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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