Biomass & Thermal Power: 25 Cutting-Edge Designs

Did you know that a river could cool the second tallest skyscraper on the planet or that chicken droppings could power thousands of homes? Unlike solar and wind power generators, earth-base…
12 Comments - Click Here to Read More

From Another Udder: Nine Nutty Non-Cow Cheeses

[ By Steve in Animals & Habitats, Food & Health, History & Trivia, Uncategorized. ]

Cheese, glorious cheese! Who would imagine coagulated, acidified, moldy mammal milk could be so delicious? If you can get past that concept, consider that while most cheese is made from cow or goat milk, most any lactating varmint will suffice – Venezuelan Beavers not included. So hold your nose, grab your special knife, and get ready to cut these bizarre and unusual cheeses. And a whey we go!

Donkey Milk Cheese

(images via: Letitflow.com and Ekapija)

You might assume you’d have to pay people to eat cheese made from donkey milk, but doing so would make an ass of u and me. Actually the opposite is true: at $1,350 or €1,000 per kilogram (around $612 per lb.), donkey milk cheese is the most expensive cheese you can buy.

(image via: Luxury Insider)

Dubbed “Pule” and made from the milk of Balkan donkeys, this pale yellow semi-hard cheese is produced at the Zasavica Special Nature Reserve in Serbia. About 100 donkeys roam the reserve’s lush meadows; the sale of donkey products including Pule cheese and donkey milk liqueur (seriously) helping to pay their way. It’s said that Cleopatra owed her legendary beauty to regular baths in donkey milk, so if donkey milk cheese turns you off, you just might be in de Nile.

Moose Milk Cheese

(images via: Listverse and MedLibrary)

Moose milk is highly touted by some nutritionists – the Ivan Susanin Sanitorium in Russia serves it to their patients – but you don’t have to be committed to enjoy the sublime flavor of moose milk cheese. You do, however, have to be a big spender: we’re talking $1,000 per kilogram. Though moose aren’t rare, milking them is difficult. Milkers must spend up to 2 hours in complete silence in order to extract an average 2 litres (0.52 gallon) per sitting.

(image via: Dirwell)

Compared to cow’s milk, moose milk is higher in butterfat and solids while boasting elevated levels of aluminum, iron, selenium, and zinc. The Elk House (Älgens Hus) farm in Bjursholm, Sweden, is currently the world’s only volume producer of moose cheese and the amount made is rather small: just 300 kg (about 660 lbs.) annually. Three domesticated females named Gullan, Haelga, and Juna provide the “moose juice” required to make the cheese.

Yak Milk Cheese

(images via: Copperwiki, Chesinger and Nelo Boix)

Yakety yaks, don’t talk back… unless you milk them with cold hands, which I’m guessing is more common than not. Shaggy, placid yaks have provided Himalayan households with milk, meat and more for millennia but yak cheese is a more modern manifestation. Got a knack for yak? Good news, you don’t have to climb a mountain to find real yak cheese anymore!

(image via: Aeranthes)

Yak milk cheese produced in Tibet is now available in the United States, one example being Wish-Granting Yak brand Tibetan Nomadic Yak Cheese imported by CowsOutside. According to one taster, “The cheese had a deep, earthy, meaty, grassy (many more adjectives…) flavor that did conjure up visions of large, warm, hairy animals (and that’s meant as a compliment, should you be wondering). I would love to have more of this cheese some day. One person said that she thought that tasting it was like “licking a sheep.” Not that there’s anything baaad about that.

Horse Milk Cheese

(images via: Merymolinas, Sound Transformations and Burleson Arabians)

Mare’s milk is an age-old beverage popular in central Asia and especially Mongolia. It’s not quaffed straight from the horse, however, as mare’s milk is high in lactose and is said to have a strong laxative effect – not a good combo when you’re saddled up and ready to ride. Instead, mare’s milk is fermented into a slightly carbonated drink called Airag; the fermentation process breaks down most of the lactose. From there, mare’s milk cheese is often just a gallop or two away.

(image via: Eron Witzel)

Due mainly to economics, it’s not easy to find mare’s milk cheese at your neighborhood grocery store – the “Filly” is faux, dont’cha know. Travelers to Mongolia and parts of northern and western China, on the other hand, have many opportunities to sample locally made mare’s milk cheese.

Camel Milk Cheese

(images via: Freebase and Afrol News)

Camel’s milk has been consumed by humans for thousands of years but conversion into cheese has been problematic, mainly because unlike milk from cows, goats and sheep, camel milk does not contain proteins that allow it to curdle naturally. By adding enzymes that aid curdling, camel’s milk can be used to make a wide range of healthy, flavorful cheeses. Tiviski Dairy in Mauretania uses the added-enzyme method to produce Caravane, a $30 per pound camel’s milk cheese now available in selected U.S. east coast markets.

(image via: Connecting Places)

Across a vast swathe of central Asia and into North Africa west to the Atlantic coast, “dairy” means goat, horse or camel. Check out the humped beastie gracing the sign above at a market in Kazakhstan, for instance, and the various types of camel’s milk cheese displayed just below. Very nice, high five!

Carabao Milk Cheese

(images via: AgriPinoy.net, Le fang, le kwatsa! and Sandy’s Pizza)

Water Buffalo milk cheese is much more common than one might think – enjoying that slice of pizza with mozzarella cheese? The Carabao, on the other hand, is much less well known unless you’re in Guam or The Philippines where they’ve been THE domestic ruminant since pre-colonial times. Carabao milk can be processed into a cheese called Kesong Puti, which enterprising Filipinos sometimes use as a pizza topping.

(image via: GMA News)

Fresh Kesong Puti is a soft, white cheese made from unskimmed carabao milk to which is added salt and rennet. It may have a slightly salty taste and, if vinegar is used instead of rennet, a somewhat sour tang. Filipinos will often enjoy slices of fresh Kesong Puti for breakfast, ideally spread on freshly baked “pan de sal” bread.

Reindeer Milk Cheese

(images via: Velvet Kerfuffle, Reindeermilk.eu and Koti)

Cheese-lovers who can pronounce Juustoleipa (psst, it’s “HOO-stah-lee-pah”) or Leipäjuusto (you’re on your own) will find themselves in the Lapp of luxury, since this distinctive burnt-looking Finnish cheese is traditionally made with reindeer milk. Domestic U.S. dairies have begun producing Juustoleipa and Leipäjuusto using cow’s milk, which is said to result in a milder flavor, due to the difficulty in acquiring fresh reindeer milk the other 364 days of the year.

(image via: Neatorama)

If the thought of eating cheese sourced from Santa’s sleigh-pullers isn’t odd enough, consider that one of the traditional ways Finns enjoy Juustoleipa is by dipping it in their coffee before eating. Ho Ho Huh?

Sheep’s Milk Cheese – Casu Marzu

(images via: IT Thing)

This post has focused on cheeses made from the milk of mammals other than the Big Three (cows, goats and sheep) but there’s one particular sheep’s milk cheese that demands inclusion. The internet-savvy among you have probably heard of it: Casu Marzu. Most descriptions merely mention the fact that Casu Marzu is from Sardinia, it’s made from Pecorino cheese, and it’s crawling with maggots that can jump up to 6 inches if disturbed. What more do you really need to know?

Here’s a (thankfully) short video of two gentlemen getting up close & personal with a ripe Casu Marzu – a “moving” experience, to say the least:

Casu Marzu, via Marcelmaatkamp

Here’s another, longer video that shows how Pecorino and Casu Marzu cheeses are made. The narration is in German but if you don’t sprechen ze Deutsch that’s fine – for some things, words aren’t necessary:

casu marzu, via Marcelmaatkamp

(image via: Culinary Schools)

Casu Marzu is barred from entry into the United States because of health issues. It seems the Cheese Fly maggots that infest Casu Marzu and add flavor via their digestive liquids can survive their trip through the gourmand’s stomach, wreaking havoc in their small intestine. One solution is to place the oozing hunk of Casu Marzu inside a sealed paper bag in order to suffocate the larvae. It’s said one can hear a delicate “pitter-patter” sound as the maggots try to escape their festering prison. Another, better solution is to simply stay the heck away from Casu Marzu in the first place.

Human Milk Cheese

(images via: METRO and Oh Hell No You Didn’t)

What, you thought we weren’t going to cover cheese made from human milk? Breast milk, to be precise? Never fear, we remambered…er, remembered. Human breast milk can be processed into soft, slightly hazelnut-flavored chick cheese without too much trouble. New moms whose cups runneth over may find that an oversupply of boob broth can be a boon, babe. Is the world really ready for human breast milk cheese, though? We could ask Congressman Bob Barr, who was infamously served what Borat referred to (after the fact) as cheese made by his sister from her own breast milk but we’re guessing that’s one encounter he’d very much like to forget.

(images via: Why Travel To France and Le Petit Singly)

In France, at least, lactating lasses have another option for their extra output: ship it to Le Petit Singly, who will add their lady lait to the mix. Sooner than you can say Grand Tetons, Le Petit Singly’s cheesemakers will form a flurry of femme fromage in 250 and 500 gram rounds. The company’s website even offers recipe suggestions for their girly gouda, such as souffles that presumably won’t fall flat when you open the oven door too soon.

(image via: Cheesevine)

There you have it, nine non-bovine cheeses you won’t find in your average cheese shop, most especially the grandiosely named National Cheese Emporium run by Mr. Wensleydale. That miserable excuse for a cheese shop doesn’t even stock cheddar, “the single most popular cheese in the world!” At least they play lovely bloody bouzouki music… for a while.

---

Want More? Click for Great Related Content on WebEcoist:

Eco-Friendly Protein: Edible Bugs

(images via Bill Hail, Kent Wang, $ensai)

In certain cultures around the world, creatures like beetles, stink bugs, and grubs are not seen as pests, but as food items.  In places where pro…
11 Comments - Click Here to Read More

Filed Under: Green Things
Tagged: animals, dairy, france, german, kazakhstan, russia, sardinia, united-states

Infant Survives 6 Story Fall

November 9, 2010 by admin · View Comments 

Imagine falling six full stories from an apartment to the ground below. Your odds of survival are already slim—but an 18-month-old child, weighing no more than 25 pounds, wouldn’t stand a chance, right?

Normally, that would be right—but then, that wouldn’t be good news, would it? Recently, an 18-month-old girl survived a “miracle fall” from her family’s Parisian apartment building completely unscathed.

After she fell out of the window, she had a stroke of luck when she bounced off a café awning. Then, in another fortunate turn, a doctor spotted her falling, and caught her in his arms before she hit the ground. He examined her on the spot, and didn’t find any injuries, but she was still taken to the hospital for care, where she was given a clean bill of health.

Phillippe Benseniot, the doctor who caught the child, doesn’t consider himself a hero. He’s just glad that he could help. “I was there at the right time,” he told France Info. “I’m happy for the little girl.”

Beth

Filed Under: Positive News
Tagged: already-slim, benseniot, child, doctor, family, fortunate, france, france-info, full-stories, girl-survived, green, ground, news, the-hospital, window

Eco-friendly Travels in Time

November 2, 2010 by admin · View Comments 

Garbage trucks are some of the heaviest polluters to drive through city streets. In the US, green trends like using fuel from waste to power the trucks are making headlines—but French towns are taking a different tactic: trading in the trucks altogether for horse-drawn carts.

The swap makes trash-collection fuel-free (except for a few carrots), exhaust-free, and silent, but for an occasional neigh. In the medieval town of Peyrestortes, the decision was made for practical reasons as much as environmental: “You can’t turn a waste collection vehicle around here. We used to block streets to traffic and keep waste in open skips,” the town’s mayor, Jean Baptiste, told The Guardian.

More than 60 towns in France are using horses to collect recyclables and waste, and the novelty of the trash-collectors is helping the general public gain awareness of what materials they should be recycling, helping the towns save considerable money. “People are composting more,” said Saint Prix’s mayor, Jean-Pierre Enjalbert. “Incineration used to cost us €107 a tonne, ridiculous for burning wet matter, now we only pay €37 to collect and compost the waste.”

As France trades in horsepower for horses, it’s not the only country getting help with trash-collection from four-legged friends: A town in Sicily has been carting glass and cardboard recycling on donkeyback for the past three years, and its mayor estimates that the conversion from a fleet of trucks has saved 34% of their costs.

No telling whether horse-drawn garbage collection will gain traction in the U.S., but as a clean, green, quiet, and cheap trash-collecting solution, it seems to be win-win all the way.

Source: Gimundo

Beth

Filed Under: Positive News
Tagged: children, decision, france, french, general-public, mayor-estimates, medieval, saint-prix, telling-whether, towns, trucks

The World Bank Share Shuffle: China Wins, Africa Loses

April 27, 2010 by admin · View Comments 

Signs of China’s growing global influence are everywhere these days. The most recent signal of this power shift comes in the form of China’s increased say in the World Bank, long a symbol of Western power. China now has the third-highest voting share in the institution after the United States and Japan, placing it ahead of traditionally big players such as the U.K., France and Germany.

Not surprisingly, Chinese officials such as Finance Minister Xie Xuren are pleased with the decision: “It is the first time in the history of the World Bank that a reform of governance structure is mainly targeted at promoting representation and voices of developing countries,” says Xuren.

China may have been a clear winner in the recent World Bank reform, but there are plenty of countries that are disappointed with the way things turned out. South Africa’s Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, for example, criticized the outcome by noting that both South Africa and Nigeria’s voting shares have decreased as the result. “We strongly believe that more should have been done to prevent such dilutions,” he said.

Oxfam, an NGO that campaigns against global poverty and injustice, likewise accused the World Bank of failing to protect the voices of the poorest countries. As the NGO noted, out of 47 sub-Saharan African countries, the voting share of over one-third has decreased or stayed the same. Only one country’s voting share — Sudan’s — has actually grown.

On the other hand, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner hailed the new shareholding formula as “more representative” — a laughable statement, given that his country retains a whopping 15.85% of the voting share, which effectively gives it veto power. (For a decision to be approved in the bank, it needs to have an 85% vote.)

Read more

Filed Under: Positive News
Tagged: china, chinese, finance, france, mainly-targeted, news, positive, power

12 New Extra-Large Sustainable Building Designs

April 19, 2010 by admin · View Comments 

[ By Steph in Uncategorized. ]

As the need for cooperative sustainability becomes ever clearer, can we learn from the mistakes of our past and fundamentally change the way we live? Adapting to the new needs of our world requires much more than a sprinkling of eco homes and businesses. These 12 gigantic green building products take on the challenge in a much bigger way – with concepts for new cities, new societies and buildings that solve the world’s most pressing problems, like access to fresh water. />

Spain’s Bubble-Shaped Freshwater Factory

(images via: inhabitat)

They look like nothing so much as a cluster of biospheres stacked on top of each other – or perhaps just soapy bubbles. But the glass domes of this strange tower serve a vital purpose: filtering seawater into freshwater through mangrove trees, which draw in saltwater and perspire freshwater. Once the mangroves release this precious substance, it evaporates and condenses into dew which collects in freshwater tanks.

One & Ortakoy, Istanbul

(images via: gad architecture)

Just like the beautiful hills they’re set in, the buildings that will make up the “One & Ortakoy” mixed-use complex in Istanbul have curving, organic forms and rolling roofs covered in greenery and flowers. Under construction in the neighborhood of Ortakoy, the project will consist of two buildings with natural stone facades – one a residential complex, the other commercial.

Green-Roofed High School, France

(images via: world architecture news)

Situated next to a public park, the Marcel Sembat high school in Sotteville-les-Rouen, France will almost disappear into the trees and grass of its surroundings. Additions to the existing structure – which will include a restaurant, student housing, staff housing and workshops – will be topped with a wavy green roof that will offer natural insulation.

Watertower Skyscraper Brings Freshwater to Sudan

(images via: h3ar)

In the vast desert landscape of Sudan, freshwater can be incredibly difficult to come by – yet deep under the surface is the largest underground lake in the world, which would change residents’ lives dramatically if it were tapped. Polish architecture firm H3AR imagines a solution: buildings inspired by both water towers and the native baobab tree, which would access the water through underground pumps. These towers would contain a water treatment plant, a hospital, a school and a food storage center.

Massive Rain-Catching Skyscraper

(images via: h3ar)

How could a building capture as much rain as possible? Through a web of gutters covering the entire exterior, which would then direct the water to a processing plant for use in toilets, washing machines, cleaning and plant watering. H3AR combines this ‘skin’ with a huge, bowl-shaped rainwater collector on the roof for maximum rainwater catchment capabilities.

Mixed-Use EcoDistrict in Dijon

(images via: exp architects)

Imagine living in a diverse neighborhood packed with green features galore, from vertical gardens and green roofs to bicycle paths and eco-friendly playgrounds – all adjacent to the city center. Such ‘ecodistricts’ are in planning around the world, including this concept for Dijon, France by EXP Architects in cooperation with Studiomustard Architecture, Sempervirens Landscape Designers and Even Conseil. The design will serve as a model for similar future developments in the same city.

De-Centralized Sustainable Society

(images via: ctrlz architectures)

It’s not just a building, or even just a city – but rather, a re-imagining of an entire society. That’s what CTRLZ architectures are doing with their new concept, stating ““We believe that architecture is not anymore about form and/or/…function, but that it is about relations. The development of network systems shows us that the power resides in links and connections.” Commerce, food production, ornamental gardens, housing, social public spaces and energy collection come together in a way that emphasizes cooperation between inhabitants.

Subterranean Greenbelt Hotel

(images via: reardon smith)

The subterranean design of Hersham Golf Club in Surrey by ReardonSmith Architects contains five-star lodging as well as a spa and golf facilities, while still meeting urban growth restrictions – the site is contained within London’s green belt, a ring of countryside that aims to prevent urban sprawl. The design also addresses lowering the impact of traffic flow and positions above-ground buildings in existing woodland so that nearby local residents maintain an unobstructed view of untouched landscape.

Beijing’s ‘Creative Zone’ Greenbelt

(images via: arch daily)

If there’s any city in the world that desperately needs a greenbelt to provide residents with natural space and prevents further sprawl, it’s likely Beijing. This rapidly growing city – plagued by air pollution problems – could get a greenbelt of its own that would allow interaction with nature while maintaining proximity to local conveniences like shops, restaurants and public transportation. UNStudio won a competition to create this “creative zone”, which would become a showcase of experimental architecture.

Masdar Sustainable City

(images via: lava)

Could Masdar City be a vision of the future, a modern metropolis where sustainability is built into every sidewalk, store and streetlamp? Designed by LAVA and located in Abu Dhabi, Masdar City is a planned community built to be zero-waste and zero-carbon.  With housing, commerce and recreation all situated around a vast plaza, this concept aims to be a model of sustainability for the rest of the world.

Dubai’s Solar-Powered Vertical Village

(images via: graft lab)

What does Dubai have in abundance, aside from sand and mind-boggling creativity? Sun, of course -–and Graft Lab’s Vertical Village takes advantage of that plentiful resource with a surface that is angled specifically with solar energy collection in mind. The cluster of mixed-use buildings includes solar collectors on the south end that automatically pivot for maximum exposure.

Giant Energy-Generating Waterfall for Rio Olympics

(images via: inhabitat)

It looks unreal: an enormous, towering waterfall seemingly originating from the sky. But the Solar City Tower, designed by RAFAA Architecture & Design for the 2016 Rio Olympics, is actually a building that uses solar energy to generate power during the day, and a pumped water storage system to create power after the sun goes down. The tower could provide plenty of electricity for the Olympic Games and for the city, with the waterfall – “a symbol for the forces of nature” -  appearing only for special occasions.

style="clear: both" width="75%" />

Want More? Click for Great Related Content on WebEcoist:

href="http://webecoist.com/2009/08/31/sustainable-style-12-contemporary-green-house-home-designs/" rel="nofollow" title="Sustainable Style: 12 Contemporary Green Home Designs" style="color: gray;"s>Sustainable Style: 12 Contemporary Green Home Designs

Sustainability and modern style go hand in hand in these 12 amazing green home designs, from a spinning dome home to a solar prefab home. 6 Comments - Click Here to Read More

Filed Under: Green Things
Tagged: bizarre, concept designs, design, dubai, environment, france, green architecture, green buildings, london, olympics, power, style, sudan, sustainability, trees

Wonder Deep Down Under: 10 Most Amazing Caves

October 13, 2009 by admin · View Comments 

Whoever said the underworld was a bad, scary place never visited some of these spectacular, cool caves! Formed over thousands, in some cases millions of years, these formerly hidden natural wonders are finally revealing their beauty to those who always thought heaven was someplace above.

Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, USA

(images via: Amazing Nature and Encyclopedia Britannica)

Mammoth Cave is one of the oldest and most well-known cave complexes in the USA. It’s also the longest cave system in the world with 365 miles of subterranean passageways. Having been made a national park in the summer of 1941, Mammoth Cave was discovered by American settlers in the late 18th century but was known to local native tribes for thousands of years. Highlights of Mammoth Cave include a giant sinkhole called Cedar Sink, and rather self-descriptive features dubbed Grand Avenue, Frozen Niagara and Fat Man’s Misery.

(image via: CardCow)

The above postcard showing the Hindu temple and Onyx Temple formations in Mammoth Cave must be very old, as the reverse indicates the sender should affix a 1-cent stamp.

Lascaux Caves, France

(images via: Darci Adam and HubPages)

The cave complex at Lascaux, in the Dordogne département of southwestern France, host some of the most magnificent prehistoric cave paintings yet discovered. Rendered in natural pigments and estimated to be 16,000 years old, the many hundreds of images in the caves depict some of the Ice Age creatures that were sources of fascination – and food – for the early modern humans who inhabited the area.

(image via: NationMaster)

The largest images located in the spectacular Great Hall of the Bulls measure up to 17 feet in length! Though we all can enjoy these incredibly lifelike depictions of paleolithic life by way of the Internet, it’s unfortunate that the caves themselves are now virtually off limits to tourists and even researchers due to a destructive fungus that has attacked the paintings. Even when removed, the damage is obvious and, at the present time, irreparable.

Galos Salt Caves, Chicago

(images via: TIME, DayLife and Nelswadycki)

Deep beneath Jolly Inn Banquets in Portage Park, Chicago, colored lights illuminate a scene few would expect to set their sights upon. Once an East European secret, the benefits of salt cave siestas have arrived in suburban Chicago. At Galos Caves visitors relax on incongruous lawn chairs, surrounded by salt stalactites and breathing in salt-saturated air while recorded seaside sounds soothe the psyche.

(image via: The Thief)

So-called “salt therapy” has legions of adherents who abide by the healing properties of natural salt. Whether it’s the salt itself, the iodine compounds within it or just the relaxing atmosphere inside a salt-lined cave, who can say? Well, owner Ewa Chwala can say – watch her do just that in the following video:

A visit to Galos Spa, via johnandmaddie39

Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico, USA

(images via: Encyclopedia Britannica and Life In The Fast Lane)

Carlsbad Caverns is perhaps the most spectacular “classic” natural cave complex in the USA. Discovered accidentally by Jim White in the late 1890s, the cavern complex includes the Big Room, the second-largest cave chamber in the world. This huge, echoing natural limestone chamber is nearly 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) long, 625 feet (190.5 meters) wide and 350 feet (107 meters) high. Unlike many limestone caves, Carlsbad Caverns was carved out not by underground streams or mild carbolic acid but by strong sulfuric acid formed due to the close proximity of oil and gas deposits.

(image via: National Park Service)

Young local cowboy Jim White discovered Carlsbad Caverns from a distance when he espied from horseback what appeared to be a “volcano” of bats spiraling out from the cave entrance. At its peak, the population of bats residing in Carlsbad Caverns was estimated to be in the millions.

Ice Caves, Antarctica

(images via: WebEcoist and Wikimedia)

Antarctica’s Mount Erebus is, literally, the hottest thing in Antarctica and when piping hot meets icy cold, strange things happen. One result of Erebus’s steam heating are towering ice fumaroles and spacious ice caves.

(image via: World Oceans)

Then there is the oddly named Erebus Ice Tongue, a glacier that flows down the mountain’s flanks and into the frigid Ross Sea where interaction with waves and sea ice creates temporary ice caves of stunning beauty.

Kartchner Caverns, Arizona, USA

(images via: Terrain and University of Arizona)

Kartchner Caverns, which runs for over 2 miles beneath the desert sands around Benson AZ, was sealed off from the surface for about 200,000 years until one day in 1974, Randy Tufts and Gary Tenen became the first human beings to set foot inside. The cave system, which was designated Kartchner Caverns State Park in 1999, is exceedingly fragile and its existence was kept secret from all but a few until proper guardianship could be put in place to protect the exquisite formations inside.

(image via: California Literary Review)

The spindly formation above, called Soda Straws, is composed of hollow tubes that incessantly drip from the cavern ceiling. Each drop deposits a minuscule amount of minerals onto the end before falling to the cave floor. Considering that each “straw” grows by just 1/10 of an inch per CENTURY and the longest straw in the cavern is just over 21 feet long, well, you could do the math but I’ll make it easy by saying the Kartchner Caverns straws have been growing undisturbed for a good couple hundred thousand years!

Thylacoleo Caves, Australia

(images via: MuseumVictoria, Western Australian Museum, TV and Film Guy and Paleochick)

In 2002, an expedition from the Western Australian Museum set out to investigate reports of large skeletons in several caves out in the country’s forbidding desert wasteland, the Nullarbor Plain. Among the remains of dozens of extinct Australian megafauna dating back over 500,000 years were the first complete skeletons of Thylacoleo Carnifex – the Marsupial Lion – ever discovered.

(image via: BeingFrank)

Thylacoleo must have been a terrifying predator to behold, and having one drop in on you while exploring an Australian desert cave would rate rather high among any caver’s list of “what’s the worst that could happen”.

Cave Of The Swallows, Mexico

(images via: Rockhoppers Daily Grind and Kayak Huasteca)

At 1,200 feet deep, the Cave Of The Swallows (Sotano de las Golondrinas, in Spanish) in central Mexico is deep enough to, er, swallow the Empire State Building. It’s also conical in cross section with the base wider than the top. The cave was only explored recently, in the 1960s.

(image via: CHW)

Here’s a MUST SEE video narrated by David Attenborough showing what have to be the world’s most insane BASE jumpers leaping into the Cave Of The Swallows. Once you’ve done this (and lived), what else is there?

Sotano De Las Golondrinas, via garydelarosa

Cave Bacon

(images via: 1Sock, Trip Advisor, UT Grotto and California Literary Review)

No, not Bacon Cave, Cave Bacon… because face it, what self-respecting internet posting these days doesn’t pay homage to that most versatile (and delicious) member of the Pork food group? In any case, “cave bacon” is another, tastier word for layered flowstone formed by the incremental deposition of water-borne minerals along a repeated route. Variations in surface rainfall, mineral balance and other hydrological cum speliological phenomena can affect both the speed and the content of the water moving over the flowstone, leading to layering effects that remind some (heck, ALL) of bacon.

(image via: Diamond Caverns)

Imagine falling into a cave and, after several fruitless, foodless days have passed, finding THIS hanging over your head? Found in Kentucky’s Diamond Caverns, the calcite drapery formation above stimulates both imaginations and appetites along the New Discovery Passage.

Cave Of Crystals, Mexico

(images via: Environmental Graffiti, Life In The Fast Lane and CubeMe)

One of the world’s most magnificent caves is also one of the newest to be discovered. In April of 2000, miners at the Naica Mine in Chihuahua, Mexico, stumbled onto a vast, water-filled cave while exploring for lead and zinc. Upon pumping out the mineral-rich, extremely hot water from the underground space, the miners were amazed to find a fantastic lattice of gigantic Selenite crystals measuring up to 40 feet long and weighing as much as 55 tons!

(image via: Mystic’s Thought Garden)

Here’s a short video on the Cave Of Crystals:

Cueva de Los Cristales, via johnnygbc

Since the hot supersaturated solution flooding the Cave Of Crystals (or Cueva de los Cristales in Spanish) has been drained, the crystals will not grow any larger. On the bright side, the cave’s 43°C (109°F) plus temperature and 90 to 100 percent humidity ensures that unprotected intruders won’t stay long.

Through the modern technological marvels of video and photography, Earth’s deepest, darkest secrets are at last being revealed. In the case of these truly amazing caves, however, exposure only magnifies their mystery and wonder!

Steve

Filed Under: Green Things
Tagged: australia, australian, beauty, chicago, european, france, geography & travel, mexico, modern, nature, oceans, water, white

Featured Video

.

• Categories

  • GC News
  • Green Things
  • Microcredit News
  • Positive News

• Archives

  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • May 2007
  • March 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006

• Blogroll

  • Development Blog
  • Documentation
  • Plugins
  • Suggest Ideas
  • Support Forum
  • Themes
  • WordPress Planet

• Admin

  • Log in
  • WordPress
  • XHTML