Category: Travel & Discovery

Photographer in ‘Emotional Shock’ Captures Volcanic Eruption That Lasted 3 Months on the Island of La Palma

After nearly 100 days of spewing molten lava, smoke, and ash, the Cumbre Vieja volcanic eruption on La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain, on Christmas Day was declared over. In its fiery wake, some 3,000 properties were destroyed by lava, an area of 1,219 hectares (roughly 1,500 soccer fields), CBC reported. Yet, haunting and incredible…


Quadrantid Meteor Shower ‘Fireballs’ to Grace the Night Sky in January 2022—Here’s What You Need to Know:

How better to celebrate New Year’s than with a cosmic fireworks show? People will be setting off fireworks in spectacular fashion across the globe—from Tampa to Tokyo—ushering in 2022. But the heavens have a cosmic light show of their own in store—balls of fire shooting from the sky, called the Quadrantids, expected to peak early…


2021 Northern Lights Photographer of the Year Winners Feature Auroras Above Volcanoes, Frozen Forests, and Fiords

In search of northern lights, photographer Marc Adamus delves into the Alaskan boreal forest, marching to the sound of ice crystals crunching beneath his snowshoes. Setting up his camera in the dying light of sunset, he has only to wait for adequate darkness to fall; aurora borealis, though omnipresent day or night, diminishes in sunlight,…


Metal Detectorists Uncover Largest Hoard of Anglo-Saxon Gold Coins in England, Dating Back 1,400 Years

A hoard of 131 gold coins and a number of other gold objects dating back 1,400 years ago stand to be the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold coins ever found in England. In A.D. 600, England, still ununited, was divided into several smaller Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. One of the most important of these was East Angles…


Researchers Unearth Prehistoric Golden Ritual Bowl With Sun Motif Dating From 1000 BC

A prehistoric settlement located in Ebreichsdorf, Austria, 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) south of Vienna, has yielded an archeological discovery of a lifetime—an extraordinarily rare golden bowl with a sun motif was found in what was once likely a place of worship near a swamp some three millennia ago. The culture who once kept this bowl…


Astro Photographer Uses 200,000 Moon Photos to Show Exaggerated Lunar Craters and Texture

Making good use of the clear night skies in Arizona, where he recently moved, astronomy buff Andrew McCarthy sets up his telescope camera in his backyard to take spectacular shots of the moon. After the pandemic halted his career working for a tech startup, the digital artist/photographer struck out to turn his passion into a…


Metal Detectorist Finds 2,000-Year-Old Roman Dagger From Ancient ‘Lost’ Battle in Switzerland

Amateur archaeologist Lucas Schmid toted his metal detector onto a small hill beside a river gorge near the mountain village of Tiefencastel, Switzerland, and began probing the turf where an ancient battle had taken place. He would soon discover a Roman dagger from under the earth, which would lead to a remarkable excavation. Rumor had…


A Sparkling Forest from Christmases Past Lights Up Downtown

MANITOWOC, Wis.—Standing in the softly falling snow, staring at the colorful and brightly lit Christmas display, Barbara Bundy-Jost understood anew—there was just something special about that tree. “It was just lit up like a sparkling forest,” she recalled. “We were on our way one Christmas Eve to visit my mother, who lived overlooking the lake…


Sparkling Forest from Christmases Past Lights Up Wisconsin Town

MANITOWOC, Wis.—Standing in the softly falling snow, staring at the colorful and brightly lit Christmas display, Barbara Bundy-Jost understood anew—there was just something special about that tree. “It was just lit up like a sparkling forest,” she recalled. “We were on our way one Christmas Eve to visit my mother, who lived overlooking the lake…


Diver Forms 20-Year Friendship With Tiger Shark Who Follows Him Like Dog ‘Trying to Get Its Head Rubbed’

Palm Beach-based scuba diver Jim Abernethy has spent a good chunk of his life under water. As owner and operator of Scuba Adventures, he regularly travels to the Bahamas to a place called Tiger Beach where he dives with clients—and forges lifelong friendships with tiger sharks. It sounds crazy, but the truth is: sharks aren’t…