BIZARRE EARTH

Meet The Real World Doors To Hell And 9 Other Geographical Oddities

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Our planet is truly an extraordinary place. Not only is it capable of hosting an incredibly vast array of life, but it is also full of all kinds of mysteries that even today defy explanation. From curious geographical oddities to spooky natural phenomena, there’s surely something for everyone.

So, if you are one of those people who loves to look at a map of the world and wonder what’s hiding in each of its corners, this article is for you!

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Ever wonder where Arthur Conan Doyle got the inspiration for his sci-fi novel "The Lost World"? Apparently, there really is such a place after all!

Mount Roraima, towering over the borders of Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana, is a massive flat-topped mountain surrounded by sheer cliffs. Its unique shape has inspired various myths and stories, and the summit is home to unique plant species found nowhere else on Earth, just like in the adventures of the daring Professor Challenger and his friends.

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The Richat Structure, also known as the Eye of the Sahara, is a massive circular formation in Mauritania that resembles a bull's-eye from space. Originally thought to be an impact crater, it is now believed to be a geological dome eroded over millions of years, revealing concentric layers of rock.

Even more intriguing is the fact that the structure hosts exceptional accumulations of Acheulean archaeological artifacts, suggesting that our ancestors might have deemed it a very special place.

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The visible part of Kilauea, located on the Big Island of Hawaii, is just the tip of a massive submarine volcano. Its underwater portion holds great geological significance, as it reveals the history of the volcano's gradual growth through underwater eruptions over the past 100,000 years.

Native Hawaiians recognize the importance of this geological phenomenon, considering it a sacred place and the home of the volcanic deity Pelehonuamea.

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Do you suddenly feel like Mount Everest is taking up too much space? Well, here’s an easy fix for you: stuff it within the Mariana Trench. It fits!

If you have never heard of it before, The Mariana Trench, located in the western Pacific Ocean, is the deepest part of our world's oceans. Its incredible depth is such that Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on Earth when measured from sea level, could fit inside it with more than a mile to spare.

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A true battle of ice and fire, Mount Erebus, an active volcano in Antarctica, is one of the few places on Earth where a persistent lava lake exists. Located on Ross Island, this volcano emits gases rich in sulfur dioxide, creating an otherworldly environment reminiscent of volcanic landscapes found on distant moons like Io.

Even more astonishing, scientists have recently discovered that the volcano expels pockets of gas containing roughly 80 grams of crystallized gold daily, amounting to around $6,000!

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There is a place in the world where determining which country you're in can be exceptionally difficult. The border between the Netherlands and Belgium is one of the most complex in the world, particularly in the town of Baarle. The town is split into Baarle-Nassau (Netherlands) and Baarle-Hertog (Belgium) with over 20 separate enclaves and exclaves.

This intricate border arrangement leads to houses and even rooms split between two countries. The bizarre border divisions originated from medieval treaties and land swaps between feudal lords, resulting in an irregular and tangled boundary that remains today.

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Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania holds the title of the highest free-standing mountain in the world, rising 19,341 feet above sea level. Unlike most mountains, which usually are part of a range, Kilimanjaro stands alone, a stunning and solitary peak that dominates the Tanzanian landscape.

Its uniqueness lies in the fact that it's not just an ordinary mountain but a massive stratovolcano. It consists of three cones—Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. Fortunately, it's currently dormant, although there were eruptions reported in the 19th century.

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Victoria Island in Canada is a fascinating example of a recursive island—an island within a lake on an island in a lake on an island. Feeling dizzy already?

This unique geographical feature can be found within the larger Victoria Island in the Arctic Archipelago, which itself contains several lakes and islands. It’s even possible that this curious island has never been visited before, as the nearest inhabited area is almost 90 miles away and there are no nearby roads.

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The Stone Forest in Yunnan, China, is a labyrinth of limestone formations resembling petrified trees. Over 270 million years old, rain and erosion sculpted these tall, thin pillars, creating a surreal landscape that stretches over 150 square miles.

If you plan on visiting, be aware that the area is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a highly popular tourist destination, so it's advisable to book tickets in advance.

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Fancy a walk through the closest Hell’s customs checkpoint? Well, if you book a flight to Turkmenistan, you can!

The Door to Hell, or Darvaza Gas Crater, is a natural gas field in Turkmenistan that collapsed into a cavern in 1971. To prevent the spread of methane gas, geologists set it on fire expecting it to burn out in a few weeks. Over four decades later, the crater still burns, emitting a glow that can be seen from miles away.

ONLINE CODEX

10 Fun Facts You Didn’t Know About The History Of Emojis

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Anyone who has ever engaged in an online conversation knows that there’s an important element missing that can easily lead to misunderstandings: nuance. When we are talking, we use tonality and facial expressions to convey an important part of the meaning of what we are communicating. Emojis come to save the day, adding color, emotion, and much-needed nuance to our text-based conversations.

But where did these tiny pictographs come from, and how did they evolve into the diverse set we use today? Let's take a journey through the history of emojis and uncover some fascinating facts along the way.

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Emojis originated in Japan in the late 1990s, a graphical evolution from their punctuation mark-based predecessors, the emoticons. Contrary to popular belief, their name does not stem from the word emotion (like emoticons) but from the combination of the Japanese words for "picture" (e) and "character" (moji). The first set of emojis - consisting of 90 icons - was created in 1997 by SoftBank, a Japanese mobile carrier.

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In 2010, emojis gained global recognition when they were standardized by the Unicode Consortium, allowing them to be used across different platforms and devices. This standardization ensured that emojis would display consistently, regardless of the operating system or application.

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While emojis initially began with simple smiley faces and expressions, they have evolved to encompass a wide range of symbols, objects, animals, and even flags representing different countries. Today, there are over 3,000 emojis available, offering users a diverse palette for expressing themselves.

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Emojis have transcended linguistic and cultural barriers, becoming a universal language of sorts. In recognition of their influence, in 2015 Oxford Dictionaries named the U+1F602 (😂) emoji, known as "face with tears of joy," the Word of the Year. From the United States to China, people around the world have incorporated emojis into their digital communication seamlessly, adding a layer of emotional context to their messages.

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In recent years, there has been a push for more inclusive emojis, leading to the introduction of gender-neutral options and diverse skin tones. In particular, skin tones in emojis are based on the Fitzpatrick scale for classifying human skin color, a scale designed to estimate the effects of UV light on different types of skin. When no modifier is selected, emojis are often set to the default, non-realistic, Simpson-esque yellow.

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Emojis don't just convey emotions; they reflect cultural trends and internet phenomena. Furthermore, linguists believe that as they continue to grow and develop, true emoji "dialects" will arise. And while many emoji have acquired almost standardized meanings, we could easily argue that it is already happening, as small groups of people tend to interpret and use emoji in quite different ways.

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July 17th is celebrated as World Emoji Day, commemorating the date originally displayed on Apple’s calendar emoji (📅). Although an unofficial holiday, the festivity remains a testament to the widespread popularity and cultural impact of emojis, with events and activities held around the world to mark the occasion.

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According to linguists, emoji do not necessarily carry their own fixed meaning but rather act as a paralanguage, adding meaning to text. This can lead to all sorts of communication problems as emojis are translated between different cultural settings or even between different platforms. Even a seemingly universal emoji like the smiling face can convey a meaning apparently opposite to its intended meaning.

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Emojis have even found their way into legal proceedings, with courts grappling with the interpretation and admissibility of emojis as evidence. In some cases, emojis have been used to clarify the intent behind messages or to establish a timeline of events. However, the meaning of emojis can be easily misconstrued, as their interpretation often varies from user to user. For example, in a 2004 case regarding alleged industrial espionage, an email that referred to a "spy" within one of the involved companies was dismissed as evidence of criminal intent due to the usage of a smiley face emoji, suggesting it was a playful comment rather than a serious message.

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Emojis have fundamentally changed the way we communicate in the digital age, even influencing the way we think. Psychologists have found that emojis can activate the same brain regions that are responsible for processing emotions. Also, they effectively change how messages are read and perceived, sometimes helping to soften or emphasize the information. In a highly visual world, emojis seem to be a highly successful addition to our written language, making communication faster and more efficient regardless of the medium.