May 2024 auroras: skies far from the poles
A geomagnetic storm brought auroras to places where they are rarely expected.
An explanation existsMultiple continents
Atlas of mysteries
Items: 143Unusual nature
Volcanoes, atmospheric phenomena and natural disasters.
Devil's Kettle: where half a river goes
Two flow measurements showed that water disappearing into a rock pothole returns to the river below the falls.
An explanation existsBrule River, Judge C. R. Magney State Park, Minnesota
Racetrack Playa: the stones finally move on camera
Tracks across a dry lakebed were explained through observations of thin ice and wind.
An explanation existsCalifornia, Death Valley
Carancas: the meteorite that made a crater
A witnessed 2007 fall linked to a crater and laboratory-studied fragments.
An explanation existsPuno, Lake Titicaca region
Kerala’s red rain
Residents collected red water containing settling particles; cultures linked them to terrestrial algae rather than established extraterrestrial life.
An explanation existsChanganassery and other Kerala districts
Sprites: an accidental recording above a storm
A low-light camera test turned accounts of flashes above thunderstorms into a reproducible field of atmospheric science.
An explanation existsUniversity of Minnesota observing campaign
Nyos: the night a lake released gas
Sudden deaths of people and animals were investigated through water, gas and terrain measurements.
An explanation existsNorthwest Region
Lake Monoun: an invisible gas wave
A crater-lake gas release killed 37 people and helped reveal the hazard of carbon dioxide accumulated in deep water.
An explanation existsLake Monoun, West Region
Murchison: space rocks and organic chemistry
A witnessed fall supplied samples for research into chemistry preceding life.
An explanation existsMurchison, Victoria
Blood Falls: brine inside a cold glacier
Red stains mark the discharge of iron-rich salty water; radar helped trace its hidden route.
An explanation existsMcMurdo Dry Valleys, Taylor Glacier