Ricardocedillob - Sin Título

With little warning Chile’s Calbuco volcano erupted with ferocity after 42 years of stability.

On April 22nd, plumes of ash began spewing from the volcano up to 10 kilometres in the air, and resulted in a large evacuation process as well as these powerful images. 

With warning of as little as 15 minutes for some residents, this eruption highlights the immense difficulty in forecasting volcanic eruptions. Chile has 400 or so active volcanoes - one of the highest amounts on the planet, yet there’s still little that can be done to efficiently predict these eruptions. 

The proximity of high population density near large volcanoes seen in countries like Chile, Malaysia and The US have experts in the field concerned about the measures taken to ensure safety. Volcanoes that have been dormant for hundreds or thousands of years can still spring to life, begging the question; what can we do to ensure safety of these populations?

(Nat Geo, Vox, Time)

Lightning Appreciation Post:

There are nearly 500 lightning strikes every second around the world.

Only about 100 of these strike the earth, the others are between and within the clouds themselves.

Lightning is very visible from space (last gif from Astronaut Reid Wiseman)

Besides regular storms (thunder storms, hurricanes, etc.) lightning can be found in volcanoes (gif 3) and even intense forest fires.

In conclusion: nature is fucking awesome!

An Erupting Solar Prominence from SOHO

Credit: SOHO-EIT Consortium, ESA, NASA

On January 24, 2015, the Hubble Space Telescope photographed three of Jupiter’s moons in transit across the face of the gas giant. This time-lapse imagery condenses 42 minutes, showing the progression of the moons Io (right), Callisto (center), and Europa (left). Each moon’s orbital velocity varies, proportionally slower with greater distance from Jupiter.

(HubbleSite)

ArtStation - Samurai , by Evgeniy Petlya

Dazzling Chickens Strut for the Camera in a New Photo Book by Moreno Monti and Matteo Tranchellini

Catherine Deneuve