Mystery: No One Could Identify Glowing Rocks As Any Existing Type of Rock

Bright Side

Planet Earth is a unique place: it's full of unusual things happening every moment. Right now as you're watching this video, there're amazing Northern lights happening somewhere. Moreover, there're sailing stones, supercell thunderstorms and pink lakes right on our planet. Let's take a look at these 14 amazing types of natural phenomena from around the world.   The shores of one lake in Michigan are home to very unusual rocks - they contain fluorescent minerals. They look absolutely stunning! But no one could identify them as any existing type of rocks. Which kinds of natural phenomena have you ever witnessed?  #brightside  Credit: Ornamental art created in sand by a puffer fish: By Unknown author - https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2018/01/showing-off-to-the-universe-beacons-for-the-afterlife-of-our-civilization/, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=101317527 Animation is created by Bright Side.

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00:00The shores of Lake Superior in Michigan are home to glowing uberlite rocks,

00:05a natural phenomenon of cyanite rocks rich with fluorescent soda light minerals.

00:11These rocks glow under ultraviolet light, providing beautiful patterns inside and out.

00:17When they first found the rocks, they couldn't identify them as any existing type of rock.

00:22Although they've been mainly obtained from Lake Superior,

00:25their origin story takes them back millions of years.

00:28They formed from thick continental crustal areas of Canada.

00:32They then slowly followed the continental ice sheets, along with the glaciers, some thousands of years ago.

00:38Natural phenomena occur in many forms,

00:41and the only thing humankind has to do is admire their intrigue and beauty.

00:47Seeking the end of a rainbow has long been an opportunity to find a pot of hidden gold.

00:52This is an old tale that originates back to the time when Vikings buried their gold in Ireland.

00:57Philosophers and scholars had an understanding of how rainbows rationally formed even before then.

01:04Rainbows are an optical illusion, the result of refraction and reflection.

01:09This combo happens thanks to the spreading of white light through the water droplets at multiple angles,

01:14dispersing the white light into a continuous distribution of colors.

01:18Every rainbow you ever witness is a double one,

01:21though the second band isn't always visible,

01:24as more white light escapes being spread further apart.

01:28The light escapes upwards, as opposed to the primary bow, which is downwards.

01:33Some cultures believe the northern lights were created by a great firefox running across the skies.

01:39Others, that it was created by the plumes of great whales.

01:43Many northern cultures were sure it's a sign positive news was on the way.

01:47How it occurs is still intriguing, just in a more scientific way rather than mythical.

01:53Great solar storms caused by the sun 93 million miles away

01:57send waves of charged solar particles into space in all directions.

02:02When the Earth crosses paths with one of these waves,

02:05the magnetic field and the atmosphere respond.

02:08As the charged particles from the sun strike atoms within Earth's atmosphere,

02:13electrons move to a higher energy state.

02:15Then, as they drop back to a lower energy form,

02:19they release light photons,

02:20creating the auroras on the north and south poles.

02:24Volcanoes are an exciting display of Mother Nature.

02:28They're formed when hot molten rock, ash, and gases escape from an opening on the Earth's surface.

02:34The molten rock and ash solidify as they cool,

02:37creating the volcano spout as it erupts further,

02:40pushing more ash into the sky.

02:42The naturally occurring phenomena from a volcano with the combination of lightning

02:47is a different spectacle altogether.

02:50When a volcano emits dense ash clouds close to the ground,

02:53it causes particles to rub together,

02:56creating static electricity,

02:58which results in lightning strikes above the volcano.

03:01As the ash clouds rise higher towards the stratosphere,

03:05jostling ice particles can create great bolts of lightning.

03:09This combination is similar to how a thundercloud produces lightning.

03:14Thunderstorms normally form in the late afternoon,

03:16when the sun has heated the Earth and atmosphere enough for the right environment.

03:21Warm, moist air rises into the cold air,

03:23causing condensation,

03:24and sending cooled airdrops of water into the atmosphere,

03:28where it warms and rises again.

03:31A supercell thunderstorm is likely to further transform into a tornado.

03:36It happens as the warm air rises through the colder air,

03:39causing an updraft,

03:40and rotates with fast winds blowing in different directions.

03:44As more warm air is drawn and the rotation increases,

03:48cool air in the jet stream with strong winds in the atmosphere

03:52provides further energy to feed on.

03:54The moist air forms a funnel cloud that grows,

03:57descending to the ground and spawning a tornado.

04:01The USA has the most tornadoes in the world,

04:04around 1,200 per year.

04:06They're also some of the most destructive,

04:08and far greater in size than anywhere else.

04:10They're especially bad in the so-called Tornado Alley,

04:14with mid-level dry air coming from the Rockies,

04:16along with cold air approaching from the northern half of the continent.

04:20The fallen civilization of Atlantis has been a popular myth,

04:25romanced by science fiction and other beliefs.

04:28Many locations have been theorized for its true location.

04:31One of its many supposed whereabouts has been the blue eye of the Sahara,

04:36or the Reshot structure.

04:38Although it's an interesting notion,

04:40this geological formation had built up over the course of millions of years.

04:44Volcanic activity initially lifted the entire landscape from around the eye,

04:49and, over time, eroded and collapsed upon itself.

04:53Eventually, it formed onion-like layers of rock,

04:56and the great eye that can be seen while flying above.

05:00Apart from being a marvelous sight,

05:02there isn't anything solid to claim Atlanteans actually resided there.

05:07There are several locations around the world with pink lakes.

05:11This unique color is a product of the right amount of sunlight and heat

05:15in a body of water with large salt content.

05:18Only specific microbes can withstand such extreme conditions.

05:22They produce and collect carotenoids.

05:25The carotenoids are a class of plant chemicals

05:27found in cells of vegetation to help absorb sunlight.

05:31As the microbes help create the pink algae,

05:33brine shrimp feeding on the algae also turn pink,

05:37as do flamingos' feathers as they feed on the shrimp and algae.

05:40For decades, the mystery of sailing stones in the desert has had people stumped.

05:47Some rocks as heavy as a human would somehow move across the sand,

05:51leaving a long trail behind them.

05:53Yet, when observed, the rocks were completely motionless.

05:57It wasn't until advanced technology used to monitor their movements

06:00found that this wasn't some elaborate prank,

06:03and the stones didn't have a mind of their own.

06:06They found during winter that melting ice panels would allow the stones to move in all directions

06:12with the assistance of light winds.

06:14The rocks can travel up to 16 feet per minute.

06:18The Christmas Island crab is part of an amazing phenomenon once a year.

06:22Their migration period is determined by the phase of the moon

06:26and the first rainfall between October and February,

06:29although the precise date can't be predicted.

06:32Once the crabs have been prompted,

06:33they leave their homes amongst the forest and migrate in massive hordes towards the sea.

06:39Numbering in millions, a sea of red crabs is observed

06:43as they make their journey across the island,

06:45creating roadblocks and making their way to the ocean.

06:48There, they lay their eggs and then make their trek back,

06:52returning to the forest until the next year.

06:55Crop circles are a popular hoax on land,

06:58but underwater, they occur naturally without the intent to try and trick people.

07:03Male pufferfish spend seven to nine continuous days laboriously making intricate patterns in fine sands,

07:10hoping for a female to approach and inspect their artwork.

07:14Unfortunately, the complicated patterns aren't maintained once the purpose is fulfilled.

07:20They soon fade away after being made,

07:22making their discoveries by humans rare.

07:24One could imagine the first diver's reaction as they came across these weird patterns.

07:31Deserts aren't the most likely of places for flowers to grow,

07:34but they share a similar rose that grows in each of them all around the world.

07:39The desert rose doesn't grow biologically,

07:42but is formed from crystal clusters made from gypsum or barite.

07:47These crystals form a circular series of flat plates

07:50that give the rock a similar shape to a rose petal.

07:53The texture and sizes can vary depending on which desert they're from

07:56and the type of sands that are in the surrounding environment.

08:01Bioluminescence, which is the production and emission of light by a living organism,

08:06is a phenomenon that many species on Earth share.

08:09Algae create an ethereal glow in the ocean during the night.

08:12These tiny marine organisms glow with the smooth movements of the waves,

08:18commonly noticed on the shores of beaches.

08:21The light is activated from movement.

08:23In massive groups, they appear like stars, twinkling in their millions.

08:28Animals that have the ability of illumination

08:30use it in different ways within their unique environments.

08:34Jellyfish floating ominously in the depths

08:36emit a glow as a warning towards would-be predators.

08:40Tiny bacteria, only visible under a microscope,

08:44use their light as a form of communication.

08:47Deep-sea fish, like the anglerfish,

08:49use a light at the end of their head

08:51as bait to mimic smaller fish and lure them towards them.

08:55Fireflies glow at night to attract potential maids,

08:58and click beetles emit an orange light upon being disturbed,

09:02using it as a defense mechanism.

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