed away in 2014, he weighed less than 10 pounds and an autopsy showed that his stomach was completely empty....
“I immediately thought it was a work of Italian primitivism. But I didn’t imagine it was a Cimabue,” said the auctioneer who was first to examine the painting. Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty ImagesThe original painting by Renaissance artist Cimabue that was discovered in an elderly woman’s house in France. When people clean out their house, they often find old treasures — like a favorite scarf that went missing or a precious letter from a beloved — that had been lost to time....
These amazing Summer Olympics photos from throughout history show the world united in admiration of the possibilities of the human form. The Summer Olympics will soon come to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In just under 100 days, the city will carry the torch of the modern Summer Olympics, which date back to Athens, Greece in 1896. Then, about 240 athletes (all male) from 14 nations competed in 43 events — ranging from swimming to cycling, wrestling to fencing, and gymnastics to track and field....
