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Apr 2, 2024 13 tweets 6 min read Read on X
Art or Reality?

Let us explore Earth's most extraordinary secrets of nature's marvels, where the surreal landscapes defy not only the imagination but science itself! 🧵⤵️ The Door to Hell, a burning natural gas field in Derweze, Turkmenistan. By Tormod Sandtorv - Flickr: Darvasa gas crater panorama, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18209432
Thor's Well in USA

Often referred to as the "drainpipe of the Pacific," Thor's Well is a seemingly bottomless sinkhole that swallows the seawater around it. The sheer force with which the water is drawn in and expelled creates a dramatic spectacle, especially during high tide or stormy conditions. This natural wonder is actually a sea cave that has collapsed, with its roof now gone, allowing water to fill it from the bottom.Credit: Nigel Ten Fleming @TenFleming on X
Danakil Depression in Ethiopia

Known for being one of the hottest places on Earth with temperatures that often soar above 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius), the Danakil Depression is also one of the lowest points on the planet, dipping more than 100 meters below sea level. This desolate landscape is dotted with acid pools, lava lakes, and mineral deposits in neon colors, a result of volcanic activity and salt mining.Credit: @beyzhive on X
Vinicunca in Peru

Also called the Rainbow Mountain, Vinicunca is famous for its multi-colored strata, which are the result of various mineral deposits that have been exposed by erosion. The stunning hues of red, yellow, purple, and green make it seem as if the mountain was painted. This visual phenomenon becomes particularly vibrant after a rainfall.Image
Zhangye Danxia in China

These are the Rainbow Mountains of China, known for their otherworldly colors that mimic a marbled painting. Layers of different colored sandstone and minerals pressed together over 24 million years and then buckled up by tectonic plates have created this natural masterpiece.Credit: Weird Science - @weird_sci on X
Lake Hillier in Australia

This pink-colored lake on Middle Island is one of the most striking natural phenomena. The distinctive color of the lake is due to the presence of the organism Dunaliella salina, which produces a pink pigment as part of its photosynthesis process, and possibly in combination with the presence of halophilic bacteria in the salt crusts.Credit: Nature Is Weird - @NaturelsWeird on X
Pamukkale in Turkey

Known as "Cotton Castle" in Turkish, Pamukkale's terraces are made of travertine, a sedimentary rock deposited by mineral water from the hot springs. The cascading white pools with warm waters are not just a visual delight but also a popular spot for therapeutic bathing.Image
Darvaze Gas Crater in Turkmenistan

Nicknamed the "Door to Hell," this burning natural gas field collapsed into a large cavern, which geologists set on fire to prevent the spread of methane gas, and it has been burning continuously since 1971. The fiery pit is a surreal sight, especially at night.Image
Rainbow River in Colombia

The Caño Cristales, often called the "Liquid Rainbow," gets its multicolored appearance from the unique plant species that line its floor. Different colors, including red, yellow, green, and blue, are visible at different times of the year, thanks to the reproductive process of the plants.Image
Chocolate Hills in Philippines

Over 1,200 uniformly cone-shaped hills dot the landscape of Bohol. During the dry season, the grass-covered hills dry up and turn chocolate brown, giving them their name. Their formation is still a subject of debate, with theories including oceanic volcano eruptions, uplift of coral deposits, and a combination of erosion and weathering.Credit: https://www.matteocolombo.com/media/b696b84e-ae59-4555-82da-20f6612b3c3a-dramatic-light-over-chocolate-hills-bohol-philippines
Sand Pyramids in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Formed through the natural phenomena of erosion, the Sand Pyramids are spire-shaped formations that resemble a landscape straight out of a science fiction novel. They are created as the softer material around the pyramids is washed away by rain, leaving only the harder stone spires.Wikimedia Commons
Red Beach in China

Located in Panjin, this beach is covered with a type of seaweed called Suaeda salsa, which turns bright red in autumn. It's a vibrant and unusual sight, differing from the typical sandy beach, and also serves as a nature reserve for hundreds of species of birds and other wildlife.Image
Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia

The world’s largest salt flat, it was formed as a result of transformations between several prehistoric lakes. It's covered by a few meters of salt crust, which is exceptionally flat. The flatness and the bright white of the salt make it a surreal landscape, and when covered with a thin layer of water, it becomes the largest natural mirror on Earth.Image

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More from @CultureExploreX

Sep 27
Civilizations don’t just fall.

They paint their decline on the walls before they vanish.

Art has always mirrored collapse in real time. Here’s the story... 🧵 In 1742 the great Venetian artist Giovanni Antonio Canal (1697-1768), better known as Canaletto, painted a series of five views of Rome's greatest monuments.
Rome left warnings in paint and stone.

Pompeii’s graffiti mocked leaders, cursed neighbors, and scrawled crude jokes.

“I’m amazed, wall, you haven’t collapsed under the weight of so many scribbles.”

When Vesuvius buried Pompeii, it froze satire in ash. CIL IV 10237. Gladiator Graffiti from the Nucerian Gate, Pompeii, depicting the names “Princeps” and “Hilarius”. Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.
CIL IV 8055. Graffiti depicting Gladiators, Pompeii. Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain
Asellina’s Tavern Election Poster. Picture Credit: Marco Ebreo. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International. Wikimedia Commons
Rufus est (This is Rufus). Caricature from the Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii. Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.
By the 5th century, Roman art had shifted.

Gone were muscular gods and lively battles.
Instead: flat, rigid emperors, empty eyes, Christian symbols replacing myth.

The style mirrored an empire losing vitality. Late Roman mosaics at Villa Romana La Olmeda, Spain, 4th-5th centuries AD By Valdavia - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
Read 18 tweets
Sep 19
Friday the 13th wasn’t always unlucky.

It became cursed the morning the most powerful knights in the world were dragged from their beds in chains.

This is the story of the Knights Templar — warrior monks who built empires, invented banking, and died in fire. 🧵 Image
Formed in 1119, the Templars began as nine knights sworn to protect Christian pilgrims on the dangerous roads to Jerusalem.

They lived atop the Temple Mount itself. Believed to be the site of Solomon’s Temple. That sacred address gave them instant mystique.
They were no ordinary knights.

Templars took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. They lived like monks but fought like soldiers, a combination that shocked the medieval world. Image
Read 19 tweets
Sep 17
Some restaurants serve food.
These places serve awe and beauty.

Here are 20 of the world’s most breathtaking dining experiences.

Which one would you choose for an Anniversary? 🧵 Kunsthistorisches Museum cafe
1. Le Train Bleu, Paris, France

A Belle Époque palace hidden in Gare de Lyon—frescoes, chandeliers, and royalty in spirit. Le Train Bleu, Paris, France - Travel through time with a meal inside this gilded Belle Époque treasure at Gare de Lyon. More of a restaurant but provides a cafe vibe.  Credit: @WorldScholar_
2. Café New York, Budapest, Hungary (1894)

A café dressed as a palace—dripping gold, frescoes, and overwhelming grandeur.
Read 23 tweets
Sep 13
Why do we stare at faces painted centuries ago?

Because portraits aren’t just about how someone looked. They show us who mattered. What power meant. What beauty was.

Here are 22 portraits that shaped how we see the world — and ourselves. 🧵 Portrait Of Lady Agnew Of Lochnaw by John Singer Sargent at the 	Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh Year (completed): 1892
This isn’t just a pretty girl.

Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring (1665) is quiet, almost plain.

But her gaze follows you. Her lips are parted. She’s thinking something.

We just don’t know what.
Mauritshuis, The Hague, Netherlands Image
Not seductive. Not smiling.
But absolutely unforgettable.

John Singer Sargent’s Madame X (1884) shocked Paris.
He had to repaint the strap to stop the scandal.
She became the most famous woman nobody knew.

Met, NYC Image
Read 23 tweets
Sep 12
In 2004, Navy Cmdr. David Fravor chased a white “Tic Tac” that dropped 50,000 feet in seconds, hovered, and darted off faster than a missile.

Radar and infrared confirmed it.

Physics can't explain it.

What if this sighting and others like it connect to visions in scripture? 🧵
Ezekiel, 6th century BC.

He described “wheels within wheels” of fire, full of eyes, rising and darting across the sky.

Scholars call it prophecy.

Yet the imagery—rotating forms, luminous movement—matches reports from pilots millennia later.

Were they both seeing the same reality?Ezekiel's Vision by Raphael, c. 1518 AD
Fatima, 1917.

Seventy thousand people in a Portuguese field claimed the sun spun, plunged, and threw rainbow colors across the sky.

Eyewitnesses included skeptics and reporters.

Miracle? Mass hallucination?

Or the same luminous disc phenomenon tracked today by pilots and radar?
Read 16 tweets
Sep 11
9/11 didn’t just collapse towers, it collapsed belief.

In Institutions and In purpose.

24 years later, what’s rising in its place isn’t chaos.

It’s something more seductive and far more dangerous. 👇 9/11 Never Forget ...  Credit: Hannah Funderburk
Historians William Strauss and Neil Howe called it The Saeculum — a four-phase cycle of human history:

• The High
• The Awakening
• The Unraveling
• The Crisis

We are now deep inside the last one. The Crisis. The Four Turnings of the Strauss-Howe Generational Theory
Every few generations, society hits a Fourth Turning, a total crisis that tears through its myths and rebuilds from the ashes.

• Revolution
• Civil war
• Depression
• Global war

Each cycle ends the same way: something must be reborn. Image
Read 15 tweets

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