00:00So, in Westbrook, Maine, people saw an enormous ice disk in January 2019.
00:07This disk was like a wittery carousel.
00:09It was spinning away in the Penobscot River.
00:12Residents called it everything from an icy Lazy Susan to a frozen spinning wheel.
00:17It was estimated to be around 300 feet wide, which made it one of the biggest ice disks
00:22ever seen.
00:23Weirdly, the spinning ice disk notion isn't new.
00:27They've shown up in places like Russia and Washington before.
00:30They were almost always a perfect circle.
00:33So why do they happen?
00:34Well, some scientists in 1997 thought it was because river water created a whirlpool effect
00:40around a chunk of ice, smoothing it out to be perfectly circular.
00:44Yet in 2016, other scientists claimed that river currents helped these disks get started,
00:50but temperature changes kept them twirling.
00:53Warmer water makes the ice melt and sink, creating a vortex that keeps the disk spinning.
00:58The warmer the water, the faster it spins.
01:04Ever heard of the Hesstelin Lights of Norway?
01:06They aren't the same as Northern Lights.
01:08Think of these lights as glowing balls.
01:11They have been seen since at least the 1930s.
01:14These luminous wonders show up in all sorts of colors and shapes.
01:18Sometimes they flicker, and other times they just chill in the air.
01:21The Hesstelin Lights can show up 10 to 20 times a week.
01:25They appear both during the day and at night.
01:28They can last for just a few seconds, or hover for over an hour.
01:32Interestingly, nobody has a clue about what exactly they are.
01:36The efforts to understand these lights include Project Hesstelin, started in 1983, and later
01:42projects like the Triangle Project.
01:45Despite ongoing research, there's no consensus on the origin of the lights.
01:50Some suggested explanations include misperception of celestial bodies, aircraft, or mirages.
01:57One theory ties the lights to airborne dust from mining, while another mentions plasma
02:02formed by ionized air and dust during radon decay.
02:09Ringing rocks is a cool geological thing you probably didn't know about, and it's our
02:14next stop on the Mysterious Natural Phenomena Tour.
02:17You can find them in Bucks County in the US.
02:20If you give these rocks a hit with a hammer or another rock, they start ringing.
02:25Scientists have been studying them, but the mystery remains.
02:28There are different hypotheses about this one too.
02:32Things like the size and shape of the boulders, and how they're stacked can affect the sounds
02:36they make.
02:37But that alone doesn't give them the ability to ring.
02:41Even though the sound is often described as metallic, it's likely because of the rock's
02:45density and internal stress, not just its iron content.
02:49A scientific experiment from the 1960s suggested that the ringing ability came from some internal
02:56stress, not external weathering.
02:58The live rocks, found in the middle of boulder fields, showed expansion or relaxation after
03:04being cut, indicating internal elastic stresses.
03:08A slow weathering rate in dry fields could cause these stresses.
03:13The relic stress theory suggests that these boulders act like guitar strings.
03:17A destressed boulder gives a dull thud, but a stressed one resonates at different frequencies.
03:23The boulders can still ring when removed from their fields, leading to myths about stealing
03:28them.
03:29Most fields are now cleared of smaller ringers, and breaking large boulders stops the ringing.
03:34Large equipment is needed to move the remaining small ringers, weighing over a ton.
03:42Now let's talk about the Naga fireballs.
03:45They only show up along the Mekong River in Asia.
03:48These picky fireballs hang out in just a 155-mile stretch of the river.
03:54The reddish glowing balls rise naturally from the water into the air.
03:58Their scope ranges from small particles to the size of a basketball.
04:02The reported number of fireballs varies from tens to thousands per night.
04:07They can be spotted all year round, but they seem to go wild during the full moon and late
04:12autumn.
04:13Why?
04:14Well, that's just another one of their little mysteries.
04:17Some have tried to explain the phenomenon scientifically.
04:20One theory suggests that flammable phosphine gas from the Martian environment could be
04:25the cause.
04:26However, skeptics argue that spontaneous ignition isn't likely to be the reason.
04:31Another scientific explanation involves free-floating plasma orbs created when surface electricity
04:37is discharged into a solution.
04:39Still, these typically occur in controlled settings during experiments, and not naturally.
04:47We can carry on with ball lightning.
04:49It's a super rare thing – a glowing ball that shows up in the air.
04:53It likes to make an appearance close to the ground during thunderstorms, hanging out with
04:58regular lightning.
04:59It can be red, orange, yellow, white, or blue, and it's often accompanied by a hissing
05:04sound and a funky smell.
05:07This flashy sphere of light is a quick show.
05:10It lasts just a few seconds, zooming around, and then – boop – it's gone, sometimes
05:15quietly, sometimes with a little pop.
05:18Ball lightning might seem like a troublemaker, but it's usually harmless.
05:22Sure, it's been known to burn or melt stuff on occasion, but it's not out to get us.
05:28Scientists aren't entirely sure why it happens or how it's related to regular lightning.
05:33People have been tossing around ideas like weird air or gas behavior, high-density plasma
05:38stuff, or even a vortex of glowing gases.
05:41Even microwave radiation trapped in a plasma bubble is on the list.
05:45But don't get it confused with bead lightning.
05:48That's a different one, more like a string of beads.
05:51And it happens when a bolt of lightning sticks around for a good chunk of a second.
05:58Shh!
05:59We're now at the Mopini Silence Zone.
06:02It's this spot near this place in Mexico.
06:05The story goes that in this desert patch, you can't pick up any radio signals or talk
06:10to anyone.
06:11In July 1970, a rocket from Utah went off course and landed here.
06:16It was carrying some sort of cobalt.
06:18Authorities had to haul away tons of soil from the crash site.
06:22Now thanks to the cleanup, the Silence Zone is wrapped up in myths.
06:27People talk about weird magnetic stuff, messing with radios, and about plants and critters
06:31going through mutations.
06:33Well, locals go with it, boosting tourism in the region.
06:39Alright, we can now talk a bit about the sun.
06:42Well, it's not just a big ball of fire.
06:44It's got an outer layer called the corona.
06:47Think of it as an invisible sun jacket made of gases.
06:51You usually can't see it because the sun is super bright.
06:54But there's a trick.
06:56During a total solar eclipse, when the moon slides between us and the sun, the corona
07:00shows up, all glowing and white.
07:03The corona is scorching hot, even hotter than the sun's surface, which is kinda weird.
07:09Scientists are on a mission to crack this heat mystery.
07:11They found something called heat bombs shooting from the sun into the corona, exploding and
07:17warming things up even more.
07:19But that might be just one piece of the puzzle.
07:22You see, the sun's surface is like a playground, covered in magnetic fields.
07:27These magnetic fields create cool shapes on the sun, like loops and streamers.
07:32Special telescopes help us see these cool patterns up close.
07:35The corona stretches way out into space, and from there, it sends out the solar wind that
07:41moves through our solar system.
07:42Its particles are so speedy that they escape the sun's gravity.
07:48So, there's this cool spot called Kuala Sangalor Beach that you can only check out
07:54when the tide is low.
07:56The timing changes every day, and you can't get there when the tide is high.
08:00Most of the time, it's hiding under the sea, not even on the map.
08:04But when the tide's just right, bam, it pops up!
08:08Kind of like Malaysia's own version of Selar Day Uyuni.
08:11People call it the Mirror of the Sky because when it's not underwater, it turns into
08:16a giant reflection of the sky.
08:18An awesome spot for cool insta-pics.
08:21Besides being a sweet travel spot, it's also home to a bunch of marine life, like
08:25sea and baby clams, that live all over the sandy shores.
08:30That's it for today, so hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like
08:36and share it with your friends.
08:37Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!
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