Woman Bought $13 Diamond Ring At Flea Market That Sold For Over $800K At Auction.

Large Piece Of Bling

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5 Of The Planet’s Craziest Bridges

#1 Millau Viaduct
Like a fair chunk of Europe’s similarly beautiful things, you can find this beauty in the south of France. At 343 meters (1125 feet), it is the “tallest” bridge in the world. I say “tallest” as this should not be confused with the world’s “highest” bridge; the Sidu River Bridge in China.

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#2 Eshima Ohashi Bridge

Mysterious Geoglyphs of Atacama Desert, Chile

The Atacama Desert, which stretches 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) from Peru's southern border into northern Chile. This massive, barren landscape consists of expansive salt flats, out of which towering volcanoes extend, reaching twenty thousand feet into the sky. The Atacama Desert is known to be the driest desert in the world, with a landscape resembling that of Mars. 

The Atacama Desert is also famous for geoglyphs - sprawling, puzzling ancient artwork that are drawn into the landscape. Nearly 5,000 geoglyphs have been discovered in the Atacama in the last three decades.  Scientists believes that these ancient artwork may be 2500 years old.The Atacama Geoglyphs are more numerous and widespread than their more famous counterparts at Nazca. They can be found in an area of over 100 square miles . They depict many subjects, Llamas and similar animals e.g. vicunas. Lizards, fish, birds, crosses, humans, chessboards and other geometric designs.

They can be found alone or in groups some as many as 65 geoglyphs. The smallest figure is about 1m tall and the largest the Atacama Giant 115m high. They are found near major trade routes in the area and like all geoglyphs can only be seen from the air. 

In the specific focus of geoglyphs, there are two techniques by which they are created. The “extractive” technique, the more common of the two, involves scraping away the top layer of soil on the hillside, allowing for the soil beneath to create distinguishing designs on the surface. The “additive” process entails gathering materials such as rocks and piling them on the soil surface to create a raised outline. In the extractive process, the designs will appear lighter than the surrounding soil and in the additive process the designs will appear darker. There is also a third technique that is a complex combination of the additive and extractive processes which allows for a combination of light and dark colored figures .

Very less is known about the ways in which they may have been used in the past. The most recent research into the purposes of geoglyphs has revealed that many of the figures can be directly related to migration routes of the early desert peoples.

Source : cola.unh.edu

World's Largest Deserts (Top 10)

1. Sahara Desert, North Africa

The Sahara is the world’s largest desert. At over 9,000,000 square kilometers (3,500,000 sq mi), it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as the United States or the continent of Europe. The desert stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean. To the south, it is delimited by the Sahel: a belt of semi-arid tropical savanna that comprises the northern region of central and western Sub-Saharan Africa.

2. Arabian Desert, peninsula

Arabian Desert or Eastern Desert, c.86,000 sq mi (222,740 sq km), E Egypt, bordered by the Nile valley in the west and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez in the east. It extends along most of Egypt’s eastern border and merges into the Nubian Desert in the south. The Arabian Desert is sparsely populated; most of its inhabitants are based around wells and springs. Today most of the desert can be accessed by roads. Since ancient times Egypt has used the porphyry, granite, limestone, and sandstone found in the desert mountains as building materials. Oil is produced in the north. The name Arabian Desert is also commonly applied to the desert of the Arabian Peninsula.

3. Gobi Desert, Mongolia / N.E China

The Gobi is a large desert  region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the southwest, and by the North China Plain to the southeast. The Gobi is made up of several distinct ecological and geographic regions based on variations in climate and topography. This desert is the fifth largest in the world. The Gobi is most notable in history as part of the great Mongol Empire, and as the location of several important cities along the Silk Road.

4. Kalahari Desert, Southern Africa

The Kalahari Desert is a large arid to semi-arid sandy area in Southern Africa extending 900,000 square kilometers (350,000 sq), covering much of Botswana  and parts of Namibia and South Africa, as semi-desert, with huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains. The Kalahari Desert is the southern part of Africa, and the geography is a portion of desert and a plateau. The Kalahari supports some animals and plants because most of it is not a true desert. There are small amounts of rainfall and the summer temperature is very high. It usually receives 3–7.5 inches (76–190 mm) of rain per year. The surrounding Kalahari Basin covers over 2,500,000 square kilometers (970,000 sq mi) extending farther into Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, and encroaching into parts of Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The only permanent river, the Okavango, flows into a delta  in the northwest, forming marshes that are rich in wildlife.

5. Patagonia Desert, Argentina

The Patagonian Desert, also known as the Patagonia Desert or the Patagonian Steppe, is the largest desert in America and is the 7th largest desert in the world by area, occupying 260,000 square miles (673,000 km). It is located primarily in Argentina with small parts in Chile and is bounded by the Andes, to its west, and the Atlantic Ocean to its east, in the region of Patagonia, southern Argentina. The Patagonian Desert is the largest continental landmass of the 40° parallel and is a large cold winter desert, where the temperature rarely exceeds 12°C and averages just 3°C. The region experiences about seven months of winter and five months of summer.

6. Great Victoria Desert, Australia

The Great Victoria Desert is a barren, arid, and sparsely populated desert  ecoregion  in southern Australia. It falls inside the states of South Australia and Western Australia and consists of many small sandhills, grasslands  and salt lakes. It is over 700 kilometres (430 mi) wide (from west to east) and covers an area of 424,400 square kilometres (163,900 sq mi). The Western Australia Mallee shrub ecoregion lies to the west, the Little Sandy Desert to the northwest, the Gibson Desert and the Central Ranges xeric shrublands to the north, the Tirari  and Sturt Stony deserts to the east, and the Nullarbor Plain to the south separates it from the Southern Ocean.

7. Great Basin Desert, USA

The Great Basin is the largest watershed of North America which does not drain to an ocean. Water within the Great Basin evaporates since outward flow is blocked. The basin extends into Mexico and covers most of Nevada and over half of Utah, as well as parts of California, Idaho, Oregon and Wyoming. The majority of the watershed is in the North American Desert ecoregion, but includes areas of the Forested Mountain and Mediterranean California ecoregions. The Great Basin includes several metropolitan areas and Shoshone  Great Basin tribes. A wide variety of animals can be found in great basin desert. Look to the rocky slopes around the desert mountain ranges, you may spot a very rare desert bighorn sheep. Other mammals of the desert include kit fox, coyote, skunk, black-tailed jackrabbit, ground squirrels, kangaroo rat and many species of mice. Bird species are very diverse in desert oases.

8. Chihuahuan Desert, Mexico

The Chihuahuan Desert is a desert that straddles the U.S.-Mexico border in the central and northern portions of the Mexican Plateau, bordered on the west by the extensive Sierra Madre Occidental range, and overlaying northern portions of the east range, the Sierra Madre Oriental. On the U.S.  side it occupies the valleys and basins of central and southern New Mexico, Texas  west of the Pecos River and southeastern Arizona; south of the border, it covers the northern half of the Mexican state of Chihuahua, most of Coahuila, north-east portion of Durango, extreme northern portion of Zacatecas  and small western portions of Nuevo León. It has an area of about 140,000 square miles. It is the third largest desert of the Western Hemisphere and is second largest in North America, after the Great Basin Desert.

9. Great Sandy Desert, Australia

The Great Sandy Desert is a 360,000 km2 (140,000 sq mi) expanse in northwestern Australia. Roughly the same size as Japan, it forms part of a larger desert area known as the Western Desert. The vast region of Western Australia is sparsely populated, without significant settlements. The Great Sandy Desert is a flat area between the rocky ranges of the Pilbara  and the Kimberley. To the southeast is the Gibson Desert and to the east is the Tanami Desert. The Rudall River National Park and Lake Dora are located in the southwest while Lake Mackay is located in the southeast.

10. Kara-Kum Desert, Uzbekistan / Turkmenistan

The Karakum Desert, also spelled Kara-Kum and Gara Gum is a desert  in Central Asia. It occupies about 70 percent, or 350,000 km², of the area of Turkmenistan. Covering much of present day Turkmenistan, the Karakum Desert lies east of the Caspian Sea, with the Aral Sea to the north and the Amu Darya river and the Kyzyl Kum desert to the northeast. In modern times, with the shrinking of the Aral Sea, the extended “Aral Karakum” has appeared on the former seabed, with an estimated area of 15,440 sq. The sands of the Aral Karakum are made up of a salt-marsh consisting of finely-dispersed evaporites and remnants of alkaline mineral deposits, washed into the basin from irrigated fields. The dusts blown on a powerful east-west airstream carry pesticide residues that have been found in the blood of penguins in Antarctica.

World's Worst Floods (Top 10)

1. Huang He (Yellow) River flood, China - 1931

The 1931 Central China floods or the Central China floods of 1931 are a series of floods that occurred during the Nanjing decade in the Republic of China era. It is generally considered the deadliest natural disaster ever recorded , and almost certainly the deadliest of the 20th century (when pandemics are discounted) and in China. The human casualties are estimated from lows of 400,000 to highs of 3.7 million to 4 million.

2. Huang He (Yellow) River, China - 1887

The 1887 Yellow River flood was a devastating flood on the Yellow River (Huang He) in China. This river is prone to flooding due to the elevated nature of the river, running between dykes above the broad plains surrounding it. The flood that began in September 1887 devastated the area, killing some 900,000 people. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded.

For centuries, the farmers living near the Yellow River had built dikes to contain the rising waters, caused by silt accumulation on the riverbed. In 1887, this rising riverbed, coupled with days of heavy rain, overcame the dikes on around 28th September, causing a massive flood. Since there is no international unit with which to measure a flood's strength it is usually classified by the extent of the damage done,depth of water left and number of casualties.

The waters of the Yellow River are generally thought to have broken through the dikes in Huayankou, near the city of Zhengzhou in Henan province. Owing to the low-lying plains near the area, the flood spread very quickly throughout Northern China, covering an estimated 50,000 square miles, swamping agricultural settlements and commercial centers. After the flood, two million were left homeless. The resulting pandemic and lack of basic essentials claimed as many lives as those lost directly by the flood itself.

3. Huang He (Yellow) River - China - 1938

The 1938 Yellow River flood was a flood created by the Nationalist Government in central China during the early stage of the Second Sino-Japanese War in an attempt to halt the rapid advance of the Japanese forces.

The floodwaters began pouring out from Huayuankou in the early morning on June 9, 1938. As a result, the course of the Yellow River was diverted southwards for nine years afterward, inundating 54,000 km² (21,000 square miles) of land in Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu provinces. All in all, the flood waters took an estimated 500,000 lives. Note that this number includes casualty from floods in Northern China in the same year. Accurate records had not been maintained and the area was constantly being repopulated. Keep in mind that this estimation of casualties has yet to be completely confirmed by China's historical and military experts. No one is sure of the complete details of this incident. For instance, the causes of death have yet to be resolved as simple drowning, malaria, famine, fatigue, cyclones, or other unnatural form of death. This claim of 500,000 Chinese and Japanese lives is very vague and the issue of the actions of the locals near the Yellow River in relation to the flooding cycles of the 1930s is uncertain.

4. 1642 Kaifeng Flood

Kaifeng, a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan province, People's Republic of China, located along the southern bank of the Yellow River, was flooded during a siege in 1642 by the Ming Dynasty army and by the peasant rebels led by Li Zicheng with water from the Yellow River. Over 300,000 of the 378,000 residents of Kaifeng were killed by the flood and the ensuing peripheral disasters such as famine and plague.

The flood is sometimes referred to as a natural disaster due to the role of the Huang He river and is currently listed as the 7th deadliest natural disaster in history with a death toll of some 300,000.

The city was once the capital of China, but it did not experience the same population growth as its surrounding provinces and after this disaster the city was abandoned until 1662 when it was rebuilt under the rule of the celebrated Qing emperor Kangxi. It remained a rural backwater city of diminished importance thereafter and experienced several other less devastating floods. The flood brought an end to the "golden age" of the Jewish settlement of China, which is said to span from about 1300 to 1642. By the time of the flood the Jewish population of China had reached about 5,000, mostly in Kaifeng.

5. Ru River / Banqiao Dam collapse, China - 1975

This flood was caused by the collapse of the Banquia Dam, along with several others, following a heavy rain caused by a typhoon. It is the worst dam related collapse in history.

The resulting flood waters caused a large wave, which was 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) wide and 3–7 meters (9.8–23 ft) high in Suiping , to rush downwards into the plains below at nearly 50 kilometers per hour (31 mph), almost wipe out an area 55 kilometers (34 mi) long and 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) wide, and create temporary lakes as large as 12,000 square kilometers (4,600 sq mi). Seven county seats, namely Suiping, Xiping, Ru'nan, Pingyu, Xincai, Luohe, Linquan, were inundated, as were thousands of square kilometers of countryside and countless communities. Evacuation orders had not been fully delivered because of weather conditions and poor communications. Telegraphs failed, signal flares fired by Unit 34450 were misunderstood, telephones were rare, and some messengers were caught by the flood. While only 827 out of 6,000 people died in the evacuated community of Shahedian just below Banqiao Dam, half of a total of 36,000 people died in the unevacuated Wencheng commune of Suipin County next to Shahedian, and the Daowencheng Commune was wiped from the map, killing all 9,600 citizens. Although a large number of people were reported lost at first, many of them returned home later. Tens of thousands of them were carried by the water to downriver provinces and many others fled from their homes. It has been reported that around 90,000 - 230,000 people were killed as a result of the dam breaking.

6. Yangtze River, China - 1931

Although the Huang He has caused more deaths, the Yangtze has had more than 1,000 recorded floods.The worst period was from July to August. In July alone, four weather stations along the Yangtze river reported rain totaling over 2 ft (0.61 m) for the month.The casualties of the Yangtze river drainage region reached 145,000 and affected 28.5 million.

7. The Netherlands and England - 1099

A combination of high tides and storms flooded the Thames and the Netherlands, killing ~100,000.

8. St. Lucia's Flood, Netherland - 1287

St. Lucia's flood was a storm tide that affected the Netherlands and Northern Germany on December 14, 1287 (the day after St. Lucia Day) when a dike broke during a storm, killing approximately 50,000 to 80,000 people in the fifth largest flood in recorded history. Much land was permanently flooded in what is now the Waddenzee and IJsselmeer. It especially affected the north of the Netherlands, particularly Friesland. The city of Griend was almost completely destroyed, only ten houses were left standing. The name Zuiderzee dates from this event, as the water had merely been a shallow inland lake when the first dikesNorth Sea levels created the "Southern Sea" when floods including this flood came in.

Although not known by the name of St Lucia, the same storm also had devastating effects on the other side of the water in England. The city of Winchelsea on Romney Marsh was destroyed (later rebuilt on higher ground). Nearby Broomhill was also destroyed. The course of the nearby river Rother was diverted away from New Romney, which was left a mile from the coast, ending its role as a port. The Rother ran instead to sea at Rye, prompting its rise as a port. A cliff collapsed at Hastings, blocking the harbour and ending its role as a trade centre, though it continued as a centre for fishing. Parts of Norfolk were flooded, eg the village of Hickling where 180 died and the water rose a foot above the high alter in the church. The port of Dunwich in Suffolk began its decline. Winchelsea in Kent also reported to have been hit by the surge.

9. The Neva River, Russia 1824

The largest flood occurred on November 19 1824, when the river reached 13.5 feet (410 centimeters) over the usual level. On that day most of the city was flooded, between 208 and 569 people were drowned and 462 houses were destroyed. The second severest flood (over 12 feet high) was in 1924. In some areas of the city the water flowed to a height of 7-8 feet and many of the ships in the port were washed ashore. Approximately 1000 people killed in this flood.

10. St. Elizabeth's flood, Netherland - 1421

The St. Elizabeth's flood of 1421 was a flooding of an area in what is now the Netherlands. It takes its name from the feast day of Saint Elisabeth of Hungary which was formerly November 19.

During the night of November 18 to November 19, 1421 a heavy storm near the North Sea coast caused the dikes to break in a number of places and the lower lying polder land was flooded. A number of villages were swallowed by the flood and were lost, causing between 1,000 and 10,000 casualties. The dike breaks and floods caused widespread devastation in Zeeland and Holland. This flood separated the cities of Geertruidenberg and Dordrecht which had previously fought against each other during the Hook and Cod (civil) wars.

Most of the area remained flooded for several decades. Reclaimed parts are the Island of Dordrecht, the Hoeksche Waard island, and north-western North Brabant (around Geertruidenberg). Most of the Biesbosch area has been flooded since.

The cause of the flood was not a spring tide like in the great flood of 1953, but water from the storm in the North Sea surged up the rivers causing the dikes to overflow and break through.

The Elephant Rock, Iceland

The Elephant Rock is volcanic basalt sea-cliff on the island of Heimaey in Southern Iceland that resembles a giant elephant or wooly mammoth dipping its trunk into the sea. This is found in Vestmannaeyjar Archipelago town residing nearly 4,500 residents in an area of 5.2 square miles. Despite of this small amount of population, it is still considered as one of the most populated island of the location.

 Image credit: Diego Delso

The major reason behind formation of this Elephant rock is 660 ft. high active volcano named Eldfell (Mountain of fire). The volcanic eruption happens occasionally without any prior alarming activity and the inhabitants have to rely on sea water for cooling down the erupting lava. Due to these activities, various types of rock formations keeps happening around the location.

Amazing Photography Hack To Take Pro-Like Pictures!

#1 Amazing Iphone Hack

With almost everyone owning an iPhone in this day and age, it’s easier than ever to become an amazing photographer with just your phone and a couple filters. This hack will step up your photo game! All you need is an old laser pointer, a bobby pin and a little bit of tape.

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#2 Remove The Lens From The Laser

The first step is to remove the glass lens on the tip of your laser pointer and grip it with your bobby pin – as shown here.

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#3 Tape It On

Next, place the lens over your own iPhone camera area, taping it onto your phone to hold it in position.

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#4 That's All There Is To It

Your phone will now have the ability to zoom in for detail on objects like never before! Just look at how clear and precise that image is. Now you can get those up close and personal selfies you've been waiting for!

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DSLR Reunited with Owner After Year on Ocean Floor, Photos Intact

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Wildlife photographer  Markus Thompson was scuba diving in Deep Bay outside Vancouver recently when he stumbled upon a rusty Canon Rebel DSLR at the bottom of the ocean floor. After taking the SD card out and cleaning it, he was surprised to discover that it still worked, especially because the photos on it revealed that the camera was dropped back in August 2010. Thompson then  turned to Google+ to find the owners, writing,




Approximately 50 pictures on the card from a family vacation. If you know a fire fighter from British Columbia whose team won the Pacific Regional Firefit competition, has a lovely wife and (now) 2 year old daughter – let me know. I would love to get them their vacation photos :)
After receiving thousands of comments and shares, he received an email from a friend of the owner, making this yet another crazy example of the Internet being used to  reunite lost photos with their owners! You can see more photos of the DSLR  here, in case you’re wondering what a year of seawater can do to a camera.

(via  Markus Thompson via  The Verge)

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Biggest Pets In The World (5 Photos)

#1 HERCULES THE LIGER

While the liger sounds like a made-up animal, it's a real thing. In fact, the largest living cat of any kind in the world is Hercules, an liger. He lives in South Carolina, stands 49 inches tall at the shoulder, measures 131 inches long, and weighs over 900 pounds!

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#2 Meet Giant George, the New World’s Tallest Dog

The 4-year-old Great Dane measures 3 ft., 7 in. from paw to shoulder, weighs nearly 250 lbs., and beat the previous record holder Titan’s height by 0.75 inches. Giant George can sit up in a chair like a human, but for his flight from Tucson to Chicago to visit Oprah on her television show, producers bought him tickets for four seats in the plane’s middle section.

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#3 Radar (Tallest Horse)

Thumbelina, who weighs 4st 9lb, was born on a farm in St Louis, Missouri.Her owners breed miniature horses but Thumbelina is a further quirk of nature - a miniature of a miniature.She eats two cups of grain and a handful of hay each day.Radar, at 6ft 71/2in from hoof to shoulder, is from Mount Pleasant, Texas.At 2,400lb, he has a giant appetite to match, putting away 20 gallons of water a day and 18lb of grain.

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#4 Ulric: A 30-Pound Cat (UK)

Weighing in at a whopping 30 pounds, this fat cat was the heaviest finalist that the PDSA's fitness competition has ever had on their show.Despite his diet, Ulric hit 17 pounds by the time he was 15 months old. The problem is that Ulric loves to eat. If he isn't satisfied with his meal, he'll just amble over to his sister Ulla's bowl. So his owner, Jan Mitchell of Dorchester, UK, enrolled him in the pet fitness competition.Ulric the Norwegian Forest cat is twice as big as he should be. 

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#5 Goldie (Biggest Fish)

The title of largest pet goldfish goes to Goldie from Folkestone in Kent, England, who was 15 inches long, 5 inches wide, and weighed over 2 lbs in 2008.The fish was only an inch long when Goldie's owner bought it for 99 cents, and 15 years later it had ballooned into a record-breaking size, despite being kept in a small tank.However, Goldie isn't the only supersized goldfish. In July 2010, a goldfish measuring 16 inches and weighing 5 pounds was caught in Poole's Lake by Nick Richards, 16, from Camberley, England. But the world's longest goldfish is owned by Joris Gijsbers and measured 18.7 inches from snout to tail on March 24, 2003 in Hapert, The Netherlands.(Source 1 | Source 2 | Source 

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