Ghost town - Bodie, California

Bodie ghost town on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California, United States, about 75 miles (120 km) southeast of Lake Tahoe, at an elevation of 8369 feet (2550 m). Gold was discovered in 1859 by prospector Wakeman S. Bodey, who the town was named after. Bodey died in November making a supply trip and becoming stranded in a blizzard. In 1876, the

Beaches in Southern Africa

Sun, sand, sea, skimpy swimsuits and the smell of coconut scented sun tan lotion. South Africa has a 3,000km coastline with thousands of beaches, some of which are more appealing than others. So if you’re after a beach holiday, you just need to decide what kind, and then choose the right beach. The West Coast has some unbelievably beautiful, long, lonely beaches, where you can walk for miles and

Megastructures - Millau Viaduct - France

World's Tallest BridgeWhen it opened on 17 December 2004, the spectacular Millau Viaduct set new standards in both planning design and construction - without mentioning the record it set as the largest cable-stayed bridge in Europe. At 2.4km long, and 270m above the river at its highest point, the Millau viaduct spans a 2km valley in the Massif Central mountain range and forms the final link in

Megastructures - The Akashi - Kaikyo Suspension Bridge

The Akashi Kaikyo Suspension Bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the world and it is probably Japan’s greatest engineering feat. It took two million workers ten years to construct the bridge, 181 000 tonnes of steel and 1.4million cubic metres of concrete. The steel cable used would circle the world seven times. It has six lanes and links

Living in Antarctica

Logistics and support for New Zealanders going to Antarctica are provided by Antarctica New Zealand. Although based in Christchurch, Antarctica New Zealand operates NZ's Scott Base, which is located on Ross Island in McMurdo Sound. The US base, McMurdo Station, is also on Ross Island, and members of the NZ and US programmes share flights to Antarctica

Current active volcanoes on Earth

Name of Volcano Location Status AkanJapanGreen AkutanAleutian Is.Green AlaidKurile Is.Green AmbrymS.pacificAlert Level 0 AnatahanMariana Is.Yellow AniakchakAlaskaGreen AobaVanuatuAlert Level 0 ApoyequeNicaraguaYellow ArenalCosta RicaOrange AsamaJapanGreen AsoJapanGreen Atka (Korovin)Aluetian Is.Green AugustineAlaskaGreen AvachinskyKamchatkaGreen AwuSangihe Is.Alert Level 0 AzulGalapagos

The worst ice storm in Canadian History was in 1998?

While freezing rain is not an uncommon Canadian experience, the ice storm that hit eastern Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick was exceptional. Environment Canada senior climatologist and resident climate expert, David Phillips, provides us with his analysis of how Ice Storm'98 stacks up in the record books. Ice storms are often winter's worst hazard. More slippery than

Unprecedented View Of Mysterious 'Night-shining' Clouds

NASA's AIM satellite has provided the first global-scale, full-season view of iridescent polar clouds that form 50 miles above Earth’s surface.The Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) mission is the first satellite dedicated to the study of these noctilucent or "night-shining" clouds. They are called "night shining" clouds by observers on the ground because their high altitude allows them to

World's Most Dangerous Animals

Deadliest animals in the world ranked by estimated number of human fatalities per year: 1. Mosquito over 2 million deaths per year resulting from malaria infection caused by mosquito bites.The mosquito is a member of the family Culicidae; these insects have a pair of scaled wings, a pair of halteres, a slender body, and long legs. The females of most mosquito

World's weirdest skycraper structures

Koning Keizer Admiraal Transmission Mast101.2 m- This was the tallest tower ever built for an illegal radio station. The tower was dismantled in soon after its construction in 2004.BREN Tower465.5 m- This guyed mast tower is used for scientic test research, primarily to measure raditation levels at different heights above the ground.- This tower was originally erected at Yuca Flat - Area 4 at the