Have you ever heard of the phrase, “Stairway to heaven”? Often than so you’d hear this over some mushy love songs. But this phrase fairly describes these stairs in Oahu, Hawaii. These majestic stairs have a top secret purpose when it was built in 1942. It was constructed by the Haiku Radio Station to be able to transmit radio signals to Navy ships across the Pacific. The stairs count to 3,922 steps. Do you think you got what it takes to climb these stairs? The stairway to heaven hike is one of the most amazing hikes in the world and it is one of the secret places to travel too. It is also quite a forbidden fruit with the $1,000 fine if the patrol guards catch you. However, do you know that you can legally hike the Stairway to Heaven? The stairway to heaven hike is one of the most amazing hikes in the world and it is one of the secret places to travel too. It is also quite a forbidden fruit with the $1,000 fine if the patrol guards catch you. However, do you know that you can legally hike the Stairway to Heaven?
Tips For Hiking Stairway To Heaven (Haiku Stairs) Personal limits: Be aware of your personal limits. The hike is can be dangerous and frightening, especially if it is your first hike. Hike with someone. Weather: Know the weather conditions! NEVER hike when it is a thunderstorm or rain. Check the local weather and conditions. Best when it with blue skies with light wind. Research: Cross check real-time information, do your research. A day before the hike and on the hike day itself, check Instagram posts and Instagram stories for the latest information about people in the area. You can also check Snapchat. Attire: Base on the weather, you will know if it is too cold for you or not. Nonetheless, bring a light windbreaker, just in case the weather changes and you need to keep warm. Food: Bring some food to keep that energy level high. I recommend some mix trail nuts and dried fruits. I usually make my own pack of almond, walnuts, brazil nuts, dried figs, raisins and pine nuts. You can also bring a few energy bars along the way. Water: Water! Bring water. Keep hydrated. Make sure you drink water while you hike. Drink plenty of water the night before. Insurance: It can get really dangerous and the US has some insane medical services, so I recommend you to get some insurance. Air rescue costs $1000, minimum. Early: Start early in the morning (5.30am) for the best view and the least amount of people.
How To Legally Hike The Stairway To Heaven (Haiku Stairs) The trail you should be hiking is called Kaulana’ahane trail. The trail itself is legal and easy: 4-hours hike. Hike 4km up Kamanaui Valley Road Trail till a sign on the left for the start of the trail. Cross the Moanalua stream (28 times) till you reach a steep ridge with a panoramic viewpoint of the Haiku Valley.
The most challenging part of the hike is the motivation to keep going on the top of the ridge. One a clear beautiful day, you can see the cars on H3 below when you are above. Otherwise, you can hear them driving away.
At the top of the ridge, you go left and you will be at the top of Haiku Stairs (Stairway to Heaven). The ridge is very dangerous and has no fencing, so you have to be extra extra careful. Use your hands and crawl on your knees if you have to!
How To Get Back Down follow the Moanalua Trail to get down. Do note that the trail can be windy and muddy, so be prepared with your gears. Micro-spikes on your shoes can he justlp. There are ropes available to help you hike.
There are no aliens at America’s most famous top-secret military base, but what is there is just as interesting.
In the middle of the barren Nevada desert, there’s a dusty unmarked road that leads to the front gate of Area 51. It’s protected by little more than a chain link fence, a boom gate,and intimidating trespassing signs. One would think that America’s much mythicized top secret military base would be under closer guard, but make no mistake. They are watching.
Beyond the gate, cameras see every angle. On the distant hilltop, there’s a white pickup truck with a tinted windshield peering down on everything below. Locals says the base knows every desert tortoise and jackrabbit that hops the fence. Others claim there are embedded sensors in the approaching road.
What exactly goes on inside of Area 51 has led to decades of wild speculation. There are, of course, the alien conspiracies that galactic visitors are tucked away somewhere inside. One of the more colorful rumors insists the infamous 1947 Roswell crash was actually a Soviet aircraft piloted by mutated midgets and the wreckage remains on the grounds of Area 51. Some even believe that the U.S. government filmed the 1969 moon landing in one of the base’s hangars.
For all the myths and legends, what’s true is that Area 51 is real and still very active. There may not be aliens or a moon landing movie set inside those fences, but something is going on and only a select few are privy to what’s happening further down that closely-monitored wind-swept Nevada road. “The forbidden aspect of Area 51 is what makes people want to know what’s there,” says aerospace historian and author Peter Merlinwho’s been researching Area 51 for more than three decades.
“And there sure is still a lot going on there.”
The Origins of a Mystery
The beginning of Area 51 is directly related to the development of the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft. After World War II, the Soviet Union lowered the Iron Curtain around themselves and the rest of the Eastern bloc, creating a near intelligence blackout to the rest of the world. When the Soviets backed North Korea’s invasion of South Korea in June 1950, it became increasingly clear that the Kremlin would aggressively expand its influence. America worried about the USSR’s technology, intentions, and ability to launch a surprise attack—only a decade removed from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
In the early 1950s, U.S. Navy and Air Force sent low-flying aircraft on reconnaissance missions over the USSR, but they were at constant risk of being shot down. In November 1954, President Eisenhower approved the secret development of a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft called the U-2 program. One of the first orders of business was to track down a remote, covert location for training and testing. They found it in the southern Nevada desert near a salt flat known as Groom Lake, which had once been a World War II aerial gunnery range for Army Air Corps pilots.
Known by its map designation as Area 51, this middle-of-nowhere site became a new top-secret military base. To convince workers to come, Kelly Johnson, one of the leading engineers of the U-2 project, gave it a more enticing name: Paradise Ranch.
Many of these sightings were observed by commercial airline pilots who had never seen an aircraft fly at such high altitudes as the U-2. Whereas today’s airliners can soar as high as 45,000 feet, in the mid-1950s airlines flew at altitudes between 10,000 and 20,000 feet. Known military aircraft could get to 40,000 feet, and some believed manned flight couldn’t go any higher than that. The U-2, flying at altitudes in excess of 60,000 feet, would’ve looked completely alien.
Naturally, Air Force officials knew the majority of these unexplained sightings were U-2 tests, but they were not allowed to reveal these details to the public. So, “natural phenomena” or “high-altitude weather research” became go-to explanations for UFO sightings, including in 1960 when Gary Powers’ U-2 was shot down over Russia.
What’s also interesting about the most recent 2013 report is that it confirms Area 51’s existence. While the 1998 version does have significant redactions when referencing the name and location of the U-2 test site, the nearly un-redacted version from 2013 reveals much more, including multiple references to Area 51, Groom Lake, and even a map of the area.
“This Is Earth Technology”
U-2 operations halted in the late 1950s, but other top secret military aircrafts continued tests at Area 51. Over the years, the A-12 and numerous stealth aircrafts like Bird of Prey, F-117A, and TACIT BLUE have all been developed and tested in the Nevada desert. More declassified documents reveal Area 51’s role in “Project Have Doughnut,” a 1970s attempt to study covertly obtained Soviet MiGs.
“THIS IS EARTH TECHNOLOGY. YOU GOT FOLKS CLAIMING IT’S EXTRATERRESTRIAL WHEN IT’S REALLY GOOD OLD AMERICAN KNOW-HOW.”
“They flew them [over Area 51]..and pitted our own fighters against them to develop tactics,” says Merlin, “They learned that you can’t out-turn it, but you can outrun it. And it’s still going on today…. Now, instead of seeing MiG-17s and 21s, there’s MiG-29s and SU-27s.”
The flights are ongoing. In September 2017, an Air Force Lt. Col. was killed under mysterious circumstances when his plane crashed in Nevada and the Pentagon would not immediately ID the aircraft. It seems he was most likely flying a foreign jet obtained by the United States.
What do you think is happening inside Area 51?
Experimental airplane testing ? Aliens ?
Even so, the alien conspiracies gained ground in 1989 when Bob Lazar claimed in an interview on Las Vegas local news that he’d seen aliens and had helped to reverse-engineer alien spacecrafts while working at the base. Many have disregarded this as fiction and are even offended at the notion, including Merlin, who has spent years talking with former Area 51 engineers and employees angered by all the fuss about E.T.
“Some are even mad because they worked on these things and built these amazing planes,” Merlin says. “This is Earth technology. You got folks claiming it’s extraterrestrial when it’s really good old American know-how.”
The Truth Is Out There
Today, Area 51 is still very much in use. According to Google Earth, new construction and expansions are continuously happening. On most early mornings, eagle-eyed visitors can spot strange lights in the sky moving up and down. No, it’s not a UFO. It’s actually the semi-secret contract commuter airline using the call-sign “Janet” that transports workers from Las Vegas’s McCarran Airport to the base.
As for what’s happening these days in America’s most secretive military base, few know for sure. Merlin has some educated guesses, including improved stealth technology, advanced weapons, electronic warfare systems and, in particular, unmanned aerial vehicles. Chris Pocock, noted U-2 historian and author of several books about the matter,told Popular Mechanics he thinks classified aircraft, more exotic forms of radio communication, directed energy weapons, and lasers are currently under development at the base.
While the lore around Area 51 may be nothing more than imaginative fiction, that won’t stop people from gawking just beyond those chain link fences. “At the most basic level, anytime you have something secret or forbidden, it’s human nature,” says Merlin. “You want to find out what it is.”
The pilot and co-pilot of a Boeing 747-8 flying from Hong Kong to Anchorage, Alaska, were passing near the Russian peninsula of Kamchatka when they observed a fiery reddish glow over the Pacific. With no other planes in the area at the time to confirm the sighting, they took pictures of and reported to Air Traffic Control, then completed the flight to Anchorage. So … what was it?
On August 24, 2014, Dutch pilot and photographer JPC van Heijst was five hours into the ten hour flight when he spotted a single intense bolt of light shoot vertically into the air. There were no other flashes or storms in the area or on their radar. Twenty minutes later, he saw the red glow. Having heard reports of earthquakes in California, Chile and Iceland, he checked for quakes or volcanic activity on the route but saw no alerts. Despite that, van Heijst later wrote on pbase.com that he suspected it was an underwater volcano.
The closer we got, the more intense the glow became, illuminating the clouds and sky below us in a scary orange glow, in a part of the world where there was supposed to be nothing but water. The only cause of this red glow that we could think of, was the explosion of a huge volcano just underneath the surface of the ocean, about 30 minutes before we overflew that exact position.”
Sounds plausible, although van Heijst saw no ash plume as they continued to Alaska. Because of that, some experts suspected it was the LED lights used by fishing boats like the green glow that astronaut Reid Wiseman saw recently off the coast of Bangkok. However, the intensity of the light seen by van Heijst would have required at least 50 boats and none were reported in the area.
These lights seen by astronaut Reid Wiseman were determined to be from fishing boats.
Another theory was light pollution from a city, but the sighting was far from any coastal or island cities capable of producing that kind of glow. Investigators are now searching the area for signs of an active volcano or a new island formed by one.
When most of us think of the internet, we imagine day-to-day activities like watching a video, checking the news or booking a vacation online. However, under the surface lies a shadowy corner of the web where terrorists, criminals, and whistleblowers lurk.
The Deep Web has been heralded by many as the last bastion of internet privacy in an increasingly intrusive age, while others consider it one of the evilest places on the internet.
INSIDE THE DEEP WEB
The Deep Web refers to any website that cannot be readily accessed through any conventional search engine such as Google or Yahoo! Search The reason for this is because the content has not been indexed by the search engine in question.
In layman’s terms, the Deep Web is just another ‘level’ of the internet. Residing below the “surface,” it is the deepest level of the internet.
Web Indexing Explained
Indexing is best explained through contemporary search engine Google and its robust, high-performance system of indexing. Google’s indexing methods rely largely on a process referred to as “crawling,” which is akin to a virtual spider crawling amongst the multitude of pages on a website that is readily accessed by clicked links.
A cursory scan is implemented, thus rendering the pages’ content to a format that can be sent to Google’s massive index servers, at which point the data is contextually organized and entered into a collective of algorithms that comprise the search engine.
WHO BENEFITS FROM THE DEEP WEB?
There is a wide range of people that benefit from the Deep Web’s capability to allow anonymous use and communication. Listed below are individuals or groups who have benefitted from the Deep Web in the past and whom also continue to benefit from its existence today.
Journalists and Whistleblowers
Political Protesters, and Anti-Censorship Advocacy Groups
Residents of Oppressive Political Regimes
Journalists and Whistleblowers
Former military, government, and corporate employees are coming together en masse to report widespread (and largely unknown) corruption within their respective fields. Working in conjunction with investigative reporters, these individuals can communicate top-secret and classified information to the media to expose corruption under a modicum of protection.
Political Protesters, and Anti-Censorship Advocacy Groups
Anonymity is of paramount importance for these figures, who utilize the Dark Web as an application to conduct communication measures safely and privately.
Residents of Oppressive Political Regimes
Citizens living in countries ruled by oppressive regimes often do not have ready access to news, information, and critically important data pertaining to the health and sustainability of society as a collective whole. The Deep Web offers members of society living under oppressive political regimes a relatively safe way to garner crucial information for their own needs, in addition to exporting it out of the country.
WHAT’S ON THE DEEP WEB?
The hidden world of the Deep Web contains a plethora of data, information, and a wealth of possibilities, including but not limited to the following:
The internal sites of major companies, associations, and trade organizations
The school, college, and university intranet systems
Access to online databases
Password-protected websites with members-only access
Paywall enshrouded pages
Timed access pages such as those found on online test-taking sites
Circumventing paywalls for blocked digital content
An individual’s personal account for social media, email, banking, and more
WHY DO WEBSITES USE THE DEEP WEB?
What the above all have in common is that their information is not intended for public consumption. The owners of the content may go to great lengths to render the information inaccessible by ensuring it doesn’t show up in internet browser search results.
It is worth noting that the Deep Web is not always illegal and there are plenty of activities taking place that are entirely within the context of the law. Activities such as those listed below are commonplace on the Deep Web, with a membership often comprised of in-the-know internet users well-versed in accessing the Deep Web.
Social Media, Blogging, Text and Voice Chat
International tournament-style games such as Chess and Backgammon
Survivalist-type, end-of-world groups
Book clubs, fan clubs, video game clubs
Hidden Answers – a popular Deep Web version of Yahoo Answers
Public records and certificates, library system indexes
Communicating via encrypted use to ensure privacy and protection
Karaoke and Singing Competitions
Conspiracy theorist groups and preferred “home” bases
Computer and technology skills classes and courses
INSIDE THE DARK WEB
Known throughout the world as the Dark Net, the Dark Internet, or most commonly, the Dark Web, this corner of the internet lies within the deepest points of the internet abyss.
Accessing the Dark Web requires a certain degree of savvy internet prowess, with a required list of steps that must be taken to not only enter this enshrouded world while maintaining the utmost privacy.
Who Uses The Dark Web?
The Dark Web has historically been a realm that has been accessed by a small minority of internet users. Out of the billions of internet users accessing the internet on an everyday basis, Dark Web use remains around3 percent.
While usage of the Dark Web may seemingly be minuscule, the network’s individuals, businesses, and various trafficking organizations have rendered it a highly powerful force that has resulted in countless internet users desperately wanting to access the Dark Web and to ultimately become a part of its anonymous user base.
What is Available on The Dark Web?
The Dark Web remains incredibly attractive to internet users for a wide range of reasons. The enshrouded nature and complex methodology required to access this world have effectively made it a secret world, full of salacious activity, black markets, sights, and perks limited to a select few.
Listed below is a sampling of the many things to be found using Dark Web links:
Credit card numbers
Stolen credit card numbers are a big business on the Dark Web. Typically sold in bulk lots of a hundred or more, credit card numbers can be had at low prices and ready for the most illicit of uses.
Fake passports
Popular Dark Website “Fake Documents” specializes in selling top-notch replica documents from every nation in the world. A United States passport can be had for as little as 1,000dollars.
Marijuana
Every strain, potency, and type of Marijuana can be found on the Dark Web. Meanwhile, prices are often lower than those typically found in the “regular” market.
Traditional internet browsers such as Google can amass up to a million daily hits for “how to buy marijuana on the Deep Web,” indicating a mammoth interest in entering the hidden world.
Stolen/Hacked Accounts
On the Dark Web, it is very easy to procure stolen/hacked accounts to popular websites and services such as Netflix, Spotify, Uber, and PayPal
Commonly stolen accounts include Netflix at just one dollar, hacked Uber accounts for the purposes of evading law enforcement, Spotify accounts for pennies on the dollar, and PayPal accounts that buyers can empty out at will.
Bitcoin Lottery Tickets
Bitcoin is the singular currency used on the Dark Web and is favored by users for its anonymity. The cryptocurrency is often used for gambling and other similarly illicit activities, and bitcoins are widely used today in conjunction with a cottage industry of bitcoin lottery tickets.
Fake Coupons
Fake coupons offering savings ranging from fifty cents to substantial discounts exceeding twenty percent off are a booming business on the Dark Web. The counterfeit coupons are used at businesses such as Home Depot, Lowes, and other major companies to fraudulently obtain major discounts via seemingly legitimate bar code printing on coupons.
Recently, a magnate of the counterfeit coupon industry on the Dark Web was indicted by the Federal Government for stealing more than one million dollars via fraudulent coupons.
Fake College Degrees
Any name and any institution are for sale on the Dark Web. Whether you are interested in purchasing a degree in your name from Harvard, Yale, or Stanford, these official looking documents can be quickly and cheaply had.
Ricin and other poisons
Recently popularized by its presence on the mega-hit TV show Breaking Bad, Ricin is a deadly poison that can swiftly kill people.
Recently available for purchase at a site on the Dark Web called Black Market Reloaded, Ricin could be purchased in mass quantities.
Black Market Reloaded has since been shut down, with its operator sent to federal prison for his part in manufacturing the illicit substance.
Despite the closure of Black Market Reloaded, Ricin can still be found throughout the Dark Web along with a host of other deadly chemicals.
“Jack the Ripper” is the best-known name given to an unidentied serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. He was so called because of a letter who was written by someone who claims he was the killer, however the letter was considered as a hoax. Another name for him are “The Whitechapel Murderer” and “Leather Apron”. While Jose Rizal was in London, Jack The Ripper was present and when he went back to the Philippines, the killings had stopped. It was very mysterious! Could it be just a coincidence? Or not? By the way, Jack The Ripper likes girls while Jose Rizal was quite similar to him. They both have the same initials too, J.R. For those who don’t know Jose Rizal, he is the national hero of the Philippines though not legally ofcial. José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonzo Realonda (Jose Rizal) was a Filipino polymath, patriot and the most prominent advocate for reform in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is regarded as the foremost Filipino patriot .
Legend:
While searching everything about Jose Rizal on the internet, I stumbled upon this summary of his life while living in London.
Rizal was in London from May 1888 to January 1889, in the British Library copying “Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas” by hand because there were no photocopying machines at the time. Jack the Ripper was active around this time, and since we do not know what Rizal did at night or on the days he was not in the library, some people would like to believe Rizal is a suspect. They argue that when Rizal left London, the Ripper murders stopped. They say that Jack the Ripper must have had some medical training, based on the way his victims were mutilated. Rizal, of course, was a doctor. Jack the Ripper liked women, and so did our own Rizal. And — this is so obvious that many overlooked it — Jose Rizal’s initials match those of Jack the Ripper!
Infos:
Actually the case was still unsolved. Till now everything about it is a speculation. Here’s a brief information about Rizal and the Ripper in London:
This is the events that happened in London at the time when Jose Rizal and Jack the Ripper was in the said city. (In chronological order.)
Agartha (sometimes referred to as Agartta, Agharti or Agarttha) is a legendary city that is said to reside in the Earth’s core. Shamballa (also known as Shambalah or Shangri-La) is sometimes said to be its capital city. The mythical paradise of Shamballa is known under many different names: It has been called the Forbidden Land, the Land of White Waters, the Land of Radiant Spirits, the Land of Living Fire, the Land of the Living Gods and the Land of Wonders. Hindus have known it as Aryavartha (literally : The Land or Realm of The Aryans ; the Land of the Noble/Worthy Ones”) – the land from which the Vedas come; the Chinese as Hsi Tien, the Western Paradise of Hsi Wang Mu, the Royal Mother of the West; the Russian Old Believers, a nineteenth-century Christian sect, knew it as Belovodye and the Kirghiz people as Janaidar. But throughout Asia it is best known by its Sanskrit name, Shambhala, meaning ‘the place of peace, of tranquillity.’
The Entrances
There are allegedly several entrances to the Kingdom of Agharta throughout the world: Some are planetary grid points – indwells and outwells of energy.
Kentucky Mammoth Cave, in south-central Kentucky, US.
Manaus, Brazil
Morona-Santiago in Ecuador, discovered by Juan Moricz.
Mato Grosso, Brazil – City of Posid
Iguazu Falls, border or Brazil and Argentina
Mount Epomeo, Italy
Himalayan Mountains, Tibet – the entrance to the underground city of Shonshe is allegedly guarded by Hindu monks
Mongolia – the underground city of Shingwa allegedly exists beneath the border of Mongolia and China
Rama, India – beneath this surface city is a long lost subterranean city, they say, also named Rama
Great Pyramid of Giza
King Solomon’s Mines
North and South Poles
Mount Shasta, California – the Agharthean city of Telos allegedly exists within and beneath this mountain
Dero Caves – Atlantean link
THEORY
An early source for the belief in underground civilizations is The Smoky God (1908) by Willis George Emerson (1856 – 1918), which claims to be the biography of a Norwegian sailor named Olaf Jansen. The book explains how Jansen’s sloop sailed through an entrance to the Earth’s interior at the North Pole. For two years he lived with the inhabitants of an underground network of colonies who, Emerson writes, were a full 12 feet tall and whose world was lit by a “smoky” central sun. Their capital city was said to be the original Garden of Eden. While Emerson does not use the name Agartha, later works such as Agartha – Secrets of the Subterranean Cities have identified the civilization Jansen encountered with Agartha, and its citizens as Agarthan.
According to Secrets, Shamballa the Lesser, one of the colonies, was also the seat of government for the network. While Shamballa the Lesser is an inner continent, its satellite colonies are smaller enclosed ecosystems located just beneath the Earth’s crust or discreetly within mountains. The many cataclysms and wars that took place on the surface drove these people underground. The lengthy Atlantean-Lemurian war and the power of thermonuclear weaponry is what many believe eventually sank and destroyed these two highly advanced civilizations. The Sahara, the Gobi, the Australian Outback and the deserts of the U.S. are but a few examples of the devastation that resulted. The sub-cities were created as refuges for the people and as safe havens for sacred records, teachings and technologies that were cherished by these ancient cultures.
INHABITANTS
The Old Ones – In an article entitled “The Hollow Earth: Myth or Reality” for Atlantis Rising, Brad Steiger writes of the legends of “the Old Ones,” an ancient race that populated the surface world millions of years ago and then moved underground. “The Old Ones, an immensely intelligent and scientifically advanced race,” Steiger writes, “have chosen to structure their own environment under the surface of the planet and manufacture all their necessities.”
“The Old Ones are hominid, extremely long-lived, and pre-date Homo sapiens by more than a million years. The Old Ones generally remain aloof from the surface peoples, but from time to time, they have been known to offer constructive criticism; and it has been said, they often kidnap human children to tutor and rear as their own.”
The Elder Race – One of the most controversial tales of inner-Earth-dwellers is the so-called “Shaver Mystery.” In 1945, Amazing Stories magazine under the editorship of Ray Palmer ran a story told by Richard Shaver, who claimed he had recently been the guest of what remained of an underground civilization. Although few really believed the story, and many suspect that Shaver may actually have been psychotic, Shaver always averred that his story was true.
He contended that the Elder Race, or Titans, came to this planet from another solar system in our prehistoric past. After a time of living on the surface, they realized our sun was causing them to age prematurely, so they escaped underground, building huge subterranean complexes in which to live. Eventually, they decided to seek a new home on a new planet, evacuating the Earth and leaving behind their underground cities populated by artificial beings: the evil Dero – detrimental robots – and the good Tero – integrated robots. It was these beings that Shaver claimed to have met.
5.) East Scotia Ridge
The East Scotia Ridge sounds like something straight out of Jules Verne. It’s an isolated realm in the Southern Ocean where hot, chemical-rich water jets from below the ocean floor. Snow-white crabs with hairy bodies and claws pile atop each other in dense beds – a smorgasbord for seven-armed sea stars that are seen nowhere else on Earth. And a new type of octopus, also white, patrols the warm depths.
The East Scotia Ridge is about 800 miles to the east of the tip of South America. It’s a region where the sea floor is spreading apart, allowing molten rock to push upward and build new crust. Water percolates through cracks in the rocks, where it’s heated to temperatures of up to 700 degrees Fahrenheit. Some of that water shoots out through cracks, or through tall chimneys built from minerals in the super-heated water.
In 2009 and 2011, researchers used a remotely-operated vehicle to explore the ridge, which is a mile-and-a-half deep. It photographed the terrain, measured the temperature, and brought up water samples for analysis.
The volcanic vents are rich in chemicals that support life, from microbes to larger organisms. The crabs and other life may feed on the bacteria, and in turn support other large organisms.
There’s evidence that the life on East Scotia Ridge has been isolated for millions of years. It’s different from that found around other volcanic vents, for example. It may be trapped by the frigid waters around it – preserving an otherworldly realm at the bottom of the sea.
It’s easy to imagine that the seafloor miles beneath the icy surface of the Southern Ocean might be a cold, dark, inhospitable place, as devoid of life as the vacuum of space it so closely resembles — but that couldn’t be further from the truth. In a recent expedition near Antartica, researchers from Oxford discovered dozens of remarkable new species thriving in one of the most extreme environments on the planet, alongside deep-sea hydrothermal vents where temperatures can reach over 750F.
A world of previously unseen creatures has been found thriving next to boiling vents of water, several miles under the surface of the Southern Ocean near Antarctica. Hundreds of hairy-chested yeti crabs, a mysterious-looking pale octopus and colonies of limpets, snails and barnacles were found by British scientists at a hydrothermal vent located in the ocean’s East Scotia Ridge.
Prof Alex Rogers of Oxford University used a remotely operated vehicle called Isis to scout the sea bed around the ridge, which spans about 2.4km and features springs of black, smoky water that can reach temperatures of almost 400C (752F). The hydrothermal vents are powered by underwater volcanoes, and the scalding temperatures and rich mineral content of the water gives rise to vast rocky chimneys that support a wide variety of life forms.
“The visually dominant species are the yeti crabs, which occur in fantastically high densities, up to 600 per square metre around the southern ridge,” said Rogers, who led the expedition aboard the RSS James Cook in January 2010. “Also high densities of stalked barnacles, a large snail from a group called the peltospiroids, and we’ve also got small, green limpets which occur all over the vents.”
The first-known yeti crab, Kiwa hirsuta, was described living near a hydrothermal vent in the south pacific in 2005 and, since then, several species have been discovered in different parts of the undersea world. Around other hydrothermal vents, however, these creatures tend occur in lower numbers; and the new species found in the ESR are not only more numerous but also visually distinct.
“Hirsuta has long hairs on its limbs and its claws, whereas our yeti crabs have extremely hairy chests. One of the nicknames of the crabs which developed during the cruise was the Hasselhoff crabs because they had these dense mats of [hair] on their undersides, the equivalents of their chests.”
Another striking creature spotted by the scientists was a pale octopus, which was photographed by the team. Rogers suspected it might be a new species related to the Vulcanoctopus hydrothermalis seen at other underwater vents around the world.
In total, the expedition brought back more than 12,000 samples of rocks, bacteria and animals. Rogers said: “One of the staggering things we did find is that these vents are completely different to those seen anywhere else – the animals existing at these vents are almost all new to science,” he said. The findings were published on Tuesday in the journal PLoS Biology.
“What we didn’t find is almost as surprising as what we did,” said Rogers. “Many animals such as tubeworms, vent mussels, vent crabs, and vent shrimps, which are found in hydrothermal vents in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, simply weren’t there.”
Mount Roraima is the highest of the Pakaraima chain of tepui plateaus in South America. First described to Europeans by the English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh during his 1595 expedition, its 31-square-kilometre summit area is bounded on all sides by cliffs rising 400 metres.
Mount Roraima lies on the Guiana Shield in the southeastern corner of Venezuela’s 30,000-square-kilometre (12,000-square-mile) Canaima National Park forming the highest peak of Guyana’s Highland Range.
The highest point in Guyana[5] and the highest point of the Brazilian state of Roraima[6] lie on the plateau, but Venezuela and Brazil have higher mountains elsewhere. The triple border point is at 5°12′08″N 60°44′07″W,[6] but the mountain’s highest point is Laberintos del Norte.
Many of the species found on Roraima are unique to the tepui plateaus with two local endemic plants found on Roraima summit. Plants such as pitcher plants (Heliamphora), Campanula (a bellflower), and the rare Rapatea heather are commonly found on the escarpment and summit.[4]:156–157 It rains almost every day of the year. Almost the entire surface of the summit is bare sandstone, with only a few bushes (Bonnetia roraimœ) and algae present.[3]:517[7]:464[8]:63 Low scanty and bristling vegetation is also found in the small, sandy marshes that intersperse the rocky summit.[3]:517 Most of the nutrients that are present in the soil are washed away by torrents that cascade over the edge, forming some of the highest waterfalls in the world.
There are multiple examples of unique fauna atop Mount Roraima. Oreophrynella quelchii, commonly called the Roraima Bush Toad, is a diurnal toad usually found on open rock surfaces and shrubland. It is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae and breeds by direct development.[9] The species is currently listed as vulnerable and there is a need for increased education among tourists to make them aware of the importance of not handling these animals in the wild. Close population monitoring is also required, particularly since this species is known only from a single location. The species is protected in Monumento Natural Los Tepuyes in Venezuela, and Parque Nacional Monte Roraima in Brazil.
Since long before the arrival of European explorers, the mountain has held a special significance for the indigenous people of the region, and it is central to many of their myths and legends. The Pemon and Kapon natives of the Gran Sabana see Mount Roraima as the stump of a mighty tree that once held all the fruits and tuberous vegetables in the world. Felled by Makunaima, their mythical trickster, the tree crashed to the ground, unleashing a terrible flood.[11] Roroi in the Pemon language means blue-green and ma means great.[citation needed] It is also said to have inspired Paradise Falls from the Pixar film Up.
The steep rock wall of Monte Roraima.
Although the steep sides of the plateau make it difficult to access, it was the first recorded major tepui to be climbed: Sir Everard im Thurn walked up a forested ramp in December 1884 to scale the plateau. This is the same route hikers take today. A report by the noted South American researcher Robert Schomburgk inspired the Scottish author Arthur Conan Doyle to write his novel The Lost World about the discovery of a living prehistoric world full of dinosaurs and other primordial creatures.
The only non-technical route to the top is the Paraitepui route from Venezuela; any other approach will involve climbing gear. Mount Roraima has been climbed on a few occasions from the Guyana and Brazil sides, but as the mountain is entirely bordered on both these sides by enormous sheer cliffs that include high overhanging (negative-inclination) stretches, these are extremely difficult and technical rock climbing routes. Such climbs would also require difficult authorizations for entering restricted-access national parks in the respective countries.
In Brazil the Monte Roraima National Park lies within the Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Territory, and is not open to the public without permission.[14]
The 2013 Austrian documentary Jäger des Augenblicks – Ein Abenteuer am Mount Roraima (Moment Hunters – An Adventure on Mount Roraima) shows rock climbers Kurt Albert, Holger Heuber, and Stefan Glowacz climbing to the top of Mount Roraima from the Guyana side. Similarly, in 2010 Brazilian climbers Eliseu Frechou, Fernando Leal and Márcio Bruno opened a new route on the Guyanese side, climbing to the top in 12 days of a very difficult vertical wall climb.[15] They called the new route Guerra de Luz e Trevas (Portuguese for “War of Light and Darkness”) and classed it as 6° VIIa A3 J4. A 28-minute Vimeo video called Dias de Tempestade (Days of Storm) is available documenting their climb (English subtitles, audio in Portuguese).
Did you know: Mount Roraima is unique in South America because it serves as the center point of the triple border for Guyana, Venezuela and Brazil.
3.) The Mysterious Lost World Jungle Holes of Venezuela Sima Humboldt and Sima Martel
It was only on November 25, 1961 (3) that a famous jungle pilot Harry Gibson happened to fly over this mysterious mountain and spotted something unusual – a carpet of beautiful green forest that was perforated by two enormous and apparently very deep holes – each having a patch of forest at their bottoms.
After some controversies, both sinkholes were named by a participant of the expedition from 1974, Eugenio de Bellard Pietri in the noble names of the explorer Alexander von Humboldt and the legendary speleologist Eduard Martel – Sima Humboldt and Sima Martel. Often the simpler names are used instead: Sima Major (Large Sinkhole) and Sima Menor (Small Sinkhole).
Sima Humboldt or Sima Major is the largest one. Its depth is 314 meters, with a volume of 21 million cubic meters. At the upper rim the sinkhole is a maximum 352 meters wide, but down below is up to 502 meters wide (7).
Sima Humboldt (Sima Mayor) is an enormous sinkhole located on the summit of the plateau of Sarisariñama tepui in Bolívar State, Venezuela. It is unusual for several reasons, including its enormous size and depth, its location on the top of the only forested tepui, having a patch of forest on its base and also due to the weathering process that formed this sinkhole. The feature is named after scientist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt.
Together with the neighbouring Sima Martel, it was first spotted in 1961 by pilot Harry Gibson.[1]
The sinkhole was descended for the first time in 1974 and more thoroughly explored in 1976. Its volume is 18,000,000 m3 (640,000,000 cu ft), with a maximum width of 352 m (1,155 ft) at its upper rim and 502 m (1,647 ft) below, and a depth of 314 m (1,030 ft).[2]
Only 700 metres from the rim of Sima Humboldt there is another enormous sinkhole, Sima Martel. In total there are four caves on Sarisariñama.
Sima Martel (Sima Menor) is an enormous sinkhole located on the summit of plateau of Sarisariñama tepui, in Bolívar State, Venezuela. It is unusual due to several factors including its enormous size and depth, location on the top of the only forested tepui and having a patch of forest on its base. Named after speleologist Édouard-Alfred Martel.
History
Together with the neighbouring Sima Humboldt it was first spotted in 1961 by pilot Harry Gibson.
It was first explored in 1971, and later was explored more thoroughly in 1976.[2] In total there are four caves on Sarisariñama.
Sima Humboldt and Sima Martel
After some controversies, both sinkholes were named by a participant of the expedition from 1974, Eugenio de Bellard Pietri in the noble names of the explorer Alexander von Humboldt and the legendary speleologist Eduard Martel – Sima Humboldt and Sima Martel. Often the simpler names are used instead: Sima Major (Large Sinkhole) and Sima Menor (Small Sinkhole).
Sima Humboldt or Sima Major is the largest one. Its depth is 314 meters, with a volume of 21 million cubic meters. At the upper rim the sinkhole is a maximum 352 meters wide, but down below is up to 502 meters wide
Sima Menor or Sima Martel is 248 metres deep.
Both sinkholes are roughly circular in form, but not exactly round. The distance between the rims of both sinkholes is approximately 700 m.
Sima Menor contains stalactites of exotic black mineral called litiophorite. In both sinkholes, there are small stalactites, mats, and coralloids of opal. The formation of opal has been initiated by bacteriological processes In Sima Humboldt, one can find gypsum crusts as well.
The vertical walls of both sinkholes have been insurmountable to plants and animals living on the bottom of both wells. Thus, over a long time, there has developed a unique, small ecosystem with such species of plants and animals which are found nowhere else on Earth.
It takes some hundred millions of years and a bit of water…
Sarisariñama is not the only place having such sinkholes: there are similar formations in nearby tepuis; such as the breathtaking and deeper Sima Aonda on Auyán Tepui. Such sinkholes have formed through the following steps:
Gradual chemical and mechanical erosion of the hard quartzite along the fissures;
Formation of voids;
When the area of voids increases and ceiling becomes unstable: a subsequent collapse of the ceiling until the surface of tepui has been reached.
Both of the Sarisariñama sinkholes are located close to the rim of a tepui and there is not much doubt that here the process has been the same. This process has been very slow and a large stream was not needed to create these giant holes.
Such processes are unusual because the quartzite forming tepuis is impermeable and with exceptional resistance against water erosion. But tepuis belong to the oldest mountain formations in the world and here time is measured in many hundred millions of years. The sinkholes of Sarisariñama tell us: if there is enough time, water finds its way through the hardest rock.
The geological processes in the Sarisariñama tepui in resemble karst processes in many respects, which are typical for the much softer and more soluble rocks like limestone and dolomite, but are a lot rarer and take a lot more time.
Palawan is the largest island of the province of Palawan in the Philippines and the fifth largest island of the country. The north west coast of the island is along the South China Sea, while the south east coast forms part of the northern limit of the Sulu Sea. Much of the island remains traditional and is considered by some as under-developed. Abundant wildlife, jungle mountains, and some white sandy beaches attract many tourists, as well as international companies looking for development opportunities.
Unlike most of the Philippines, Palawan is bio-geographically part of the Sundaland with a fauna and flora that is closely related to that of Borneo.
Among the many endemic species found in this province are the Palawan peacock pheasant, Philippine mousedeer, Philippine pangolin, Palawan bearded pig, and Palawan birdwing.
Over 600 species of butterflies flutter around the mountains and fields of Palawan.
About 85% of Palawan’s endemic animals are found in and around Cleopatra’s Needle. The lowland forests included in the proposed reserve are home to the last viable populations of several critically endangered species.
Birds of Palawan
Of the 279 bird species found in Palawan 27 are endemic to the Philippines. Notable species are the Palawan hornbill, Palawan peacock pheasant, Palawan scops owl, and the Palawan flycatcher.
Palawan Scops Owl
The Palawan Scops Owl is a species of owl that is endemic to Palawan. There have been indicators that this species has a small population and occupies a small range which is both in decline owing to forest loss.
They are rare owls that occur naturally in Southwestern Philippines; specifically in the province of Palawan. And adjacent islands of Alabangin and Balabac, with an unconfirmed report from Calauit.
Populations of this species have been recorded in Kinalaykayan and Dicabaitot, Saint Paul’s Subterranean River National Park, Cleopatra’s Needle, Buenavista, Iwahig Penal Colony, vicinity of Puerto Princesa, Quezon, Singnapan at Kabasakan, Pinikpikan and Tining-luan, Tagusao, Mt. Matalingahan, and Tigwayan in Bataraza, all in the province of Palawan.
They are believed to be sedentary and are mostly found in lowland forests but are also believed to be able to adapt to human-modified habitats as long as trees are present. They are relatively small in size – measuring about 19cm in length.
Their upper plumage is dark reddish brown with black wave patterns. The facial disk is light rufous and they have a pale collar on the back of the neck; dark below with buff spots. Their bill is hill – colored and the feet are greyish-yellow while their eyes’ irises are orange-brown.
Terrestrial Mammals of Palawan
There are nearly 60 terrestrial mammal species recorded in Palawan, 33% of which is endemic to the Philippines. Some of these species are the Palawan bearcat, Palawan leopard cat, and Palawan flying squirrel.
Palawan Bearcat
The Palawan bearcat, also known as Palawan Binturong is a subspecies of the binturong which is endemic to Palawan.
The Palawan bearcat can grow to as much as 1.4 meters with its distinguishing characteristic of having ears that are lined with white fur and long white whiskers that can be as long as the length of its head. They are generally docile when handled although they have sharp claws and teeth that can easily rip through flesh.
The Palawan bearcat can suspend itself by curling its strong prehensile tail around branches. It has a vertically oriented pupil which indicates that it is nocturnal. It has coarse, thick black-brown fur.
The Palawan bearcat inhabits thick vegetation in the lowland forests of Palawan to be able to get food; they are omnivorous. They feed on both plants and animals such as rodents and birds. It camouflages itself in dense vegetation in the forest canopy to escape predators.
Reptiles of Palawan
The forests of Palawan serves as a haven for 24 endemic reptile species including the 2 meter long Palawan monitor lizard.
Palawan Monitor Lizard
The Palawan monitor lizard is a monitor lizard that is endemic to Palawan. It has differences to be considered a distinct species from the closely related water monitor, marble water monitor, and Varanus rasmusseni who belongs to the subgenus Soterosaurus where the Palawan monitor lizard belongs to as well.
This monitor lizard which is locally known as bayawak is the largest carnivorous monitor lizard in the country that reaches lengths of up to two meters. It is a highly opportunistic scavenger and predator that feeds on mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians, fish, crabs, insects and slugs and devours even dead animals or its own kind.
It is also known as a predator of sea turtle eggs.
The Palawan monitor lizard can climb trees and swim long distances, being able to hold its breath for up to half an hour.
Butterflies of Palawan
Palawan is home to various kinds of butterflies but one species of butterfly have garnered fame due to its rarity and uniqueness.
Palawan Birdwing
The forests of Cleopatra’s Needle are home to one of the largest butterflies in the world which is the Palawan birdwing – having a 20 centimeters wingspan.
This species of butterfly may be observes flying around in Palawan at any time of the year. This species, the majestic birdwing Trogonoptera trojana alone is worth going to see in Palawan!
Chamber of Secrets 