Back in 1986, Cleveland released over 1.4 million balloons over the city for a fundraiser event. Though it broke a world record and left us with these stunning images, it ended in quite a disaster.
Where helium balloons usually stay aloft long enough to be fully deflated by the time it falls down. However, due to a front of cool air and rain, they were forced down onto the roads, river and the airport.
After receiving multiple lawsuits, the fundraiser ended up costing more than it raised. Never mind the immense latex pollution it caused. It’s now known as the most chaotic Guinness World Record ever set.
Stratospheric balloons are giant helium balloons the size of a football field that carry scientific instruments to the edge of space, floating 40km above Earth where the atmosphere is razor thin. You can think of them as cheap, reusable satellites.
And Antarctica’s summers make them even better. The polar vortex, a massive high-pressure system, keeps launched balloons circling the continent for weeks, landing almost exactly where they started. Add 24/7 sunlight that keeps temperatures stable and altitudes steady, and you have the perfect conditions for flights that last weeks at a time.
It’s been tough combining my life with thirst lately.. Sorry for the lack of posts the past months, I hope things will get better. Here’s an under-the-skin image of E.T.
In Vietnam, families welcome spring by decorating their homes with symbolic flowers. In order to bring them home, they’re often transported by motorbike, as seen on these photos.
Not sure if I’m the only one here, but since I’ve never been close to a military helicopter before, I guess I’ve been underestimating their size.
The Sikorsky MH-53E Sea Dragon is definitely not the smallest helicopter out there, but it’s also not the biggest. Looking at this image, however, finally gave me a good idea of its actual size since we can compare it to the vehicles and humans in the foreground.
Also I just love the way its parked in the middle of a field, cushioned by the grass. Judging by the symbols on the road (and the Toyota HiMedic ambulance), this happened somewhere in Japan.
East Yorkshire has some of the fastest eroding coastline of the UK. This nuclear bunker is a good example of its pace, as approximately 3 miles of land is thought to have been lost since Roman times, including 23 villages.
Known as the Tunstall ROC Post, it was built around 1959 and decommissioned in the early 1990s. It was one of several nuclear monitoring posts.
Still appearing largely intact, it collapsed and rolled down the cliff into the sand this January. During high tide, the waves already crash into the brick wall, meaning it won’t be long before the bunker fully disappears.
People enjoying tea and hotpot in the rapeseed flower fields in Yunnan Province.
These fields are a stunning, vast springtime attraction, with peak, golden blooms typically occurring from late February to early April. They turn into a literal sea of flowers.
While primarily grown for oil production, many regions have converted these fields into major agricultural tourism destinations, as we can see here.
