Out of the Blue: Islands Seen From Space
Nov/09BC
Source: Wired
Islands are some of the most beautiful, peaceful, violent, desolate and unique places on Earth. While experiencing a tropical island from its sandy beaches, or a volcanic island from its towering peaks is wonderful, experiencing them from above can be inspiring as well.
We’ve collected images taken by astronauts and satellites from space of some of the most interesting islands on the planet.
Atafu Atoll, Tokelau, Pacific Ocean
Around 500 people live on Atafu Atoll, mostly in a village that can be seen on the corner in the left of the image above. Atafu is just five miles wide and is the smallest of three atolls in the Tokelau Islands, a New Zealand territory.
Atafu is made up of coral reefs that surrounded the flanks of a volcano that has since become inactive and submerged. Like many tropical atolls, Atafu is very low lying and vulnerable to sea-level rise. This photograph was taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station in January.
Image: NASA
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Scientists Discover ‘Giant’ orb web spider
Oct/09BC
There seems to be a spider buzz going around in the scientific community. Earlier this month scientist discover the vegetarian spider and now in South Africa and Madagascar they have found a rare web spider.
The new spider had been named Nephila komaci and according to the Plos One journal, it is the largest golden orb spinning spider known to science. Females of this group of species are only “giants”, with a leg span of up to 12cm (4.7in); the male spiders are tiny by comparison. Scientists who discovered these new species say that the female spiders are capable of spinning webs that reach up to 1m (3ft 3in) in diameter.
Read more about the ‘Giant’ orb web spider at BBC.com.